Biotechnology reaches 10% of Spanish GDP
A few days ago, the 2015 Asebio Report was published, drafted each year by the Spanish Biotechnology Companies Association (Asebio) to compile the situation and trends of the biotechnology sector in Spain.
Sponsored by Bioibérica, Merck and Celgene, the report highlights the growing weight in revenues that the companies record within Spanish GDP, a figure which reached 10.35%, as well as the increase of employment and investment in R+D. Catalonia reaffirmed its position as the autonomous community with the highest biotech concentration (21.21%).
The sector's global revenues hit 107,788 million Euros in 2014, 13.28 more compared with the previous year. This growth was provided mostly by companies with more than 250 employees such as Bioibérica, currently with a team of 500 people, which make up 88.6% of the total of the sector's revenues.
Private internal investment in R+D, has also been very favourable, after years of decrease, it seems that investment has begun to recover. In 2014, the amount reached 533.8 million Euros, which means 3.75% more than the previous fiscal year. Employment grew by 2.91% up to 177,973 employees.
The act included a round table debate including the participation Josep Vergés, Bioibérica's Medical and Scientific Director, who defended the importance of social innovation in biotechnology. In this sense, Vergés highlighted that "if there is no R+D, there are no advances in medicine". His statements are among the most popular topics on Twitter with the hashtag #InformeASEBIO2015. In fact, the presentation managed to be a trending topic in Spain, which delights us because we see that science "truly awakens interest”.
As a final conclusion, looking toward the future, we can say that the biotechnology sector will continue progressing and consolidating if we understand, as Vergés said, that “research is not an expense, but rather an investment”.