Over 40 companies, most of wich created between 2001 and 2006, are attracting international attentions over the biotechnology industry in Portugal. With a strong focus on R & D, and millions of euros invested, these companies work – in some cases – in diferent areas of activity and are developing, among others, pharmaceutical products that help to improve your quality of life. Most frequent area of activity, in the Biotechnology industry in Portugal, is Healthcare & Medical followed by Agro-food and Enviromental Biotechnology. Knowing this, projects in Healthcare & Medical areas arise naturally.
Zebinix may sound a strange name, but it is the first medicine, totally developed in Portugal, to help heal cases of epilepsy, and approved by FDA (US Food and Drug Administration). This new product is the result of 15 years of research, by BIAL, over the central nervous system and cardiovascular system.
Other fields of research are also been targeted by portuguese expertise like oncology and liver diseases. Biotecnol has a series of antibodies in preclinical development directed at subtypes of breast cancer and kidney and also two products targeted at non-solid tumors. Biotecnol is also developing, in partership, a medicine to treat certain liver diseases such as acute hepatitis and liver transplants. Other example comes from Alfama. The company is developing a new therapeutic approach based on the controlled administration of carbon monoxide. This new aproach may be used in the prevention or treatment of almost any disease that involves inflammation, vasoconstriction or cell death, and also in some infectious diseases. In addition, Alfama is also focused in areas such as acute hepatitis and multiple sclerosis. These are just a few projects involving Portuguese companies. Many others are ongoing such as the cryopreservation of stem cells from umbilical cord blood that can be used in the future treatment of a number os diseases during the life time of the newborns and of its relatives.
Portugal proudly underlines these achievments in its Biotechnology industry as a result of private massive investments in R & D and the suport of public policies that are creating a more conductive environment to the development of the sector. Our country has Research and Development Centers of excellence, highly qualified human resources and the infrastructures needed to create this favorable environment. Biocant Park is one of these favarouble conditions. This first Portuguese Biotechnology park, was launched in 2005, and is now hosting 15 companies linked to research in the Biotechnology field. Biocant Park has just inaugurated a second building and its expantion plans considers 3 other buildings, in a near future, to host other projects in this sector bringing along adittional 150 highly qualified researchers. Portugal has, indeed, a strong pool of qualified work force that Biocant Ventures stimulates to go forward with new projects assuming the role of business angels by financing the initial stages of projects until they become companies.
Portuguese scientists are highly qualified, with solid academic background, and are internationaly recognized because of their academic work at foreign universities and also because of their achievments in the biotechnology field. For example, Portuguese scientists are leading the production of a hybrid technology that combines the engineering of materials with biotechnology to produce human tissue in laboratory. Again, please do note, this is just an example of Portuguese expertise in this field.