BIO-Europe Spring® 2013 in Barcelona Hosted Over 2,000 Executives from the Life Science Sector

ZURICH & BARCELONA, Spain --(Business Wire)--

The seventh annual BIO-Europe Spring® international partnering conference concluded this week in Barcelona, Spain. The event, held March 11-13, 2013 at the CCIB Convention Centre Barcelona, welcomed more than 2,000 participants representing over 1,200 companies from 50 countries vying for an estimated 2,148 licensing opportunities. Close to 11,000 one-to-one meetings took place at that event between companies across the life science value chain, from large biotech and pharma companies to financiers and innovative start-ups.

BIO-Europe Spring(R) is where the global biotech industry comes to partner (Photo: Business Wire)

"BIO-Europe Spring 2013 is where the biotech industry kicks off the dealmaking year," said Carola Schropp, President of EBD Group. "The growing biotech region of Barcelona contributed to a highly dynamic event that centered on face-to-face partnering meetings between key players in the life science value chain. We look forward to carrying the partnering momentum established at this event to ChinaBio® Partnering Forum, BioPharm America™, and BIO-Europe® later this year."

Host organizations for the 2013 event included Biocat, the biotechnology, biomedicine and medical technology regional incubator, and Ajuntament de Barcelona, the Barcelona City Council.

"We are very pleased with the development of BIO-Europe Spring 2013, especially because the proposals of Catalan participants were very well accepted, both in terms of the number of meetings arranged, and of the partners they found for their projects," said Montserrat Vendrell, CEO of Biocat. "More than 2,000 delegates who participated in BIO-Europe Spring have unanimously recognized that the Barcelona atmosphere, the city and its life sciences brands cast a very positive message to the world; they have also appreciated the thriving community of Catalan entrepreneurs and the joint strategy of the sector which comprises institutions and companies under the leadership of Biocat."

Host sponsor Torino Chamber of Commerce welcomes the 2014 edition of BIO-Europe Spring to Torino, Italy. The mission of the Chamber is to foster the growth of the local economy and enhance it through effective and targeted initiatives, thus playing the role of spokesman for the life science sector.

Piero Fassino, Mayor of the City of Torino, said, "I am very proud of this further acknowledgement for our city, mainly because BIO-Europe Spring will be in Turin after having been held in cities of international standing like Milano, Madrid, Amsterdam and Barcelona. A whole year of intense work is ahead of us, but I am confident we will deliver our guests a special welcome with our first-rate facilities and services in addition to an artistic and cultural heritage that will enchant and seduce those who are visiting our city for the first time."

"BIO-Europe Spring is a quality brand in itself," said Guido Bolatto, Secretary General of the Torino Chamber of commerce. "EBD Group has always carefully selected the location from areas rich in entrepreneurial liveliness and innovation. The choic has fallen on Torino and we are very proud of this since it is another acknowledgement of the many skills disseminated in our region. It also provides us with a precious opportunity for international visibility. Torino will be an open-air showroom, for three full days, where the most groundbreaking solutions will be on show to stir the interest of the sector decision makers."

One-to-one partnering meetings for BIO-Europe Spring 2013 in Barcelona were scheduled prior to the event utilizing partneringONE®, EBD Group's leading conference networking solution. As the leading conference networking solution for the life sciences, the system generates over 40,000 one-to-one meetings at EBD Group's six life science partnering events held around the world. With partneringONE, pharma and biotech dealmakers can create a partnering profile and begin efficiently identifying and requesting meetings with potential collaborators. For more about partneringONE, go to http://www.partneringone.com/app/log_on_select.php

Video coverage of BIO-Europe Spring 2013 can be found online at http://www.ebdgroup.com/bes

Notes to Editors:

Visit the BIO-Europe Spring conference website at http://www.ebdgroup.com/bes, or see http://www.partnering360.com for video and news coverage of the event.

About EBD Group

EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry. Since 1993, biotech, pharma and medical device companies have leveraged EBD Group's partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships essential to their success.

EBD Group's conferences are run with the support of leading corporations and international trade associations and include:

BIO-Europe® and BIO-Europe Spring®, Europe's largest life science partnering conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)
BioPharm America™, the fastest growing partnering event in North America
Biotech Showcase™, a unique forum in San Francisco for presenting to investors and business development executives, co-produced with Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors
BioEquity Europe, the investor conference co-organized with BioCentury Publications and BIO
ChinaBio® Partnering Forum, the first dedicated biotech/pharma partnering conference in China, co-produced with ChinaBio® LLC
EuroMedtech™, EBD Group's partnering event for the innovative medical technology industry
Partnering for Global Impact®, a new partnering conference providing an innovative forum to partner, identify and generate social and philanthropic investment and funding opportunities

EBD Group's sophisticated web-based partnering service, partneringONE®, is also used as the partnering engine at numerous third-party events around the world, and partnering360® is the open online community of life science dealmakers that enhances partnering experiences all year long.

Outside of the conference format, EBD Group's consultants provide hands-on assistance for firms seeking to in- or out-license products and technologies.

EBD Group has offices in the USA and Europe.

For more information please visit www.ebdgroup.com.