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BIA Scotland
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The overarching goal of BIA Scotland is to assist in the development of industry critical mass by supporting the best business environment to enable the commercialisation of innovation in Scotland. To achieve this, our activities have focused on developing our member services, expanding our membership base and raising the BIA Scotland profile through increased public affairs activity.
BIA Scotland's event programme reflects the emphasis on business development, networking, improving business skills, knowledge exchange and showcasing opportunities. Reflecting the description of "tough times" for the industry, the CEO Forum and dinner held in October 2009 discussed the specific challenges of funding and commercialisation. It also provided a launch pad for the Life Science Advisory Board (LiSAB) and associated workstreams. Throughout the 2009 BIA Scotland held a series of well attended and well received seminars and workshops that focussed on key aspects of business development from commercialisation and funding opportunities to intellectual property issues.
The flagship BIA Scotland Thistle BioScience Forum was held for the eighth year running in February 2010 alongside the Scottish Enterprise Life Sciences dinner. Thistle has now matured to have a distinctive programme with clear international representation among the 200 delegates. The focus was on business development including how technology companies raise finance, build relationships, become sustainable and form alliances with pharmaceutical companies. Since February, BIA has hosted a Technology Strategy Board Regenerative Medicine event, a TTOM funding call, the BIA 'Whistlestop Tour' of Biotechnology and our spring Golf Day. We look forward to holding another successful BioLeadership Forum and Dinner in October.
BIA Scotland has been instrumental in the approval, launch and on-going success of the BioSkape industry-led student placement programme. The first group of PhD students will begin their placements in September 2010.
A crucial aspect of BIA Scotland’s agenda is engaging with key stakeholders in the political arena to reinforce the potential of this sector for the health and wealth of Scotland. We intend to maintain and further develop our relationships with MSPs - given that 2011 is an election year for Scotland, it will be even more important to ensure that politicians are well informed of the issues facing the industry and its future in Scotland.
Scott Johnstone, Director, BIA Scotland
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