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Biotechnology


WALLONIA (Belgium) The place to be to innovate in health


gium has the opportunity to become the European leader in life sciences and particularly in the biopharmaceutical sector.” With GSK Vaccines, UCB, Baxter, IBA, Mithra-Uteron, Eurogentec/Kaneka and about 70 innovative SMEs in the fields of health biotechnology and medical technologies, the region of Wallonia (Bel- gium) is strongly contributing to this success. Find out more about Wallonia in the con-


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versation we have had with Dr. Philippe Janssens de Varebeke, Life Sciences Expert of AWEX (the Walloon agency for export and in- vestments), and Frédéric Druck, Communica- tion & International Relations Director of BioWin (the Health cluster of Wallonia).


What are the key assets of Wallonia for be- coming a European leader in health do- mains?


Frédéric Druck:BioWin federates universities, research centers and companies collaborating together in open innovation applied to health. These members form value chains in different technologies (vaccines, biopharma, radio- pharma, cell therapy, diagnostics, medical de- vices, biotech products) that offer the full range of activities to bring products from the bench to the market.


Philippe Janssens de Varebeke: The geo- graphic proximity offers corporate members such as GSK Vaccines, Baxter or UCB, to work with smaller players, university hospitals and re- search centers. This culture of collaboration


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eloitte Belgium recently pub- lished the results of its analysis about the Belgian BioPharma in- dustry. Authors conclude, “Bel-


levels up the norms and processes of these SMEs, subcontractors and research labs to the highest international quality standards. Another asset is the availability of bio-incubators that can welcome any life sciences entity.


How can innovation be supported?


Philippe Janssens de Varebeke: One way is to participate in European Research funded pro- grammes. Through the Technology Develop- ment Department (DG06), Wallonia has designed a series of incentives to boost innova- tion in Wallonia. R&D incentives include: grants for basic industrial research and refundable ad- vances for applied research (up to 75 % of the R&D cost).


Frédéric Druck: On top of that, the BioWin cluster launches each year, in the name of the Government, a call for projects where one can receive up to 3 to 4 million euros for a 4-year applied R&D project involving at least 2 re- search labs and 2 companies. The project must be led by one of the private companies and preferably an SME. There are currently 27 proj- ects in the cluster’s portfolio.


What about the availability of qualified human resources in the area?


Philippe Janssens de Varebeke: Three univer- sity systems centered around the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Université Catholique de Louvain and Université de Liège, as well as sev- eral higher education schools are providing Bachelors, Masters and PhD’s in medical and biomedical sciences, engineering, economic sci- ences, and many others… Wallonia is also home


to several training institutions specialised in life sciences such as Cefochim, Culture in vivo, GIGA Formation, etc.


Frédéric Druck: Training and competency de- velopment are central in BioWin strategy. The cluster sets up training courses and traineeships dedicated to answer to the needs of the health sector. BioPharE is an initiative from BioWin aiming to develop a structured, cohesive and practical training path in the biotech and medtech sectors.


Is there any specific incentive for the health industry?


Philippe Janssens de Varebeke:Attractive tax breaks (up to 80%) are available on researchers’ salaries. Belgium also offers one of the world’s most favorable tax systems (6.8% tax rate) for patent income. Another attractive tax break is the notional interest mechanism. The combina- tion of several focused tax measures means that the average tax rate comes to 22% instead of 33,99%. In Wallonia, companies can also apply for cash incentives up to 30% of their investments (land, architect fees, building or refurbishing of a plant, IP acquisition, new equipments acquisition).


Anything to add?


Philippe Janssens de Varebeke: Wallonia is strategically located at the very heart of Europe. Thanks to its excellent logistics, the region offers easy access to a potential market of 500 million people.


Frédéric Druck: Wallonia is definitely the place to be to innovate in health!


New European Economy


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