According to ASEBIO estimation, over 500 enterprises undertook biotech activities in Spain
in 2006, producing a turnover in excess of € 20,000 Million. Some 200 companies cited biotechnology as their main activity; they employ over 3,000 people and invoice a figure
approaching € 500 Million. For both groups of firms, annual growth in invoicing, employee
numbers and R&D spending approached 20%.
Health care or red biotechnology, in both its therapy and diagnostic aspects, accounts for 39% of the sector. The companies with transverse technology platforms with applications in more than one area are undergoing strong growth and make up 33% of the overall figure.
Agrifoodstuffs or green biotech applications account for 18% of the market and industrial or
white biotechnology rose to account for 10%, to thus double its weight of the previous year.
Region of Madrid continues to lead in terms of numbers of enterprises, but it is losing ground
against the biotech hubs of Catalonia and Andalusia, which are now home to 36% of these
companies (18% each). The Valencia Region, the Basque Country and Galicia slightly improved their ratios and round up the list of Autonomous Communities showing the highest concentrations of biotech industry.
The Autonomous Community of Catalonia, followed by Andalusia and Madrid (respectively
showing 30%, 23% and 21% of the new initiatives), have been the most active regions over
recent months in terms of biotech company creation.
In the latter months, alliances (Table 3) grew both in number and importance. 37% of these alliances have been with an international partner, largely from Europe (17%) or from the U.S. (17%). This improved the sector’s internationalisation profile (in 2005 only 32% of the alliances were international) and these were heavily biased towards agreements with the U.S.