The Basque Country is launching a Bio-manufacturing Hub for Advanced Therapies to scale up its industrial capacity and become a benchmark in Europe
Basque Health Cluster, together with VIVEbiotech, Viralgen, Histocell, BTI, TAAV, Artis BioSolutions and Bexen Medical, and with the support of the Basque Government, is launching a hub to strengthen and scale up the Basque Country’s industrial capacity in biotechnology and the bio-manufacturing of advanced therapies, bringing together development, industrialisation and manufacturing capabilities
The Basque Country possesses the business, scientific, technological and industrial capabilities to play a significant role in the new European race for biotechnology and advanced bio-manufacturing. With the aim of connecting these capabilities, strengthening their industrial scale and projecting them internationally, the Basque Health Cluster, together with VIVEbiotech, Viralgen, Histocell, BTI, TAAV, Artis BioSolutions and Bexen Medical, has launched the Basque Hub for Bio-manufacturing in Advanced Therapies, a business initiative supported by the Basque Government.
The Hub aims to turn the existing concentration of capabilities in the Basque Country into an industrial and competitive advantage. To this end, it seeks to move towards a more integrated Basque value chain, capable of supporting the development of advanced therapies from innovation and technological development through to industrialisation, scaling-up and manufacturing. It also aims to strengthen the competitiveness of companies, encourage joint projects and boost the Basque Country’s ability to attract investment, projects and international talent.
The Basque Country is home to highly specialised companies working in fields such as gene and cell therapies, regenerative medicine, biofabrication and industrial production and scaling technologies, many of which operate primarily in international markets.
Idoia Muñoz, Chief Executive of the Basque Health Cluster, noted during the presentation that “Europe has extraordinary scientific capacity, but the next competitive battle will also be fought on our ability to transform that knowledge into industry. The Basque Country has a real opportunity because it already has companies, knowledge, talent and manufacturing capabilities that are difficult to build overnight”.
From specialised capabilities to a value chain
One of the Hub’s main challenges will be to ensure that the capabilities currently present in the Basque Country operate in an increasingly interconnected manner.
The companies driving the initiative contribute complementary knowledge and technologies that enable them to cover different stages of the development and manufacture of advanced therapies. They are joined by a network of specialised suppliers that is beginning to grow around this activity.
The aim is for an ever-increasing proportion of the processes required to develop and industrialise this type of therapy to be able to draw on specialised capabilities within the Basque ecosystem itself.
This value chain is not limited to the companies initially driving the Hub. The Basque Country also has technology centres, health research institutes, universities, stakeholders in the healthcare system and other biotechnology and industrial companies that can progressively fill in its various links.
The challenge of scaling up innovation
The development of an advanced therapy does not end once its scientific potential has been demonstrated. To scale it up to an industrial level, specialised production facilities and processes, automation, regulatory compliance, quality systems, funding and highly qualified professionals are required.
For this reason, the Hub will work collaboratively in areas such as the industrialisation and scaling up of new developments, the automation and improvement of production processes, the recruitment and training of specialised talent, the financing of growth and the strengthening of manufacturing capabilities.
The aim is to move from scientific and technological excellence towards greater industrial capacity, enabling innovation to translate into productive activity, competitiveness and new solutions for patients.
“We are not starting from a theoretical aspiration. In the Basque Country, there are already companies capable of competing internationally in highly specialised areas of bio-manufacturing. What we want now is to connect these capabilities, help them to grow and ensure that they are also recognised as a joint industrial strength for the country,” explained Muñoz.
An opportunity in the new European landscape
The Basque Government’s Department of Industry supports the initiative as part of its aim to strengthen knowledge-intensive industrial activities with the potential to generate economic activity and highly skilled employment.
Collaboration between industry and the public sector will enable a more in-depth analysis of the conditions needed to foster the growth of these capabilities in the Basque Country and strengthen their international standing.
The Hub is thus launched with a dual purpose: to strengthen the conditions that will enable existing industrial capabilities to grow and to jointly promote them across Europe and international markets.
“We are facing an opportunity that goes beyond the companies currently driving this initiative. We are talking about building strategic industrial capacity for the Basque Country in a field that Europe has identified as a priority. We have companies, knowledge, international experience and a value chain that is beginning to take shape. The challenge now is to ensure that all of this gains scale,” added Idoia Muñoz.
About the Basque Biofabrication Hub for Advanced Therapies
The Basque Biofabrication Hub for Advanced Therapies is an initiative driven by the Basque Health Cluster in collaboration with Basque companies specialising in advanced therapies and biofabrication. It was established to strengthen the sector’s industrial competitiveness, foster collaboration across the value chain, drive its internationalisation and contribute to positioning the Basque Country as a leading European ecosystem in advanced biofabrication.
