First Minister To Open BioWales 2010

Reflecting the significance of the life sciences industry to Wales, Mr. Jones follows his predecessor the Rt. Hon. Rhodri Morgan AM by making the opening address at the event BioWales showcases the bioscience sector in Wales to an international, commercial and academic audience of 400 delegates with a brokerage event and exhibition, and a conference covering hot topics such as stem cells, in which a great deal of work is currently taking place in Wales.

The life sciences in Wales are represented by 330 companies, employing over 15,000 people and contributing more than £1.3bn to the Welsh economy. BioWales 2010 takes place at the
Vale Hotel, Golf and Spa Resort near Cardiff on March 17 and 18, and has grown into an international event comprising a major exhibition and a BioPartnering section, which has been expanded to allow even more than the 350 one-to-one meetings that took place last year.

The First Minister said: “The life sciences industry is already an increasingly important part of the Welsh economy with more than 15,000 people employed in the sector.  BioWales 2010 will not only highlight the innovative developments already being carried out here, but also help to encourage even more companies to come and set up bases here in Wales.” 

This year’s conference will be looking at the hot topics in the sector, amongst them the key theme of stem cells industrialisation for drug development and therapy, with a line
-up of eminent speakers including Nobel Prize for Medicine winner Professor Sir Martin Evans, Professor of Mammalian Genetics at Cardiff University and CEO of Cell Therapy Ltd; Stephen Minger, Head of Research and Development for Cell Technologies at GE Healthcare; and Anthony Davies, VP Product Development at Geron.        

Event project manager Dr. Sharon Thomas said: “We are delighted to welcome the First Minister to open BioWales 2010, showing how important the life sciences industry is to Wales, and how the reputation of this event has developed over eight years to become one of the largest UK bioscience  events outside London. Again we have lined up a high quality speaker programme, a vibrant trade fair and purposeful BioPartnering brokerage event which has a proven track record in bringing people together in technical match ups to do business.”   

BioWales 2010 will feature:                   
-    a conference programme
-    a BioPartnering event with pre-arranged, one-to-one brokerage meetings to discuss potential collaboration projects and new technologies
-    an exhibition and networking opportunity to share ideas and build profile

Themes featuring at BioWales 2010 are:
stem cells
translational research
point of care diagnostics
cancer genetics                       
Futurewatch – a regular annual feature that highlights the next big thing in life sciences                       

New for 2010 is a series of workshops built into the programme. These cover the topics of FP7 R&D funding from the EU; finance; and opportunities in Wales.

The BioPartnering event is being co-ordinated by the Enterprise Europe Network, and organisers are looking to emulate last year’s event which produced a number of successful collaborations.  www.biowalesevent.com