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.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping every stage of the pharmaceutical innovation pathway, from the identification of novel therapeutic targets to clinical development, regulatory decision-making and patient access. The convergence of next-generation sequencing, integrative multi-omics, advanced machine learning and emerging European health data infrastructures is creating unprecedented opportunities to accelerate the development of safer, more effective and more personalized medicines.

This round table will gather leaders from government, biotechnology, the pharmaceutical industry and biomedical research to explore how AI is transforming the entire drug development continuum. The discussion will examine how next-generation sequencing and the integration of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and other complementary data sources are enabling a deeper understanding of disease biology, improving target identification and validation, and advancing biomarker discovery for precision medicine.

The conversation will then address the application of AI throughout clinical development, including trial design, patient stratification, digital endpoints, real-world evidence generation and regulatory science. Particular attention will be given to the opportunities created by the European Health Data Space (EHDS), which will provide an unprecedented framework for the secure and responsible secondary use of health data to support biomedical research, innovation and evidence generation across Europe.

Beyond the technological advances, the panel will discuss the governance, interoperability and trust frameworks required to translate AI into clinical and societal value. Speakers will also consider how emerging European policy initiatives, including the forthcoming European Biotech Act, can strengthen Europe's innovation ecosystem by fostering investment, enabling responsible data sharing, supporting regulatory innovation and reinforcing the continent's competitiveness in AI-enabled biotechnology.

Bringing together perspectives from industry, academia and public administration, this session will offer a strategic discussion on how Europe—and Spain in particular—can leverage artificial intelligence, integrative 'omics and health data to accelerate biomedical innovation while ensuring scientific excellence, regulatory confidence and better outcomes for patients.

Engineered living materials (ELMs) are composed, either entirely or partly, of living cells. ELMs entirely composed of living cells are called biological ELMs and they self-assemble via a bottom-up process – e.g. synthetic morphogenesis for organoids’ production. ELMs only partly composed of living cells are called hybrid living materials (HLMs) and are built with a top-down process with integrated polymers or scaffolds. In both cases, the cellular components extract energy from the environment to form or assemble the material itself, and to adapt its morphology and function to environmental stimuli. This endows these materials with a combination of properties not present in any non-living material: self-regeneration, adaptation to environmental clues, longevity and environmental sustainability. By being alive, ELMs represent a fundamental change in materials’ production and performance, enabling new, better or similar functionalities, compared to traditional materials but with decreased costs and environmental impact. ELMs have the potential to transform virtually every modern endeavour from healthcare to infrastructures to transportation.


Possible speakers

• Biotech Alliance members

Following the publication of the proposed Biotech Act I Regulation, the European Commission has launched a consultation process for the future Biotech Act II, which will focus on industrial policy and on building a broad, forward-looking biotechnology ecosystem.In this session, organised by AseBio, we will examine the opportunities presented by Biotech Act II to advance biomanufacturing and biotechnology innovation in Europe, while also addressing the regulatory, financing, and scale-up challenges facing the sector.

Regional biotechnology clusters and associations play a vital role in strengthening the biotechnology ecosystem by promoting collaboration among stakeholders, facilitating knowledge transfer, and accelerating the scientific and business development of the sector. Their work enhances the competitiveness of biotechnology companies while reinforcing the innovation and growth potential of their respective regions.

The aim of this session is to examine the role of biotechnology clusters and bioregions in the development of the sector, explore how they collaborate with one another, and identify the key strengths and challenges across different regions, highlighting both shared priorities and the distinctive characteristics of each regional ecosystem. The discussion will also address the Biotech Act proposal to promote networks of biotechnology clusters as a means of strengthening competitiveness and fostering collaboration across the European biotechnology sector.

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

Block 1 - From Immunity to Impact: Building Executable AMR Vaccines
Block 2 – Genetic Detection of MDR Bacteria: LAMP and Other Rapid Molecular Techniques
Block 3 – Electrochemical Biosensing: Fast, Sensitive Characterization of MDR Bacteria
Block 4 – Point of Care Devices and Lab on a Chip Systems for Rapid AMR Decision-Making
Block 5 - Connecting Diagnostics to Drug Developement: TheFeedback Loop

Looking ahead to 2035, what single technological or ecosystem change would have the greatest impact on transforming AMR detection from a reactive activity into a predictive and actionable One Health system?