flanders.bio looks with confidence to the future after a year with different key milestones – the organisation sets new objectives and announces changes in senior leadership
At the recent General Assembly meeting of flanders.bio, the Board and the management team looked back on the successful last 12 months, despite the corona pandemic, and shared its priorities to further support an ever more mature and dynamic biotech ecosystem in Flanders.
The recent announcement by Minister Crevits of the new spearhead cluster flanders.healthTech, in which flanders.bio was one of the major key drivers, realised an important objective of flanders.bio’s long-term strategy to create better connections between the biotech, medtech and ICT businesses in health. Under its leadership, the flanders.healthTech cluster has connected, for the first time, all key stakeholders ranging from small KMO’s in 3 different ecosystems to the 4 universities and care organisations to develop together really disruptive solutions to known patient problems using new digital technologies.
With this major objective accomplished, flanders.bio is further finetuning its strategic priorities for the future. In response to the changing ecosystem, it continues to try and catalyse innovation in areas such as vaccines, agrotech and medicines for advanced medical therapy (ATMP) as some of the key areas for the creation of new start-up life science companies in Flanders.
All this backed by an organisation with more than 330 members that is financially healthy and that has adopted new digital tools in its offering to provide even better value for its members in the post corona world.
As flanders.bio looks back on a number of major achievements in 2020-2021 and is reshaping its future, Pascale Engelen has decided to conclude her mission of Co General Manager.
Dirk Reyn, Chairman said: “We want to thank Pascale for her leading role in a number of critical projects including the Flemish Policy Plan Personalised Medicine as well as in the creation of new programmes and strengthening of existing activities in the strategic domains of attracting talent, creating access to funding and testing of our innovations. She was also very instrumental in strengthening our collaborations with other regional and national life sciences organisations as well as in creating a stronger network of strategic partners to support the long-term strategy of the organisation”.
Pascale Engelen commented: “I want to thank the board and the members of flanders.bio for their confidence and support over these past years. Together with my colleague Willem Dhooge, we further developed flanders.bio into a strong and healthy organisation that is ready to further support and grow the Flemish Life Sciences Cluster. As a key player in the life sciences ecosystem, flanders.bio will stimulate the further evolution of Flanders and Belgium as one of the most successful life sciences regions in Europe.”
To further support the execution of its strategic plan, flanders.bio will start the search for a new Co General Manager.