Gesund. Innovativ. - im BioCon Valley Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ...

a n n ual report 20 07 he a lt h eco n omy a nd life s c ience in m ec klenburg -vo rpommern
s s s s s
20
ScanBalt
The international cooperation of all life science initiatives in northern Europe under the common
umbrella of ScanBalt has grown over its lifetime beyond the bounds of a simple project status and become
a matter of course as a part of the work carried out by BioCon Valley ®. At the end of the year, the
undertaking “ScanBalt Bridge-BSR” was started as a follow-up project to the “ScanBalt CompetenceRegion”.
The project has the aim of enabling a fully completed circuit of technology transfer among colleges,
research institutes, and especially small and medium sized companies. BioCon Valley ® has been
entrusted with the working package comprising the “cooperation of the bio-regions”. The project was
planned to begin on 01.01.2008.
At the general meeting this year, which took place as part of the ScanBalt forum in Copenhagen,
Prof. Dr. Dr. Hans-Robert Metelmann from the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald was elected
as the new chairman of the board for the ScanBalt fmba. Prof. Metelmann thus succeeded Prof. Bo
Samuelsson from the University of Gothenburg, who stepped down on the grounds of his advanced
age. Prof. Børge Diderichsen, vice president, Novo Nordisk, and Prof. Jaanus Pikani, chairman, Estonian
Biotechnology Association, as well as Dr. Wolfgang Blank, executive director of the BioCon Valley ®
GmbH were re-elected as deputy chairmen.
To mark the occasion of the German EU council presidency in 2007, BioCon Valley ® and ScanBalt,
together with the Baltic Development Forum, the BioTop Berlin-Brandenburg, BioCon Valley ® and the
Nordic Council of Ministers in the Danish Embassy in Berlin were able to stage a high-level international
conference under the slogan of “Talents on Top of Europe”. In the northern embassies, methods for
counteracting the effects of the lack of qualified specialists in northern Europe were presented. The
Baltic Sea Region is one of the most dynamic growth areas of Europe. This notwithstanding, in order to
increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of the Baltic Sea area within Europe, the cooperation in
the areas of science and economics must be reinforced and the emigration of young talent prevented.
This is one of the most important conclusions which to be drawn at the seminar by leading personalities
from the fields of economics, politics and research in the areas of biotechnology, information
technology and communications technology. The conclusion by state premier Dr. Harald Ringstorff: “The
competition for the procurement of the best brains will increase on a worldwide basis because of the
ongoing demographic changes. We must establish our position at an early stage of this competition.”
It was of special importance for BioCon Valley Mecklenburg-Vorpommern e.V. to pay tribute to Prof. Bo
Samuelson, as the chairman of ScanBalt and committed partner for the cooperation in northern Europe,
with the granting of an honorary membership. The official ceremony took place at the parliamentary
evening on 2 April in Schwerin.