Between 25 and 27 September 2018, the FIBES Exhibition & Congress Centre will thus be the stage for BIOSPAIN, a forum to exchange knowledge, ideas and experiences among all the actors from the biotech sector, which has become the leading platform to enhance the international standing of Spanish biotechnology.

The Spanish Bioindustry Association (ASEBIO) and the Regional Government of Andalusia have announced a collaboration agreement naming Seville as the site of the ninth BIOSPAIN biennial fair. In the 2016 event, BIOSPAIN attracted 1,750 delegates representing 800 companies from 29 countries, (28% of those attending came from abroad), 233 exhibitors, 50 international investors, 49 breakout sessions and also featured 3,000 one-to-one meetings.

These numbers have made BIOSPAIN the world's fifth largest biotechnology event by business meetings and the most important country-based event in Europe. The event is structured as a trade fair, a partnering system which facilitates one-to-one meetings, a conference programme and an investor's forum which brings together the globe's most important investors from the field of life sciences. As of today, BIOSPAIN already have 25 confirmed investors from seven countries, including Ysios Capital Partners, Andera Capital (previously Edmond de Rothschild), Biogeneration Ventures and Johnson & Johnson Innovation.

This year's BIOSPAIN programme gives special weight to the biomedical area, although a good part of the conference will also be dedicated to agri-food and industrial biotechnology, mainly in the bioeconomy field. Financing sessions will also have a prominent place. The fair will also feature the plenary speaker Philippe Monteyne, a partner of Fund+. Among the main topics to be discussed in this ninth edition are: Alzheimer's disease, advanced therapies, agri-food, biobanks, financing programmes, circular economy, artificial intelligence, gene editing, immunotherapy, antibiotic resistance, precision medicine, etc.

Additionally, as a new aspect this year, BIOSPAIN want to encourage researchers, academics and representatives from intermediary bodies to participate with a special registration policy. In the poll conducted among the participants after finishing the event, 84.81% of those polled in 2016 stated that they identified real business opportunities. The event was classified as good or very good by 76.92% of the people attending.

As of today, users can download the BIOSPAIN 2018 APP on the iOS and Android marketplaces. The app is easy to use and will provide extensive support for participants throughout their experience in the convention. The app makes it easier for participants to be independent, to network and to have all the relevant information available in the palm of their hand.