Life science cooperation

CENTROPE Life Science cooperation at the starting line

One of CENTROPE’s greatest potentials in terms of research, technology and innovation rests with its growing life science sector, and biotechnologies in particular. But to become a true global player, a number of complex challenges need to be overcome, experts agreed on a dedicated CENTROPE Capacity workshop. Intensified cross-border cooperation is a solution.

A gathering of relevant experts from intermediary bodies, research and enterprises once again proved that any CENTROPE cooperation agenda in the field of science and innovation must include its successful life science sector. The potential is impressive: In the Austrian partner regions, a number of institutions (e.g. in the molecular biology field) have reached world-class status, and expanding biotech clusters are continuously nurtured in Lower Austria and Vienna. In the Czech partner region of South Moravia, life sciences have consistently been at the heart of its Regional Innovation Strategy, with tremendous investments in new research facilities and knowledge transfer institutions which are bearing impressive fruits by now.

Though more scattered and somewhat less resourceful, biotech-oriented enterprises catch up in Western Slovakia as well, based on this area’s formidable endowment with relevant research institutions. In niches like molecular-genetic plant research, also Western Hungary has its fair share of biotech competencies. All in all, in the life science sector more than 25 institutes of the Academies of Science, universities and other major research institutes, as well as several hundred life science enterprises – spanning from small biotech start-ups to branches of large international pharma companies – are active in CENTROPE. Concerning the pharma and medical fields, this strong showing is further supported by the concentration of excellent clinical resources associated with the high number of hospitals in the region.

Hurdles to overcome

However, the experts who attended the one-day workshop dedicated to CENTROPE’s perspectives as a knowledge region were also quick to point out the obstacles for CENTROPE to become a full-blown biotech player, on par with global competitors e.g. at the US east coast, on the upper Rhine or in the British midlands. Three aspects in particular emerged from the spirited exchange among the participants: First, biotechnology in CENTROPE is segmented and carried by relatively small entities. This alone need not be a disadvantage, as long it is a sign of an overall dynamic development and of the establishment of ever more spin offs and research units – evidenced e.g. by the young and thriving biotech scene of Brno. It becomes problematic, however, when enterprises do not find access to risk capital and lack resources to grow into new markets, or research institutions simply don’t have the critical mass necessary for international visibility and competitiveness.

Second and looking at a crucial sub-sector, only with very few exceptions the pharmaceutical firms in the region are subsidiaries of the big international players. Not being a headquarter region in this industry – a marked difference to the Upper Rhine cross-border region, one may add – could mean not to sit at the cutting edge of innovation, be dependent on outside investment decisions or to be relegated to a niche position. Come push to shove, the long-term commitment of pharma companies to certain locations may easily dissipate. And third, science and innovation actors in CENTROPE have to get on with a significant incline of supporting policies and instruments across the region: While some governments have created consistent strategic frameworks, in other countries nominal commitments to the key role of biotechnology are not necessarily underwritten by sufficient grants or support structures. On the sub-state level, capacities of the CENTROPE partner regions to foster biotech growth in their own right diverge even more and seem wildly disparate.

From knowing the potentials to acting for common growth

The corollary of all this is that continued public support, in various forms, is absolutely crucial for the future growth of endogenous and competitive life science capacities in the quadrangle region. “Simply mandatory”, as one participant put it, is making efficient use of the funding opportunities offered by the EU’s research and regional policies – which were also presented at the workshop – in view of the often restricted national and regional means. The main catalyst for entering the global league, however, may well be intensified cross-border cooperation. Once the huge potentials in the region are not seen as the competition lurking next door, but as an opportunity for excellence and international competitiveness to be seized upon, a plethora of collaborative activities make sense.

At the end of the workshop hold in February 2011 in Vienna, the shape of a CENTROPE life sciences cooperation agenda was clear: In a sector that relies heavily on networking and sharing of relevant information for the emergence of innovative ideas, efforts are needed to strengthen match-making events as well as databases on available research facilities and scientific competencies. A dedicated management could further co-operation on all levels, from mobilizing actors to disseminating relevant calls and coordinating the acquisition of large interregional projects. Researcher mobility – and here in particular of the young and coming – is a key aspect, where much can be achieved to comparatively low cost. The stage seems set for multilayered and committed cooperation in an area that is absolutely crucial when it comes to fostering the knowledge economy in CENTROPE.