 |
As we ring in 2008,
EuropaBio brings the good news of saving lives, reducing the footprint
of industry on the earth and creating more sustainability through
biotechnology
Modern biotechnology is based on the
knowledge of life sciences and can therefore be used in any
natural process to tailor it to benefit mankind and the
planet. Reducing biotechnology simply to food applications
is misleading. Amongst the many different sides to
biotechnology, the life sciences provide environmentally
friendly solutions to big challenges, including climate
change. In the area of healthcare, biotechnology provides
innovative solutions to hard-to-treat and rare diseases
where classical pharmaceuticals have given up. Agricultural
biotech supports the efforts of farmers to be competitive on
the increasingly price sensitive global food and feed
markets and provides solutions to farmers in the developing
world.
The difficult task for EuropaBio - and one we embrace - is
to bring the good news of saving lives, reducing the
footprint of industry on the earth and creating more
sustainability in industrial processes as well as in
agriculture.
With best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2008!
Germany lifts suspension on MON810 maize
The German Government has allowed the commercialisation of
Monsanto maize seed MON810 again confirming that Monsanto
has fulfilled the requirements with providing a monitoring
plan that meets the expectation of the CA. For more
information, please see the government press release by
clicking
here.
[Top]
Advanced Therapies Regulation & Implementation Plan
published
Regulation (EC) No 1394/2007 on advanced therapy medicinal
products has been published in the EU Official Journal and
entered into force on 30 December 2007. DG Enterprise and
Industry has also made public its priorities for the
implementation of the Advanced Therapies Regulation. The
implementation plan has been developed and agreed with the
European Medicines Agency (EMEA). To view the Regulation
click
here. To see the implementation plan, click
here. To see the EMEA dedicated website for Advanced
Therapies, click
here.
[Top]
France
suspends MON810 maize seed sales until 9 February 2008
Seed sales of the only GMO cultivated in Europe, MON 810
maize, have been suspended in France by decree in December. The
decree states that the suspension will end once the law
implementing EU Directive 2001/18 is published and no later
than February 9th, 2008.
For
more information, please click
here.
[Top]
EC-EMEA report on the Conference on the “Operation of the
Clinical Trials Directive and Perspectives for the Future”
published
The final report of the European Commission-European
Medicines Agency Conference on the “Operation of the
Clinical Trials Directive (Directive 2001/20/EC) and
Perspectives for the Future” held on 3rd of
October 2007 at the EMEA, London has been published. To view
the report, click
here.
[Top]
BioEthics Conference; Brussels, December 4th 2007
The
conference on "Good Bioethical Practices" was organised in
Brussels on 4 December by SwedenBio in association with
other biotechnology associations and the French National
institute for Health and Medical research (Inserm). The
conference included presentations and discussion on
bioethical topics and issues involving biobanks, gene and
cell therapies, stem cells and genetic testing that European
SMEs come face to face with in their businesses.
Presentations and Documentation can be found at
http://www.europabio.org/ethics_practices.htm
[Top]
EuropaBio news feed and EuropaBio news via google
EuropaBio has updated its “EuropaBio in the Press” page to
include a search for EuropaBio in the news via google as
well as Press Clippings via our news service.
The
page is available by clicking
here or via EuropaBio’s home page (underneath the
EuroBioJobs logo). Questions and comments welcome to Rebecca
Weaver,
r.weaver@europabio.org
[Top]
New York Times
article asks, “Is there a better way” to produce biofuels
New York Times article asks if there is a better way to
produce biofuels than corn ethanol and profiles Range Fuels
which recently broke ground on the first cellulosic ethanol
plant in the U.S.
To view the article, please click
here.
[Top]
Polish archbishop dismisses fears of genetically modified
food
Archbishop Jozef Zycinski of Lublin, Poland has encouraged
the faithful to ignore the concerns raised by environmental
activists, and "not be afraid of genetically modified food,"
the Rzeczpospolita newspaper reports. “Science has
no evidence that GMOs [genetically modified organisms] are a
threat,” observed Archbishop Zycinski, “How many times have
I participated in discussion on GMOs at the apostolic palace
and never did I hear evidence that GMOs are a threat to
human life.” Archbishop Zycinski commented that in the 19th
century, people feared losing their sight when riding trains
traveling more than 20 miles per hour. He said, “A certain
amount of courage is necessary so that society can exist and
function normally.” To view the entire article click
here.
[Top]
Consultation on a Code of Conduct for Interest
Representatives
The European Commission
has
opened a public consultation on a draft code of conduct for
Interest representatives. All the details related to this
consultation are at the following address:
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/consultation_code/index_en.htm
[Top]
Join EuropaBio
EuropaBio's mission is to promote an innovative and dynamic biotechnology-based industry in Europe. EuropaBio, (the European Association for Bioindustries),
has 87 corporate and 8 associate members operating worldwide,
6 Bioregions and 25 national biotechnology associations representing some 1800 small and medium sized enterprises.
For more information, please click
here.
[Top]
EVENTS
January 2008 |
|
14-15 January; Plant International Meeting
2008; Angers, France
Value Creation. R&D, intellectual property,
market needs, route to market, promotion
will be the issues developed at this
meeting. For more information please contact
Nadia Chibouti,
n.chibouti@ouest-atlantique.org.
29-30 January; 6th SusChem
Stakeholder Meeting and 2nd Brokerage Event;
Berlin, Germany
For more information visit
www.suschem.org
29 January;
First BioWin (health cluster of Wallonia)
Day with a focus on Biomarkers; Dampremy,
Belgium; For more information, click
here.
31 January; EBFTP Stakeholder Plenary
Meeting
The Strategic Research Agenda and Deployment
Strategy published by the European Biofuels
Technology Platform will be discussed at
this meeting. For more information, please
visit:
http://www.biofuelstp.eu/events.html#2008 |
|
March 2008 |
6-8 March; European Course for Life Sciences
Executives (ECLE);
Basel, Switzerland
ECLE is conceived as an interactive Course
for Life Sciences managers who prepare for
leadership positions and, therefore, seek an
intensive preparation and repetition for how
to effectively run a successful enterprise
or department. For more information, please
visit:
www.ecpm.ch/ecle
12-14 March: BioSquare 2008; Basel,
Switzerland
EuropaBio is pleased to support BioSquare
2008. The three-day event features a full
program including panels and workshops led
by corporate executives and biotech experts.
BioSquare also features a company
presentation track including not only the up
and coming biotech companies but also the
largest Life Sciences companies presenting
their in/out licensing strategies. For more
information, please visit:
http://www.biosquare.com/ |
|
April 2008 |
SAVE THE DATE 2 APRIL 2008
NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS BRUSSELS DAY
For more information, contact EuropaBio’s
Andrea Campbell,
a.campbell@europabio.org
17-19 April; European Course for Life
Sciences Executives (ECLE);
Basel, Switzerland |
|
June 2008 |
17-20 June: BIO 2008; San Diego, California
For more information, visit:
http://www.bio2008.org/
22-26 June: 4th EPSO Conference:
‘Plants for Life’,
Toulon, France. For more information, visit:
www.epsoweb.org/catalog/conf2008.htm
|
|
July 2008 |
|
18-22 July: EuroScience (ESOF) Open Forum
2008, Science for a better life; Barcelona,
Spain
For more information, please click
here. |
|
September 2008 |
17-19 September: BIOSPAIN 2008, Granada,
Spain
Organization of BioSpain is led by ASEBIO.
The event will be divided to five workshops:
Scientific Seasons, International
Conferences, Investment Forum, Partnering
Activities and Trade Fair. Granada has been
selected as a new core of Biotech
Development in Spain. For more information,
please click
here. |
|
[Top]
|
|
    |
