BIOTECHNICA Promotes Dialogue on European Biotech Goals

Modern biotechnology plays a vital role in many areas of our lives, including healthcare, food production, manufacturing industry and environmental protection. Yet ethical issues such as the use and control of genetic data continue to generate heated debate. "Ignorance often leads to rejection. So it is very important to put the information out there and promote dialogue in order to help the public understand these complex issues better", says Stephan Kühne, a member of the Board of Management at Deutsche Messe AG, Hannover. The EU Biotech Days will take place at BIOTECHNICA 2008 on 7 and 8 October with the aim of showing where the European biotech industry is headed. Through this two–day initiative the European Union (EU) is hoping to highlight viable options for the future and promote a wider knowledge of rules and funding sources within the EU.

The EU Biotech Days will be officially opened by Commissioner for Industry Günter Verheugen. At the formal opening ceremony on the eve of BIOTECHNICA he will outline the EU´s global stance on research and innovation. He will also talk about the role of biotechnology as a cutting–edge technology in tomorrow´s markets. In a series of panel discussions on 7 October, senior members of the European Parliament will debate controversial issues in the EU biotech arena with key representatives of the European biotechnology industry. One such issue is globalization, discussed here with reference to "green biotechnology" by Erika Mann (SPD) and Dr. Léon Broers, a member of the Board of KWS Saat AG, Einbeck, a world market leader in the seed business. Chairing the discussion will be Dr. Jens Katzek, Managing Director of Bio Mitteldeutschland GmbH, Halle. In the second discussion session Rebecca Harms, deputy parliamentary party leader of the Greens and Thomas Garneson, spokesman for Abengoa Bioenergy S.A., Seville, will debate the EU climate goals. Leading the discussion is Dr. Dirk Carrez, Director of Public Policy and Industrial Biotechnology at the European umbrella organization EuropaBio. The fragmented situation of the European stock market scene is the subject up for discussion by Dr. Christian Ehler, a German MEP (CDU) and Managing Director of Biotech GmbH, and Prof. Dr. Olaf G. Wilhelm, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Wilex AG, Munich, one of the stock market listed "showpiece enterprises" in Europe. This discussion will be chaired by Christoph Hardt, editor–in–chief of the Companies and Markets section of the business journal Handelsblatt (Düsseldorf). The safe and ethically responsible development of stem cell research is the topic under discussion by Dr. Alojz Peterle (CDU) and Dr. Nico Forraz, Scientific Director of Cryo–Save Group NV in the Netherlands, which runs Europe´s biggest stem cell bank. This debate is led by of one of Europe´s most distinguished scientists, Dr. Detlev Ganten, Chairman of the Board of the Charité university medical centre in Berlin.

On the second day of the show, 8 October 2008, the focus of the EU panel discussions shifts to lectures by leading members of the European Commission from the Directorate–General for Research and the Directorate–General for Enterprise and Industry. The speakers include Dr. Waldemar Kuett, Deputy Head of Private Office for the European Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potocnik, and Dr. Irene Sacristán–Sánchez, Deputy Director of the Pharmaceuticals Unit in the Directorate–General of EU Commissioner Günter Verheugen. The Unit is responsible for the licensing and approval of European drugs and medicines. The presentations will address issues such as the importance of raw materials as drivers of innovation for alternative energy generation, as well as trends and prospects for biotechnology in the healthcare sector. In charge of the proceedings will be Dr. Christian Patermann, long–serving Director of the Biotechnology Unit in the Directorate–General for Research.

The exhibition stand of the European Commission in Hall 9 (Stand E 42) is the central port of call for individual visitors seeking information. Here specialists from the Directorate–General for Research will offer advice and information - based on actual case histories - about funding aid for small and medium–sized companies, made available through the 7th Framework Program and the new focus themes for 2009.

The conference sessions take place on 7 and 8 October from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. in the Convention Center (CC) at the Hannover Exhibition Grounds, Hall 1 B. Admission is free of charge to all BIOTECHNICA ticket–holders. Prior registration is requested. Further information about the conference program and the terms and conditions of participation can be found online at www.biotechnica.de/con.

About BIOTECHNICA

BIOTECHNICA in Hanover is the leading event within the European biotech industry. It embraces every segment of biotechnology - from basic biotechnology and equipment, bio–informatics and services to the five major areas of application: pharmaceuticals/medicine, industry, food, agriculture, the chemical industry and the environment. BIOTECHNICA has been organized by Deutsche Messe AG at the Hanover Exhibition Grounds since 1985. Today, BIOTECHNICA events – BIOTECH CHINA in Asia and BIOTECHNICA AMERICA in the USA – are also held across the globe.