More than 200 social, economic, cultural, and academic entities joined forces yesterday, in a public ceremony at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona (UB), to give support to Barcelona’s candidacy to bring the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to the Catalan capital. The event was chaired by the Spanish Minister of Health, Dolors Montserrat; the Catalan Minister of Health, Antoni Comín, and the deputy mayor of the City Council of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni.

CataloniaBio, which represents more than 100 companies in the health and life sciences arena, has also signed the manifesto, along with Abertis, Barcelona Global, Banco Sabadell, Biocat, Barcelona Stock Exchange, CaixaBank, Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Círculo de Economía, Farmaindustria, FC Barcelona, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, and medical and pharmaceutical associations, among others. The members of the Board of Directors attended yesterday’s event.

Barcelona, the main research hub in southern Europe

The manifesto, read by actor Josep Maria Pou, highlights that “The experience and capabilities of Barcelona will ensure that the Agency’s relocation (from its current site in London) will be quick and efficient.” It also notes that the city’s “scientific, technological and industrial potential mean that it has the appeal to retain talent and will facilitate scientific excellence.”

Barcelona is the main research hub in southern Europe and it boasts a wide network of institutions, universities, as well as biomedical, hospital, and technologic research centers of the highest level, and a well-established IT and communication technologies ecosystem. This scientific strength is one of the main reasons why Spain is second in Europe in number of clinical trials conducted on advanced therapies.

The candidacy is being spearheaded by the Spanish Ministry of Health, the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council. There are 22 candidacies. Barcelona’s main rivals include Copenhagen, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Vienna, Milan, and Lille.

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More information is available on the Catalan News Agency (ACN)