AseBio Investor Day

Spain returned to ninth position on the global ranking by number of papers in biotechnology and produces science of excellence, with 22.8% of papers among the top 10% most cited in the world. 

4,362 companies carried out biotechnology activities in 2021, of which 898 are biotech firms. Spain is also the 13th largest biotech exporter 

In 2021, the biotechnology sector invested more than €1.04 billion in R&D, 62% from biotech companies. 

The year-on-year increase in R&D investment in 2021 was 6.7%, exceeding pre-pandemic figures.

In 2022, the investment secured by Spanish biotechnology stabilised at €142 million in 46 operations, which is down from the total raised in 2021. Nonetheless, international investors continue to show interest in the Spanish sector, taking part in many of the biggest operations.

Biotech companies have the highest percentage of researchers to total employees in the sector, surpassed only by R&D services companies, with researchers making up 14.62% of all employees. On the ranking of women working in R&D as a percentage of total R&D staff, biotech companies remained third, with 58%.

The biotech sector is protecting its innovations more and more internationally, mainly through PCT patents (36%) and the European Patent Office (35%).

Biotech firms forged 295 partnerships and 66% of them were with organisations from the public sector. Plus, 31% of these deals were with international organisations and 60% were for research and development.

AseBio members boosted their international presence 20% in 2022, with 43 member companies present in 56 countries on all continents. European countries are the main choice for biotechnology companies when establishing subsidiaries and the United States is the country with the most subsidiaries.

Biotech firms’ revenue contributed the equivalent of 1% of the GDP and 118,000 jobs.