BIO SAN DIEGO: THE WALLOON ECOSYSTEM CHAMPIONS BIOPHARMA

Following the success of the last two editions, Wallonia is back with a delegation of 26 companies, universities and other operators from the life sciences sector at the BIO International Convention in San Diego, USA. It's an opportunity to highlight the healthy state of the sector in Belgium and Wallonia. 

Bio International Convention is a must-attend event for biotech companies, organised from 3 to 6 June 2023 in San Diego by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the world's largest biotech trade association. As in previous years, the delegation of Walloon companies will be led by Wallonia Export & Investment Agency and the Walloon healthcare cluster BIOWIN. The 2022 edition (post-Covid) was already a success, and the 2023 edition did even better, bringing together more than 1,540 exhibitors, some 20,559 participants from all over the world (73 countries) and no fewer than 57,000 partnering meetings. The Belgian delegation was one of the ten largest foreign delegations, with 105 people representing 58 companies and operators, including 30 from Wallonia.

Belgium, the health and biotech valley of tomorrow

Belgium has no reason to be ashamed of its position in the health and biotech sector. The country is a world leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, thanks to a unique combination of a well-developed ecosystem, a highly skilled workforce and strong collaboration with public authorities and research centres. The figures include the 40,000 direct jobs created by the sector and the €5.2 bn invested in R&D, putting the country in first place per capita in the EU.  According to the European Innovation Scoreboard, Belgium also features in the top 5 for its innovation performance. The country is also #2 per capita in the EU for clinical trials: at national level, Belgium has the highest density of clinical trials in its peer group over the last 20 years combined. 

Wallonia, a complete (bio)pharma value chain

Wallonia has succeeded in building an ecosystem that is now a benchmark in Europe, despite a difficult context to say the least (notably the invasion of Ukraine, energy prices, inflation and rising interest rates). However, no less than €44 million was injected by WE Life Sciences, the financial arm of the Walloon Region, into companies in the life sciences sector. Wallonia's dynamism in the sector is due in part to its collaborative ecosystem of clusters, incubators, universities, research centres, hospitals, federal and regional organisations and public and private investors. In addition, the remarkable presence of biomanufacturing in the Region, its skilled talent, its strategic central location and a thriving biotech scene all contribute to the growing success of biopharmaceuticals in Wallonia. In figures, the pharma-biotech sector now accounts for 6.2% of the Walloon economy, a higher share than in Switzerland or Ireland, for example. In 2023, pharmaceutical products were by far Wallonia's biggest export, accounting for €18.2 billion, or 34.0% of the Walloon total. 

The US market is a key player for the Walloon pharmaceutical industry. By 2023, Walloon pharmaceutical products exported to the USA would account for 11% of the total.

Wallonia has a proven reputation for excellence in biomanufacturing, confirmed by the presence of world leaders (Catalent, Takeda, GSK, UCB, Eurogentec, Exothera, Xpress Biologics, etc.) who manufacture their own innovative products here or produce for third parties. Thanks to the long-standing presence of local niche companies and international powers, Wallonia has become an undisputed hub for biotechnology. One of the region's most competitive factors is its speed in approving clinical trials, recognised as the fastest in Europe.

In figures, the pharma-biotech sector now accounts for 5.3% of the Walloon economy and 38.0% of its industry, a higher share than in Switzerland or Ireland, for example. In terms of jobs created, continuous annual growth of 3.0% has seen the level of employment in the pharmaceutical sector in Wallonia rise from 8,817 to 14,505 in 20 years.

Walloon participation at BIO

During the exhibition, Wallonia Export & Investment Agency, in addition to supporting the Walloon companies present on the collective stand, will be organising networking events alongside the convention. The Belgian Café in particular will be aimed at creating networking opportunities between international participants and raising the profile of our Belgian companies. 

This year's Walloon registrants include a wide range of companies.

Firstly, there are the biotechs developing an R&D pipeline of innovative therapies and diagnostics for applications such as oncology (Sagitta Biotech), vaccines (GSK or Curavac is developing therapeutic vaccines against autoimmune diseases), respiratory diseases and tissue regeneration. Other companies taking part include EXO Biologics, Novadip, Amyl Therapeutics, Bio-Sourcing, which is launching a new programme to combat inflammatory diseases, Celyad Oncology and Cellistic, which specialise in cell therapy, Eurogentec, KIOMed Pharma and InhaTarget Therapeutics (respiratory diseases). Also present will be Eyed Pharma, which develops eye implants for glaucoma sufferers, and Syngulon, which develops bacteriocins. 

EXO Biologics, a biotech set up in Liège in 2021, specialises in developing treatments based on exosomes, nanometric vesicles derived from certain cells and with interesting therapeutic qualities, particularly for modulating the immune system.

‘Our mission at EXO Biologics is to accelerate the development of innovative therapies based on exosomes to treat serious diseases. Our presence at Bio US, with the support of Wallonia Export, is therefore essential to find partners willing to contribute to our mission", Hugues Wallemacq, CEO of EXO Biologics, “We currently have partnerships with European and American biotechs and we are analysing different options to open an office in the United States”.  

Novadip Biosciences, based in Mont-Saint-Guibert, is a company developing tissue regeneration therapies to raise the standard of care for critical size bone defects, common orthopaedic conditions and cancer. ‘We have initiated a clinical trial in the US and Europe for an orphan/rare and paediatric condition with our autologous tissue engineering product. We are also positioning our allogeneic product (bioactive bone matrix) for the US market. Novadip's presence at BIO US is focused on finding investors and strategic partners to consolidate the company's position in this key market,’ explained Denis Dufrane, CEO of Novadip, who was already present in Boston in 2023. 

Also present will be companies offering cutting-edge solutions and services (Xpress Biologics, which provides a wide range of services from the design of expression systems to the production used for pre-clinical trials, IDDI, the International Drug Development Institute for clinical trials, the intellectual property firm Icosa Europe specialising in the health sector, MyData-TRUST, which specialises in the protection of personal data and is exclusively dedicated to the Life Science sector, RLM Consulting, which provides support for regulatory affairs at all stages of drug development, Cognivia, which has developed an instrument to mitigate the impact of placebo response in clinical trials, and Univercells for disruptive technologies in the production of biomolecules). Recent growth in the biotech industry is attracting additional investment and is mainly driven by the expansion of biomanufacturing companies in Wallonia. We are seeing many innovative projects in the industrial production of biomedicines, the digitisation of production processes and the secondary use of health data for research purposes.

Quantoom Biosciences, one of the companies in the Univercells group specialising in the supply of technology, which has already participated in the last two editions, to ‘make itself more visible at BIO for our highly innovative technology in the field of messenger RNA vaccines. Quantoom has just made a team available for the North American market, which will enable it to bring resources to the world's biggest biotech market", Régis Léonard, Quantoom VP Global Sales.

There will also be a strong presence from the academic world, notably through the LIEU Network, which brings together the expertise of 6 universities in Wallonia to help researchers and private and public sector partners stimulate collaborative ventures.

Finally, if you are interested in investing in Wallonia, and more particularly in the Liège region, Bridge 2 Health is on hand to help you gain access to the various players in the Liège life sciences ecosystem.