BioWin is the health competitiveness cluster of Wallonia, a region of Belgium (South of Brussels). Created in July 2006, its ambition is to federate all stakeholders from Wallonia participating in innovation and training in the field of biotechnology and health.

Its objectives are :

• to create a new culture of openness and partnership favourable to innovation in Wallonia,
• to train, attract and retain in Wallonia a human capital of excellence,
• to help the edification of collective infrastructures and technological platforms,
• and to promote internationally the strengths of the Walloon region in the area of Health biotechnology and medical technologies.

The innovation themes

The R&D, supported by the cluster, covers all fields related to health. Eight technological themes have been defined:

• Biomarkers + in vitro & in vivo diagnostic (including biomedical imaging)
• Innovative tools and instrumentation (for hospitals, labs or industry, e.g. nano-surfaces for cell culture, disposable cell incubators, …)
• Drug delivery systems (e.g. innovative formulations, drug targeting, …)
• Novel therapies (e.g. regenerative medecine, cell therapy, siRNA therapies, …)
• Information technologies applied to human health (e.g. integration/analysis/  dissemination of diagnostic and radiological images , PK/PD and drug disease modelling, e-prescribing, electronic patient records, …)
• Innovative processes and organisational innovations (e.g. green chemistry synthesis, continuous production processes, new market access strategies)
• Medical devices (sub-cutaneaous implants, microneedles, minimal invasive surgery equipment, …)
• Drug discovery (including antibody drug discovery, therapeutic vaccines discovery, …)

 

Strategy

To achieve its objectives, BioWin has determined 5 strategic development priorities:

1) promoting innovative research projects based on the cluster’s priority therapeutic and technological themes. This includes, inter alia, taking advantage of the Walloon government’s calls for projects to promote collaboration between universities, businesses and research centres so that they can work together to develop high added value innovative products and services which have the potential to be marketed internationally;

2) implementing training actions with a view to ensuring a qualified and competent human capital to support the development the biotechnology in health care sector, for the present and future;

3) promoting scientific and industrial excellence in Wallonia at international level by participating in the main health & biotechnology fairs, by developing and consolidating partnerships and/or relationships with foreign health competitiveness clusters and via BioWin’s participation in foreign networks;

4) developing networking activities aimed at BioWin’s members and potential partners in the region in order to develop an environment favourable for exchanges and collaboration;

5) guaranteeing the necessary private and public funding to ensure the BioWin’s financial solvency and provide it with the necessary resources for its development.