Barcelona reaffirms its influence within the biotechnology landscape. The Spanish Association of Biocompanies (AseBio) has once again chosen the Catalan capital for its 2025 and 2027 editions of the BioSpain meeting. The association has also already announced its intention for the city to host the event in 2029, positioned as one of the largest international events in the biotechnology sector in Europe.
The success of the last edition of BioSpain, held in Barcelona in 2023, motivated the decision by AseBio, which had the collaboration of Biocat, the Generalitat, and the City Council. And the Barcelona edition was the most crowded in the history of the event, which has two decades of experience during which it has been held in various Spanish cities.
Thus, the twelfth edition of BioSpain will take place from October 7 to 9, 2025, at the Montjuïc venue of Fira de Barcelona, where the organizers expect to gather more than 2,000 professionals from 1,000 entities working in the field of health, sustainable agri-food, and solutions against climate change.
Motivated by the success of the previous edition, AseBio has chosen to keep the Catalan capital as host, trusting that this continuity will ensure good results in future editions. "Holding this congress again in Barcelona will allow us to consolidate our projection and impact on an international scale," defended the president of AseBio, Rocío Arroyo.
In 2023, Catalonia concentrated 24% of biotechnology companies at the state level, and 35% of their turnoverIn this sense, Barcelona's role as a world-renowned biotechnology epicenter has been fundamental to consolidating its position as the venue for the next two editions. And it is that in Barcelona and its metropolitan area, most of the pharmaceutical industry at the state level is concentrated, as well as research centers and clinical trial and scientific production processes. "And it's no coincidence: it's part of the city's strategy for science, innovation, and technology, also in health, as a driver of progress and well-being," according to the Deputy Mayor for Economy of the City Council, Jordi Valls.
So much so that Valls is convinced that the companies and professionals of BioSpain will find in Barcelona "the best ecosystem to continue growing and gaining international impact." In this ecosystem, internationally competitive technological and pharmaceutical actors coexist, acting as a driving force for the Catalan economy, as highlighted by the Minister of Business and Labor of the Generalitat, Miquel Sàmper.
In this regard, Catalonia concentrated 24% of biotechnology sector companies at the state level in 2023, and 35% of its turnover. As a whole, the BioRegion of Catalonia is made up of more than 1,400 companies and 91 research institutions, which generate 7.9% of Catalonia's GDP and employ more than 6% of the working population. Thus, as Sàmper remarked, "the biotech sector is fundamental to understanding Catalonia as an innovative territory."