The recent communication by the European Commission entitled “Building the future with nature: boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU” is highly welcome [1]. However, while this communication has been much awaited by the European biotechnology sector, global competitors have not remained idle. Currently, the global market is dominated by the USA, with Europe lagging somewhat behind. In my presentation, using an incomplete set of indicators, I will review the current status of biotechnology and biomanufacturing, focusing on opportunities and threats, notably throwing some light on the European situation. In the second part of my presentation, I will focus on IBISBA, a distributed European infrastructure for biotechnology and biomanufacturing. I will provide a brief overview of this strategic instrument, describing its current status and activities.
References
1. Biotechnology and biomanufacturing: core elements of Europe’s industrial future? COM (2024) 137 final. Brussels 20/03/2024
Michael O’Donohue works for INRAE, France’s National Institute for Research on Agriculture, Food and the Environment. He holds a PhD in protein biochemistry from the University of Portsmouth (UK) and possesses extensive research experience in enzyme engineering and biotechnology.
In INRAE, from 2016-2024 Michael was head of TRANSFORM, a 600-staff research division operating 29 labs in France. In 2014, Michael launched a European initiative aimed at federating European capacity and developing a more systemic approach to research in Biotechnology and biomanufacturing. Since then, this initiative has grown into IBISBA, a distributed European Research infrastructure that gained ESFRI recognition in 2018. IBISBA currently mobilizes staff from 23 research institutions located in 11 European countries.
