Yesterday director Josep Samitier presented NanoMed Spain and gave a roundup of its activities during the past year, and later took part in a press conference alongside the coordinators of the other three biomedical research platforms that take part in the event: Innovative Medicines, Health Technology, and Biotechnology.
Josep highlighted that NanoMed Spain now has 138 members, including 37 companies, and worked hard during 2013 to promote inter-platform collaborations, establishing of a cross-platform nanosafety group which was presented at December’s Jornada Anual del Grupo Inter-Plataformas de Nanoseguridad y Nanotoxicología. It is also very active as advisor to the political programme of the EC regarding the clinical translation of nanomedicine via its involvement in such initiatives as the NANOMED2020 Support Action project, “Enabling the European Nanomedicine Area until 2020”. Josep also outlined a new initiative under discussion with the European Technological Platform to launch the EU-NCL, a European Nano-Characterisation Laboratory to mirror the US National Cancer Institute.
More generally, Josep also talked about the importance of the government’s efforts to keep scientific funding opportunities going. “We need a firm, long-term commitment to the sector to make sure that our country, envied up until now for its science, does not become a pitied country,” he said. He stressed that Spain was the leading country in Europe for nanomedicine publications in the period 2005-2014 and fourth in the world behind USA, China and the recently advanced India.
This seventh edition of the conference – organised by Farmaindustria, ASEBIO, FENIN and the Instituto Hospital del Mar de Investigaciones Médicas (IMIM) –focused on “Medicamentos innovadores, nanomedicina, tecnología sanitaria y mercados biotecnológicos: el reto en salud”. It brings together more than 200 scientists and researchers in the field of biomedicine, and unveils new nationally and international initiatives and projects to promote collaboration between public and private bodies under the different biomedical research platforms.
IBEC group leader Elisabeth Engel also took part, participating in a round table discussion on “Evolución tecnológica en nanomedicina para ayudar a envejecer con mejor salud” during the afternoon.
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