Europe at BIO 2007 (USA)

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) will be present at the BIO 2007 Annual International Convention in Boston (6-9 May 2007). A joint EU Pavilion will highlight Europe's role in supporting research and innovation in the life sciences and promote Europe as a highly competitive knowledge-based economy with opportunities for research, partnering and business.

At the EU Pavilion (Stand #773), experts from Europe will give hands-on advice to anyone interested in doing life sciences research and business in Europe.

For further information, please visit:
www.ec.europa.eu/research/eu-bio2007

BIO International Convention 2007
The BIO International Convention 2007 is organised by BIO. The BIO organisation represents more than 1100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and 31 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO is widely known for the BIO International Convention, a four-day annual biotechnology showcase that draws about 20,000 attendees.
More info: www.bio2007.org.

European Commission
The European Commission is largely responsible for managing the EU's common policies, i.e. research, agriculture, trade, development aid, etc. It also manages the budget for these policies. The Commission has developed a Strategy for the European Union on Life Sciences and Biotechnology with policy measures and a 30-point action plan. For instance, within the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7, 2007-2013) the EU has earmarked more than €8 billion (~$10.4 billion) for research in life sciences. These funds are allocated mainly through competitive calls inviting proposals for collaborative R&D projects in a variety of areas, including genomics, biotechnology and agro-food applications. Researchers from almost every country (27 EU Member States plus associated countries like e.g. Switzerland and Turkey, as well as countries with science and technology (S&T) cooperation agreements, like e.g. the US, Canada) are welcome to participate in collaborative research projects with Europeans.

Several departments (directorates-general, DG) of the European Commission are involved in EU policies to support life sciences and biotechnology in Europe: the Secretariat-General, the Research DG, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Enterprise and Industry DG and the Agriculture and Rural Development DG.
More info on the European Commission: www.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm.

European Patent Office
The mission of the European Patent Office (EPO) is to support innovation, competitiveness and economic growth in Europe. Its task is to grant European patents for inventions on the basis of a centralized procedure for the contracting states to the European Patent Convention (EPC), which is in force since 1977. The EPO is the executive arm of the European Patent Organization, an intergovernmental body set up under the EPC, whose members are the EPC contracting states. The activities of the Office are supervised by the Organization’s Administrative Council, which is composed of the delegates from the contracting states. The EPO has its headquarters in Munich, a branch at The Hague and offices in Berlin and Vienna. With its workforce of nearly 6 500 staff, the EPO is one of the largest European institutions. The EPC states currently are all EU member states plus Bulgaria, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Romania and Turkey. European patent applications and patents can also be extended at the applicant’s request to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Latvia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro. European patents cover a geographical area of more than 540 million inhabitants.
More info on the European Patent Office: www.epo.org.

European Medicines Agency
The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) is an executive agency of the European Union. It contributes to the protection of public and animal health by ensuring that medicines for human and veterinary medicines are safe, effective and of high quality. Bringing together the scientific resources of the EU and EEA-EFTA Member States in a network of more than 40 national competent authorities, the EMEA coordinates the evaluation and supervision of medicines throughout the EU. The Agency cooperates closely with international partners, reinforcing the EU contribution to global harmonization. The scientific opinions of the Agency are prepared by four committees: the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), the Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary use (CVMP), the Committee on Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP), responsible for the designation of 'orphan' medicines for rare diseases, and the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) responsible for the formulation of scientific opinions on traditional herbal medicines. A network of more than 3,500 European experts underpins the scientific work of the EMEA and its committees.
More info on the European Medicines Agency (EMEA, London): www.emea.eu.int.

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