28 November 2003

Northbank Communications reports on recent conferences

BioPartnering Europe
There are mixed views about which of the two conferences in the European partnering space do the best job for participants. The BIO Europe (17 Nov) is a little more enabling in its web based system for fixing meetings ahead. Others prefer the free for all approach of BioPartnering Europe (BPE, Oct 13) where the Open House Forum takes a sort of hot-desking approach to company presentations and each one gets its 30 minutes of fame. The upshot is that serious would-be pharma partners probably turn up at both.

Northbank helped several clients with their booths, posters and promotional materials at this year’s BPE and organised press meetings for atugen and Ipsat which was making its debut and launching new data on its approach to antibiotic resistance. Some great media coverage resulted.

Happily there were 1,125 delegates to visit our clients and others besides. And 576 companies from 25 countries came by too. Feedback from Open House presenters was "Very Good" on the organisers rating system.

CPhI
The CPhI exhibition is the leading exhibition on pharmaceutical ingredients and allied industries, and is held every year. This year’s event, in Frankfurt, Germany, 27-29 October, was buzzing with visitors with over 1200 exhibiting companies and more than 11,000 individual visitors from around the world. There was an increase in the number of Pharma and Biotech companies at the exhibition versus the previous year and the exhibitors seemed pleased with the genuine level of interest being shown in the products and services on display. The event was equally well attended by the media who were treated to a wealth of presentations and opportunities to see what is new in the industry.

The next CPhI will be held 7-9 Dec 2004, in Brussels, Belgium

International Biotech and Lab Automation Europe
Held concurrently at London’s Olympia, on 25-26 November, Lab Automation Europe and International Biotech provided a forum of exchange for buyers and providers of laboratory equipment as well as a show case of the latest biotechnology techniques. The two exhibitions were compact and easy to navigate, ensuring that all exhibitors were within easy reach of their customers, partners and prospects, and there was easy transfer between the two events. The flurry of business card exchange is hopefully an indication of an increase in business for the industry as a whole.

Mega Medica
134,700 professionals gave their endorsement to the 35th Medica in November by visiting what is indisputably the world’s largest trade fair for medical and hospital products. From pipettes to MRI scanners, beds to robots, nearly 4,000 exhibitors kept the visitors from 65 countries engrossed for four days. The ABHI sponsored a contingent from the medical devices sector in the UK. One exhibitor was going back home to deal with over a hundred new leads.

Greater efficiency remains the driver in hospital practice. Hospitals are starting to install automated delivery system around the hospital for lab samples rather than the slower method of porters and trolleys. Biological tagging is being suggested for every piece of equipment so that nothing either goes out of the door that shouldn’t or stays in the patient by mistake. The conference themes seemed very familiar for the Western world… progress in cardiology and molecular oncology, early detection of dementia and minimally invasive surgery.

Next Medica will be 24-27 November 2004 in Dusseldorf.

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