BIOSPAIN 2026

Europe has no shortage of ambitious strategies for biotechnology. The challenge now is implementation.
Delivering a competitive, resilient and sustainable European agri-food biotechnology ecosystem will require coordinated action across industry, startups, academia, investors, farmers, policymakers and innovation organisations. No single stakeholder can deliver this transformation alone.
This roundtable will build on the key insights and recommendations collected by the EU Agri-Food Biotech Alliance from representatives from across the entire value chain—including the European Commission, EFSA, industry leaders, startups, investors, research organisations, farmers, retailers and ecosystem partners—to identify the priorities and actions needed to accelerate biotechnology adoption in Europe.
The discussion will focus on how organisations can work together to reduce fragmentation, align around common priorities, launch collaborative initiatives and create greater impact through collective action. The session will conclude with a call for organisations across the value chain to join the effort and help shape a stronger, more connected European agri-food biotechnology ecosystem.

ICO: fondo españa Crece, préstamos subordinados adecuados al tipo de proyecto
BEI: Innothink
BME,
Santiago de Torres ATRYS
OCA

Spain is doubling down on early-stage innovation with the launch of the Innvierte Deep-Tech & Tech Transfer programme, led by CDTI Innovación under the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU), in collaboration with the European Investment Fund. With a total allocation of €353 million targeting early-stage technologies (TRL 2–4), this initiative aims to close Spain’s critical funding gap between research and commercialization—unlocking the potential of universities, research centers, and spin-offs.
This round table will explore how public-private co-investment models—such as the recent €30 million commitment into the Montana Children’s Health fund managed by Ship2B Ventures—can catalyze a stronger deep-tech ecosystem. Panelists will discuss the role of institutional capital in de-risking early innovation, the challenges of tech transfer in Spain, and how to scale breakthrough science into globally competitive companies.
Key questions include: How can Spain better align financial instruments with the needs of deep-tech entrepreneurs? What lessons can be drawn from this first Innvierte transaction? And how can investors, corporates, and public actors collaborate to accelerate the journey from lab to market?
The session is designed for investors, fund managers, tech transfer offices, policymakers, and entrepreneurs seeking to understand and engage with Spain’s evolving deep-tech financing landscape.

Imagine a crossroads where human health, animal welfare, and the environment meet — and a new generation of sentinels stands guard. This panel will convene those sentinels to tackle the urgent challenge of protecting vulnerable people and animals from disease driven by major antibiotic‑resistant threats, and to showcase the bleeding‑edge tools that spot and dissect multidrug‑resistant bacteria across clinical, food and environmental landscapes within a One Health framework. We’ll voyage through the knotted realities of vaccine development and market access, then move into the fast‑moving world of diagnostics: gene‑based LAMP assays that turn hours into minutes, electrochemical biosensors that read microbial whispers as electrical signals, nanomaterial‑amplified methods that reveal the faintest traces of pathogens, microfluidic “lab on a chip” platforms that miniaturize whole laboratories, and point‑of‑care systems built for real‑world decisions. The growing appreciation for vaccines—from immune surrogates of protection to fresh insights into host‑pathogen dynamics and sharper disease definitions—will be explored as a keystone for prevention. Recent breakthroughs already sound like science fiction: sub‑hour detection of key AMR genes, ultra‑low limits of detection in messy samples, and real‑time antimicrobial susceptibility testing that brings clinical and research timelines into alignment. These advances not only sharpen bedside decision making but also feed drug discovery with high‑resolution pathogen profiles that accelerate new antimicrobial development. The panel will bring together thought leaders in vaccines, diagnostics, microfluidics, biosensing, environmental microbiology, and pharmaceutical innovation to chart the next frontiers in AMR detection — and to imagine how those frontiers will reshape the hunt for tomorrow’s drugs.


Introduction – The One Health Challenge of MDR Bacteria (5 min)
Block 1 - From Immunity to Impact: Building Executable AMR Vaccines (15 min)
Block 2 – Genetic Detection of MDR Bacteria: LAMP and Other Rapid Molecular Techniques (15 min)
Block 3 – Electrochemical Biosensing: Fast, Sensitive Characterization of MDR Bacteria (15 min)
Block 4 – Point of Care Devices and Lab on a Chip Systems for Rapid AMR Decision-Making (15 min)
Block 5 – Connecting Diagnostics to Drug Development: The Feedback Loop (10 min)