There is strength in numbers. True to this adage, four front-line European clusters have joined forces to speed up their members’ development outside of Europe. Since 2019, the MAGIA alliance has brought together the Bioindustry Park Silvano Fumero / bioPmed (Piedmont, Italy), BioWin (Wallonia, Belgium), Life Science Nord (Hamburg, Germany) and Lyonbiopôle (Lyon, France).
MAGIA2Market “is aimed at forming meta-clusters, as Simon Gudin, International Affairs Manager at Lyonbiopôle, explains. With this alliance, the idea is to band together to offer a European rather than regional or national showcase to our member firms.”
The first project, established for two years in 2019, targeted the Chinese and American markets. This second phase, also for two years, will add the Japanese market.
MAGIA2market provides its members with the tools they need to better enter these markets and conclude research and development or commercial partnerships and vice versa for firms in the target country.
Members can choose between two levels of support. The first, free of charge, enables them to access potential partners (possibly with a referral) and informs them about local regulations and networks (clinicians, consultants, clusters, etc.). As a second step, a fee-based consulting offer can be provided to help them develop partnerships and access the local market.
“The aim of this partnership is to open the doors of the Japanese market to European firms. Japan is a substantial market in medical technologies but also a complex one, hence it offers significant opportunities, as much technologically as commercially,” Simon Gudin, International Affairs Manager at Lyonbiopôle.
This agreement with the Kobe cluster is crucial. The Kansai region has historically been geared towards pharma, biotech and MedTech. The Kobe cluster is based on a technology park where nearly 400 firms in these sectors are grouped together, alongside hospitals and universities.
Similar agreements have been signed with China, in the Shenzhen region, and in the United States, with Medical Alley in Minneapolis. A virtual mission with eight firms will take place with China this year with an on-site mission scheduled in June 2022, in the United States, also with eight firms.