Clust-ER Health at the 2024 CEBR meeting

The annual meeting of the Council of European BioRegions (CEBR) was held in Paris on 14 and 15 May, an event that brought together forty representatives of member organisations of the network of life sciences clusters and regional ecosystems across Europe. Clust-ER Health has been an active member of the CEBR organisation since 2022 and has been represented on the Board since 2023 by its Cluster Manager, Sauro Vicini.

Official start in the heart of Paris

The first day of the meeting, held a stone’s throw from the Eiffel Tower, summarised the main activities of the previous year, followed by updates from the working groups dedicated to funding, internationalisation, influencing and biomanufacturing. It was an opportunity to celebrate collective successes and discuss future goals.

An interesting moment of the morning was the speech by Nelly Garnier, special delegate for Smart Health (Région Île-de-France), who addressed the health policies of the Île-de-France region and the role of the region at the 2024 Olympics. Her speech demonstrated her region’s commitment to making the Olympics a success and ensuring a long-term positive impact for Francilians and their health.

In the afternoon, a round table on private investment was animated by David Petiteau (Medicen), Jérôme Fabiano (EIT Health) and Sophie Villedieu (HealthTech for Care). Discussions focused on current trends and funding opportunities for biotechnology companies, stimulating a debate among participants.

The day ended with a dinner on the Seine that provided the perfect opportunity to connect -and reconnect- with colleagues from other European clusters, including 5 new members present for the first time.

Visit of the Genopole

The second day took place inside the Genopole headquarters and initiated with a campus visit, including the L’Oréal incubator. In the afternoon, a round table on bioproduction opened new perspectives thanks to the contributions of speakers such as Anne Jouvenceau-Bester (Agence de l’innovation en santé), Francisco Castro Alves (EuropaBio), Marie Anson (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations), Tero Piispanen (Health Campus Turku) and Ana-Pia Papageorgiou (European Commission, DG RTD). This event highlighted the challenges and issues in the field of bioproduction in Europe.

Finally, a discussion chaired by Mariella Masselink (European Commission, DG GROW) provided an opportunity to exchange views on the cluster policy implemented by the European Commission and to strengthen collaboration between the participants.

Thanks to the event organizers, Medicen and Genopole!

To learn more about the Council of European BioRegions and learn more about its activities, please visit the official website.