Guest Country - 2011


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Belgium: Big in Biopharma
The AngloNordic conference warmly welcomes Belgium as guest country for its 2011 edition. Belgium, and its northern region Flanders in particular, has always regarded its life sciences sector as an essential pillar of its economy. A one-in-a-kind stimulating fiscal and R&D climate, installed over the last couple of decades, further ensures development and growth of a thriving sector with a strong global presence.

Belgium enjoys a worldwide reputation when it comes to fundamental life sciences research. And, more importantly, it has a long history of inventing new ingenious ways of putting science to good use for the benefit of millions of people worldwide, especially in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and in all kinds of specialized supporting fields.

Belgium: major player in biopharma
  • Core player in clinical research (expertise recognized by e.g. Pfizer, GSk, J&J,...)
  • Fastest global approval time for clinical Phase I and II trials: less than 1 month!
  • Currently develops 5% of the top-100 drugs
  • The world’s highest per capita number of drugs development
  • Total pharma production value: 5.2 billion euros
  • Total pharma export value: 34 billion euros

Fertile environment for drug development
A unique interplay between business, universities, research centres and hospitals makes Belgium’s northern part, Flanders, stand out among other EU regions. Optimal interaction and extensive networking between the various public and private life sciences players provides a dynamic environment, rich in innovation and knowledge sharing. The proof? New, both local and international, companies continually join this fast-growing life sciences industry.

The biotech cluster in Flanders:
Key driver of the Belgian life sciences industry
  • 143 companies with biotech activities: (118 of which perform R&D)
  • Employment: over 13,000 people
  • Total turnover: close on 1.9 billion euros
  • Share in total private R&D expenditure: ca. 20%
  • 941 patents owned by 33 companies (29 per company on average)
  • IPOs: since 2005, 6 Flemish biotech IPOs have raised, between them, 310 million euros
  • 5 world-renowned universities (Ghent, Leuven, Brussels, Antwerp and Hasselt) and a world-leading biotech research institute: VIB
  • 13 research parks and 14 bio-incubators (totaling close on 505,000 sq. ft.)
  • Dense medical network of 167 well-equipped hospitals (7 university hospitals)
  • An efficient umbrella organization for life sciences and biotech: FlandersBio

Flanders Investment & Trade, VIB and FlandersBio together make up the welcome team for foreign organisations looking to partner with the life sciences and biotech sector in Flanders.

Want to know more? Please have a look at www.biotechinflanders.be or download the brochure: The life sciences industry in Flanders.