Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: Wisconsin's strength in the sector constitutes an advantage for local companies.
The Life Sciences 2030 plan is an initiative from the HollandBIO association, and was established by leading companies and experts in this sector. According to HollandBIO, the Dutch life science sector comprised 455 companies with 24,000 employees in 2015, mostly in research and development. One of the goals for 2030 is to have 1,279 companies and over 60,000 employees active in this sector.
Although the life sciences comprise more than just medical life sciences, the focus of the plan for 2030 lies in further developing the medical cluster. However, other sectors close to the life sciences sector, such as services, agro-food and manufacturing, are also expected to profit from the developments in the medical life sciences. Wisconsin’s strong position in the life science sector constitutes a great advantage and opportunity for exporting.
Several major investments in the Dutch life science sector have already been made by U.S. firms. For example, in 2015 the Dutch company T-cell Factory was taken over for about $21 million by the U.S. firm Kite Pharma. Kite Pharma EU has its headquarters in Amsterdam now, and already agreed to cooperate with NKI, the leading Netherlands Cancer Institute.
These developments in the Dutch life science sector, and the goals set by the Life Science 2030 plan to stimulate the market even more, create opportunities for similar companies in Wisconsin to cooperate with firms and institutes in the Netherlands and generate business and trade opportunities.
In November 2016, Wisconsin companies will have the opportunity to visit the 12th edition of the Dutch Life Sciences conference in Leiden. In the last few years, the conference has hosted more than 300 Dutch companies, as well as international representatives from over 140 companies. The conference gives companies in this sector the opportunity to get in contact with organizations and companies of the life science industry, such as (bio) pharmaceutical firms, health care companies, research institutes and financial sector representatives.