EFIB2018 – Toulouse hosts 11th edition of leading Industrial Biotech Conference highlighting the breakthroughs and potential of the circular bioeconomy

Speakers will call for Europe to continue their commitment to building a sustainable, circular bioeconomy.

Toulouse, 16 October 2018 – Leading industry and policy experts meet this week at the Pierre Baudis Congress Center in Toulouse for the 11th annual European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy (EFIB). “This year’s congress theme Industrial Biotech – delivering new bio-based products & processes to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals aims to highlight the sector’s latest achievements in harnessing the power of innovation to help deliver new and innovative solutions” said Agnes Borg, Director for Industrial Biotechnology at EuropaBio. “In view of last week’s publication of an updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy by the European Commission, we also hope that the #EFIB2018 congress will help bring added momentum and contribute to the discussion towards building a circular bioeconomy for Europe” she added.

This year we will hear from Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact, Jean Tirole, 2014 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, the European Commission’s Deputy Director General, DG Research and Innovation, Wolfgang Burtscher and leading CEOs and entrepreneurs from companies such as L'Oréal, Bioserie, Anellotech, Modern Meadow as well as the sustainable innovation platform Fashion for Good. The agenda will also feature new perspectives on Joint Ventures and working in partnership to develop and commercialise smart, sustainable products and discussions on amongst other things synthetic biology, new innovations in fields such as food, feed, nutrition and health, bio-based cosmetics, plastics and marine biotechnology.

We have had great support from our local partners in Toulouse, Toulouse White Biotechnology (TWB), and are delighted to learn more about the local industrial biotechnology industry and community in France. #EFIB2018 will highlight some of the innovative work carried out by biotech start-ups from this country and beyond and, as a novelty for this year, feature a dedicated Start-Up Village, as a new meeting point showcasing the innovative work of up to 24 start-ups from 11 countries.

The John Sime Award for the most innovative breakthrough showcased at the congress will be presented by EuropaBio’s new Secretary General, Joanna Dupont-Inglis.