On June 18-21, representatives from the Skolkovo Foundation participated in the 2012 BIO International Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, a four-day conference which includes discussion on some of the latest breakthroughs in bioengineered drugs, energy production and agriculture.
The conference, attended by pharmaceutical companies, teaching hospitals, venture capital firms and over 500 biotechnology companies, drew more than 15,000 attendees from over 65 countries. Additionally, the conference included 1,800 companies, 60+ pavilions and six product focus zones.
During the convention, Skolkovo exhibited its booth, networked with other biotech companies and participated in the Russian Pavilion—a joint exposition of top-level Russian biotech players, government and investment bodies. During the event, it was announced that on the state level, Russia is providing a significant investment of €4.5 billion until 2020 through a Targeted Investment Program to boost its healthcare industry with the aim of creating state-of-the-art production facilities, launching innovative medicines and increasing exports. As a key player in the Russian Pavilion, the Skolkovo Foundation demonstrated Russia's transparency in cooperating with the world's biotech community for the development of the healthcare industry.
Discussions were held with several companies who expressed an interest in helping build, in Skolkovo, some of the latest cutting-edge laboratories and research facilities. There was also interest in conducting research in Russia; including, Cornell Center for Technology Enterprise & Commercialization (CCTEC), Merk (a French company and global leader in the development of nuclear medicine) and many others.
Next year, the Biomedical Technologies cluster is planning a larger and more active presence. This would include a business panel together with RUSNANO and RVC on innovation in Russia, information desks for each of our cluster’s best participant companies and even presentations by the project companies themselves during the exhibition.
To see photos from the event, see our Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sk_en/sets/72157630192876624/