BioWin: Renewal of the Board of Directors. Reflecting on a successful journey
BioWin, the Health Cluster of Wallonia, Belgium, announces today the renewal of its Board of Directors and provides an overview of its achievements over the past years.
New vision and leadership
BioWin’s Board of Directors, the cluster’s key decision-making body, is renewed every 3 years to ensure dynamic, evolving governance that is well aligned with current challenges.
The last Board meeting was held on 15 June, chaired by Philippe Denoël (GSK). During his 6-year term of office, Philippe Denoël professionally managed the cluster. With the help of Hugues Bultot (Univercells), Vice-Chairman representing SMEs, and Serge Schiffmann (ULB), Vice-Chairman representing academia, a number of strategic projects have been launched, with concrete advances for the Life Sciences sector.
Xavier Hormaechea (UCB) will now assume the role of President of BioWin, bringing his expertise and leadership. Mélanie Mestdagt (EyeD Pharma) and Serge Schiffmann will take on the roles of Vice-Chairmen to support BioWin’s operational team, along with the entire renewed Board of Directors.
Strategic advances
During this three-year period, BioWin has focused on areas where Wallonia has competitive advantages, in line with the European Union’s Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3). The cluster’s strategic areas of activity include (1) biopharma and in particular the development of ATMPs (Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products), (2) Medtech and (3) e-health. This focus has accelerated technological advances and strengthened Wallonia’s position as a centre of excellence in Life Sciences.
Two roadmaps for the future
Over the past 18 months, BioWin has successfully developed two strategic roadmaps. The first aims to consolidate the ATMP value chain in Wallonia and Belgium, thereby strengthening regional industrial, academic and clinical expertise in this growing sector. A call for R&I projects of unprecedented ambition has just been launched to consolidate the ATMPs sector in the Region. The second roadmap focuses on strengthening the Medtech sector in Wallonia.
R&D projects, talent and support for growth
Collaborative innovation remains the cluster’s DNA. BioWin encourages this collaborative innovation and today has a portfolio of 67 projects, 21 of which are ongoing. To date, these projects have generated 126 patent applications and led to the creation of new companies and the consolidation of the existing ecosystem.
BioWin’s services have also expanded over the past three years to meet the major challenges facing its members.
A public/private partnership called “Talent Now” has been set up. The aim of this initiative, carried out with the 6 largest Belgian recruiters, is to meet the need for qualified human resources in the Life Sciences sector in Wallonia.
The cluster has also developed a ‘Growth & Financing’ service to help members develop their strategy and expand.
Philippe Denoël, former President of BioWin, said: “We are proud of BioWin’s achievements over the last few years. The cluster plays a key role in consolidating the regional ecosystem, through the development of collaborative innovation projects. This is essential if we are to remain competitive on the international stage.“
For Xavier Hormaechea, the cluster’s new President, “BioWin is pursuing a very clear strategy. With the renewed Board of Directors and the cluster’s operational team, we are going to deploy the action plans that are on the table to accelerate innovation in order to (1) meet tomorrow’s public health challenges, and (2) develop knowledge, employment and competitiveness for all the players in the health sector ecosystem in Wallonia.“
Sylvie Ponchaut, Managing Director of BioWin concludes: “We are grateful to all the members of the outgoing Board for their commitment to BioWin. Their work has been essential in developing our strategy and defining our roadmap.”
We would like to warmly thank all the members of the current Board for their valuable contribution: Philippe Denoël (GSK), Hugues Bultot (Univercells), Serge Schiffman (ULB), Xavier Hormaechea (UCB), Christophe Allard (Cenexi), Jean-François Acquisto (Eurogentec), Gaetane Metz (IBA), Thibault Helleputte (DNAlytics), Jehan Lienart (Vesale Pharma), Melanie Mestdagt (EyeD Pharma), Javier Martinez (Barré), Jean-François Ghidetti (Seqalis), Jean-Luc Balligand (UCL), Michel Georges (ULiège), Carine Michiels (UNamur), Laurence Ris (UMons), and Olivier Vanloocke (CER Groupe).
To find out more about BioWin’s strategy, activities, projects and the performance of the Walloon ecosystem, consult the 2022 Annual Report.
Come and discuss the sector’s strategic challenges at BioWin Day 2023…
BioWin invites all stakeholders in the healthcare sector to actively participate in the 8th edition of BioWin Day, taking place on September 21, 2023.
BioWin Day is the international networking event organized by BioWin, the Health Cluster of Wallonia, Belgium, held every 2 years.
For more information and to register, please visit the event website.
About BioWin
BioWin is the health cluster in Wallonia, Belgium, the regional reference for all stakeholders in health, biotech and medtech research, and innovation projects. It includes 250 members from the private, public and academic sectors.
Biowin’s mission is to accelerate innovation to meet tomorrow’s public health challenges and develop the knowledge, employment and competitiveness of all players in the health sector ecosystem. By bringing together all the innovation players in Wallonia’s life sciences field, BioWin aims to stimulate regional economic redeployment. The cluster is also involved in implementing the sector’s industrial policy (industrial innovation and research, training, support for business growth), to develop and anchor skills, knowledge and jobs.
