Flanders today may 15, 2013
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Green shoots
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Brussels goes for Europe’s environmental crown
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Ahead of the curve
Flanders is bucking a European trend with lucrative returns from its biotech industry Senne Starckx
Flanders has become a real hub for biotechnology, with half the biotech shares traded these days on the Euronext stock exchange belonging to companies based here. So what exactly is biotech, and what’s the secret of the region’s success?
L
ast month, more than 16,000 visitors from 65 countries gathered in Chicago for the annual Bio International Convention, the world’s largest event for the biotech industry. It’s a little like the World’s Fair, with a Belgian pavilion that gathers the country’s participating companies. There, visitors to the convention – not tourists, but businessmen representing other biotech firms – were
introduced to, apart from waffles, fries and beer, another of our prestigious exports: biotechnology. That’s what biotech has become in recent years – and it’s one of Flanders’ fastest-growing economic sectors. Last year, Flemish biotech experienced its annus mirabilis and the sector was able to reap the harvest, thanks to lucrative deals with major pharmaceutical companies. ThromboGenics in Leuven, for example, received the green light from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to launch on the American market its drug Jetrea, which cures a particular eye disease. “Last year, each of the six Flemish biotech firms listed on the stock exchange were able to double their market value,” says Ann De Beuckelaer, managing director of FlandersBio
(see sidebar, page 3). “For these companies, raising money from the market has proved to be a very useful instrument to finance new activities.” In biotechnology, existing living systems or organisms are used to develop useful products. It is often associated with genetic engineering and DNA manipulation – like in genetically modified organisms and gene therapy. But actually, biotechnology is as old as humankind itself. Thousands of years ago, early farmers collected seeds from plants with the most desirable traits for planting the following year. And the same selective breeding practices were used to improve livestock. The current success of Flemish biotech is a real anomaly in the wider European perspective. Since 2005, Flanders ``continued on page 3