BioWorld International Correspondent

VIENNA, Austria - The European Union welcomes 10 new members in May and - inevitably - all have ambitions to develop their biotech sectors.

The question of how the 10 states should go about this, the extent that EU membership can underpin their efforts, what they can learn from current EU countries with more mature biotech sectors, and the structural and regulatory changes that will be required were discussed Tuesday on the opening day of the Cordia-EuropaBio Convention 2003 in a session on "Biotechnology in a Larger Europe."

"All [the 10] countries talk about how important biotechnology is, and all claim to be developing clusters," Rene Tonnisson, executive board member of the Tartu Science Park in Estonia, told delegates. "So can all the countries in Europe have viable biotechnology sectors, or, particularly with the smaller countries, is it just wishful thinking?"

All the accession countries have similar problems, said Erno Duda, chairman of Solvo Biotechnology Inc. in Hungary who also is chairman of Hungary's biotechnology association. "There will be 30 members of the [Hungarian] association by the end of the year, and the [associations] are small in each of the accession countries. So, will these countries be able to work together, or will there be 10 clusters with four companies each?"

Duda suggested the governments need to collaborate. "They need to start discussions and do something together, rather than doing everything by themselves."

One of the key weaknesses is a lack of legislation and infrastructure to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) "There is a problem in central and eastern Europe in general with university technology transfer," Duda said. "Intellectual property is not patented at the university level, so there is nothing for biotechnology companies to build on."

Tonnisson said the Estonian government recognized the problem, and its program for aiding biotech start-ups includes help with IPR. "But expertise in the field can only come with time; you cannot import IPR competence."

The lack of IPR is discouraging foreign venture capitalists from investing, Duda said. "At the same time there is not a single venture capital fund in any of the 10 countries that can do due diligence."

However, Duda said the fact that the 10 states are joining the European Union is encouraging foreign venture capitalists. "One of these days one venture capitalist will set up a smallish $50 [million] to $100 million fund dedicated to central European biotechnology. The fund will pick out the best four or five companies in each country and will make a lot of money out of it. I know there are [venture capitalists] that are considering it."

Joining the EU will give the states the right to take part in Framework Six, the EU's recently launched €17.5 billion, five-year research program About €2.2 billion of the fund is earmarked for life sciences research.

However, Sabine Herlitschka, deputy director and head of the life sciences unit at the Bureau for International Research and Technology Cooperation in Austria, said there are no national coordinating bodies in any of the 10 states to help companies and researchers in submitting proposals.

"It is not enough to set up a program; you have got to make those opportunities accessible." She suggested there should be mechanisms to provide an exchange of experience and expertise from member states that have been involved in the previous framework programs, to aid integration. "This could involve twinning between new and existing members, to help new members take part of Framework Six."

Peter Dovc, of the Zootechnics Department at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, agreed. "Our first experience of Framework Six was [poor] due to the unsuitable structure of the Slovenia Research Institute. It is hard for small groups to compete, and subject areas where [Slovenia] is strong weren't included in Framework Six."