Ecosystem

Bulgaria - Health & Life Sciences Cluster

Health & Life Science Cluster Bulgaria is a professional non-governmental organization committed to building a sustainable ecosystem in the Life Sciences sector.
Bulgaria – Health & Life Sciences Cluster

Country based:

Bulgaria

The Cluster has been founded three years ago to unify the efforts of experts, scientists, practitioners, researchers, academic institutions, startups, globally established companies, incubators, technology transfer companies, journalists, marketing and PR experts, who work for the advancement of biotechnology and life sciences field in Bulgaria. The focus technology among the members includes drug discovery, pharmacy, 3D Bioprinting, Genetic companies, clean tech and environmental solutions, agrotech and food tech.

The cluster successfully partners with a number of institutions and organizations, including Ministry of Economic, Ministry of education, BSMEPA, Sofia Municipality, Stara Zagora Municipality, Varna local authorities, Sofia Tech Park, BCCI, BESCO, Bulgarian Investment Agency, Medical University of Plovdiv, Medical University of Varna, Trakia University in Stara Zagora, CFA Bulgaria, EEN, Premium coworking spaces, PARA, United drone society, and many others.

The cluster participates in the establishment and the Management Board of the Association Bioscientific Society Bulgaria, which aims to support the development of the biosciences in Bulgaria and consolidation of a unified society of representatives of the Bulgarian bioscience community, working and studying both within Bulgaria and abroad. The cluster is a member of the Board of BRAIT (Bulgarian Employers’ Association for Innovation and Technology, which is legal successor of the Bulgarian cluster association), together with Automotive Cluster, Mechatronics Cluster, BAIT, BASCOM, ICT Cluster and others.

The founding members of the cluster are into the core of the creation of The AI Cluster Bulgaria in order to stimulate and create high value cross industry projects.

One of the objectives of the cluster is to stimulate, validate and promote technological progress in the sector of health & life sciences, as well as to connect scientists with business leaders, academia and media. Therefor Club Biotechnology & Life Sciences was founded at the beginning of 2020 in a collaboration with Sofia Tech Park.

Objectives

The Program of the Cluster is based on several strategic directions and consists of number of Projects, which are closely interlinked and support the realization of the objectives of the Cluster.

  1. Building a sustainable regional innovation ecosystem in the field of health & life sciences. The major regions in Bulgaria that the cluster already started collaborations are Sofia, Stara Zagora, Varna, Plovdiv and Gabrovo.
  2. Support for entrepreneurship and the creation of spin-off high-tech companies
  3. Creation of the innovative and customized strategies for the target regions
    • Sofia – next to BioCenter Sofia
    • Varna – next to the regional project Varna – a city of knowledge
    • Stara Zagora – next to the newly established Green Advisory Council
  4. Participation into the creation of Digital Innovation hubs (DIH) in:
    • Stara Zagora – dedicated to clean technology, environmental projects and life sciences.
    • Varna – dedicated to health and Maritime.
  5. Mapping and analysis of existing resources and potential for technology development. GAP analysis and economic forecasts and models for calculating the investment and return on financial resources, including investment in research activities. The project will be delivered in a collaboration with Oxentia (Oxford’s Global Innovation Consultancy)
  6. Creation of a first BioCenter in Bulgaria (positioning in Sofia). The Center is in a result of successful collaboration with Health & Life Sciences Cluster Bulgaria, Sofia Tech Park and Sofia Municipality, through Sofia Development Association. The establishment of the Center is expected to strengthen the ties and create new partnerships between the academic, research, industrial and regional community as a condition for the development of specific regional and local innovation ecosystems in Bulgaria.
  7. Building a Regional innovation fund – over the Venture Building Models, like those in Alderley Park Ventures Limited (APVL) for example
  8. Creation of a first Bioethical Hub for translational medicine.
  9. Increasing Media awareness and creation of Media Center for science.
  10. Development of the project “Bulgaria meets UK for exchanging best practices in the field of Health & life sciences” and “Bulgaria meets China Bulgaria meet UK for exchanging best practices in the field of Health & life sciences”. Searching for other countries that are willing to participate.
  11. Building a Technology Transfer Platform
  12. Creation of Life Sciences Clubs in the rest of the regions similar like those in Sofia Tech Park
  13. Establishment of a representative office in Brussels for research, development, innovation and technology transfer (BGRDI), which will work to increase the visibility of Bulgarian scientific and innovative achievements, to create more opportunities for consortium participations and increase the country’s participation in Horizon Europe (2021-2027).
  14. Signing a MoU with similar clusters and associations in the field of health & life sciences
  15. Searching and establishment of collaboration opportunities in EU and International Projects with focus over the Green Deal, Horizon Europe.

Key Links

Healtch & Life Sciences cluster AI Cluster

Videos

Play Video

Ecosystem Coordinators

Kristina Eskenazi

Chairwoman of a Managing Board of Bulgarian Health & Life Science Cluster

Become a member

Join ECHAlliance to amplify your organisation’s message, grow your networks, connect with innovators and collaborate globally.
 
First name *
Last Name *
Email Address *
Country *
Position *
First name *
Last Name *
Email Address *
Country *
Position *