WALES’ biosciences sector will be showcased today at an event opened by First Minister Carwyn Jones.

BioWales, the eighth annual bio- science event at the Vale of Glamorgan Hotel, near Cardiff, will be held over two days, highlighting the latest developments in the sector to an international, commercial and academic audience of 400.

BioWales features a brokerage event, exhibition and a conference covering hot topics such as stem cell industrialisation for drug development and therapy, with a line-up of speakers including Nobel Prize for Medicine winner Professor Sir Martin Evans, Dr Stephen Minger and Anthony Davies.

The conference will also cover translational research, point-of-care diagnostics, cancer genetics and Futurewatch, highlighting the next big things in life sciences.

The event’s keynote speaker this year is John Jeans, the chief operating officer and deputy chief executive of the Medical Research Council, who has responsibility for the MRC’s operation as well as major infrastructure projects, and is the chairman of MRC Technology.

He is also a non-executive director of Myconstica, a development stage in-vitro diagnostics company. His presentation will look at research funders and the biotech industry.

The life sciences in Wales are represented by 330 companies, employing more than 15,000 people and contributing more than £1.3bn to the economy. The sector has grown in Wales by more than 19% in the last three years.

Wales is home to the largest cluster of in-vitro diagnostic firms in the UK while Cardiff University’s Wound Healing Research Unit has the distinction of being the second largest specialist wound healing centre in the world.

In the field of Medical Technology, Biomet’s largest European subsidiary is in Bridgend and Arjo Huntleigh, the largest manufacturer of foetal monitors in the UK, has a site in Cardiff.

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