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The two municipalities have designed a project without equivalent in Spain and probably in Europe. It is a cluster of the biomedical sector that will seek excellence in the field of health and scientific innovation.
The initiative is of such magnitude that it was catalogued as a “strategic project of the country”.
The biocluster will be financed through the Next Generation EU funds, as well as with the support of the Diputació de Barcelona (Next Diba allocations). It also has a European subsidy in the amount of six million euros.
Biomedical sector cluster: public-private alliance
This alliance boosts a healthcare ecosystem that already has an annual turnover of 2.275 billion euros.
The project will favor the arrival of medical technology and pharmaceutical companies that will join the 54 existing ones.
The “dormitory city” label that stigmatized emerging cities in Barcelona’s metropolitan area (such as L’Hospitalet or Esplugues de Llobregat) has become a thing of the past with this new biomedical initiative.
The biomedical cluster project was created by the City Councils of L’Hospitalet and Esplugues together with the participation of powerful public and private institutions in the field of health.
These include the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB), the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), and the University of Barcelona (UB). Also the Hospital de Sant Joan de Déu (SJD) and the Ministries of Health, Research and Universities, Business and Labor, Territory and Presidency.
Project components
The initiative has two equally important branches. One revolves around the Biopol-Granvia project in L’Hospitalet and the other is centered at the SJD hospital in Esplugues.
According to a Government spokesperson, the objective of the biomedical cluster is to strengthen and consolidate biomedical research and innovation through a powerful ecosystem capable of attracting companies and investment in the health sector.
The goal is to “favor a new economy based on innovation and knowledge and to become a point of attraction for laboratories and new biomedical companies,” added the same sources.
The biomedical cluster will integrate healthcare, teaching, research and innovation as part of the public health system strategy.
The biocluster aims to improve the health and quality of life of citizens and, in turn, the efficiency and sustainability of the healthcare system.
The goal is for the system to become “a true digital health model based on the use of data,” the Govern added.
The biocluster will create approximately 50,000 jobs and is expected to have an annual turnover of around 7 billion euros.
