BioWales event news

BioWales to be Opend by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff

BIOWALES TO BE OPENED BY BARONESS FINLAY OF LLANDAFF

BioWales, one of the largest bioscience events outside London, will be opened on March 12 by cancer specialist Baroness Finlay at the Vale Hotel Resort, Hensol, in the Vale of Glamorgan near Cardiff, with a welcome address for the Welsh Assembly Government sponsored event that showcases the Welsh bioscience sector to an international commercial and academic audience.

Baroness Ilora Finlay is a Professor in Palliative Medicine and Consultant at the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff. In 2001 Baroness Finlay became a People's Peer when she entered the Lords as a Crossbencher. She is well known for proposing the bill to ban smoking in public buildings in Wales, three years before it was implemented by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Baroness will speak on the valuable contribution research makes to the economy in a welcome to over 300 delegates from the bioscience industry and academia from across Europe, gathering in Wales to learn about the latest trends in the sector, to network, and to develop commercial opportunities.

BioWales 2008 features an impressive conference programme with a host of world-class speakers, including Dr. John Patterson of Astra Zeneca; Professor Stan Roberts of Manchester University; Ron Petersen of Boots Centre for Innovation; Professor Peter Wells of Cardiff University; and Professor Ruth Duncan of Cardiff University.

The programme themes for the event reflect the major interests in Wales - pharmaceuticals, industrial biotechnology and medical devices, and new for 2008 is a panel discussion on trading with the UK, to be chaired by Harriett Fear of UKTI, with the benefit of the experiences of major US and Asian bio companies.

There is also an exhibition and a BioPartnering event that provides delegates with the opportunity to meet potential business partners in pre-arranged one-to-one meetings, to promote expertise, and discusses collaboration and the take-up of new technology. 

The BioPartnering event is co-ordinated by the Wales Innovation Relay Centre through its European network, and organisers are looking to build on last year's total of 350 one-to-one meetings, which produced a number of successful collaborations.

Amongst the presentations in the conference programme will be one on the Coordination of Industrial Biotechnology Activities in the UK by Professor Stan Roberts. He will describe a new, exciting academic/industrial partnership called the Centre of Excellence for Biocatalysis, Biotransformations and Biocatalytic Manufacture (CoEBio3). The science being undertaken at the Centre is at the cutting-edge of ‘White' or Industrial Biotechnology, and involves the use of Nature's methods to convert non-natural, low-cost starting materials into high-value fine chemicals. The talk will also describe how breakthroughs in this area can be utilised in the search for biopharmaceuticals, and the efficient production of biofuels and biopolymers.

Professor Peter Wells will talk about Innovation in Medical Devices and show how innovation has changed healthcare to being generally expensive, effective and potentially dangerous. Innovation in medical devices may be through improvements in existing devices, the development of substitute devices for the same applications, clinical pull, technology push, or in response to charlatanism. Professor Wells will look at the balance of the benefits of device innovation against cost, the barriers to uptake, and the future emphasis on widespread application of information and communication technologies, devices for patient-centric care and completely novel disruptive technologies with their potential to create new industries.

For more information on BioWales, please go to http://www.biowalesevent.com/

BioWales is a key focus of Wales Innovation Week, a significant week for Welsh innovation and technology, with the British Female Inventor and Innovator Showcase, Conference and Awards at City Hall on March 10 and 11, and the inaugural Innovation into Action (http://www.innovationintoaction.co.uk/) event taking place at the National Cricket Centre, Sophia Gardens on March 11.

Ends                                                                                                     February 21 2008

Further press information: Tim Powell 07939 571 553