Europes consumers have an often turbulent relatioship with science. Advice from scientists that clashes with lifestyle preferences finds governments reluctant to appear as over–zealous legislators, especially if it makes them unpopular with either groups of voters or the large companies that are often associated with the particular bit of lifestyle under threat.
In a post-petroleum society, biorefineries – along with the farmers and foresters who source raw materials – are at the heart of the economy. No matter how you define it, the concept remains the same: converting raw materials into useful products for society. Instead of fossil fuels, the biobased economy employs renewable resources and wastes to produce a series of products useful to society: biofuels, bioenergy, biochemicals, bioplastics and other biomaterials.
Brussels Greetings readers! The observant of you will note that I have strayed far from Brussels in my quest for knowledge I was lucky enough to attend the BIO convention in Chicago in late April, and where better to listen out for sage advice? So what did I hear?
The proposal for an in vitro diagnostics (IVD) regulation currently under discussion in the European Parliament and Council of the European Union will chart the future of the regulatory system for IVDs in Europe.
March saw the publication of the latest innovation scoreboard. More stats! I hear you groan, but this is important reading for researchers, businesses and governments in biotech. It tells you where the innovation leaders and followers are, as well as informing you about changes in performance over time.
The use of diagnostic testing is at the centre of Personalised Healthcare (PHC), not only for classifying a disease but also for determining which therapy will be most suitable for an individual patient or a stratified group of patients suffering from that disease. It is all about improving outcomes and tolerability.
The end of the FP7 process has been a busy one, with a rush to grab the last EC funds before we all get thirsty in the break between FP7 and the launch of Horizon 2020 in 2014.
In an era when Member States are doing their utmost to limit national exposure in the EU budget, making the right choices has become more crucial than ever before to shaping Europes future.
All the hard work I invested in 2012 to rescue the Eurozone with biotechnology has reaped a new reward in 2013, as the European Parliament and Council finally approved the European patent in December.
The revision of the EU Medical Devices Directives (MDD) could not have come at a more critical moment. The recent PIP breast implant incident has made it crystal clear that healthcare actors must pull together to ensure similar cases of fraud never happen again.