BIO Latin America Conference

The first-ever BIO Latin America Conference was a major success and will become an annual must-attend event for those doing business in the region.

Rio de Janeiro, SEPTEMBER 2014 – The 2014 BIO Latin America Conference, held on September 9-11, in Rio de Janeiro, brought together the in-depth expertise vital to the growth of the biotech industry in Latin America, and provided the attendees with networking and programming not available at any other regional gathering.

Hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and Biominas Brasil, the Conference drew more than 450 industry leaders, representing over 250 companies from 25 different countries. More than half of the attendees were at a Director or an Executive career level.

The event was inaugurated by Jim Greenwood, President & CEO of BIO and by Eduardo Emrich, President & CEO of Biominas Brasil, who welcomed the attendees and expressed their enthusiasm about the opportunities available for the life sciences industry in Latin America and the importance of strengthening international partnerships within the region.

In his remarks, Greenwood noted that through events like BIO Latin America, “We look to broaden and deepen our ties to this region’s growing biotechnology sector—to share best practices, to build lasting partnerships and to ensure that our industry continues to grow and thrive across the globe.”

Likewise, Emrich reinforced that “The development and expansion of biotechnology is a key priority for the Latin American region, reflected through new legislation and support programs by the local governments. It is a great privilege to be hosting the 2014 BIO Latin America Conference in partnership with BIO. We are convinced that this conference will increase the local bioindustry visibility and generate new opportunities for collaborations and businesses in the region.”

The 2014 BIO Latin America Conference hosted over 500 face-to-face meetings powered by BIO’s One-on-One Partnering™ System, which allowed the attendees to quickly identify potential business partners, initiate contacts and request meetings. In addition, the participants enjoyed an interactive program with 3 Plenary Sessions featuring key industry leaders, 6 Thematic Sessions, 2 Roundtable Workshops, 32 Company Presentations, 10 Tech Transfer Presentations and 9 Start-up Presentations.

The program highlighted current and sensitive topics in the region, such as clinical research, technology transfer instruments, investment opportunities, regulatory environment and PDPs.

Media publications in attendance included, but were not limited to, Thompson Reuters, BioWorld Today, and Empreender Saúde.

BIO and Biominas Brasil look forward to announcing 2015 BIO Latin America dates soon.

About the 1^st edition of the conference: click here to download the results and click here to see the photos.

About BIO

BIO is the world’s largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world. BIOtechNOW is BIO’s blog chronicling “innovations transforming our world” and the BIO Newsletter is the organization’s bi-weekly email newsletter. Subscribe to the BIO Newsletter.

About Biominas

Biominas Brasil is a private institution, created in 1990, dedicated to the creation of companies and businesses in Brazil’s life sciences sector. Biominas supports national and international research projects, companies and investors, in all developmental phases through a variety of services, including Consultancy and Business Development, Business Incubation and seed capital investment. Biominas also publishes bioindustry reports and organized the BioPartnering Latin America event in the last four years. www.biominas.org.br