A group of leading figures from the biomedical sector and the industries of which it is a part have founded a new professional organization, which will probably be called biotrend-il. The organization will function as both a group uniting all the workers in the sector and as a meeting point for leaders in startups - something like a cross between a workers organization and a professional organization also aimed at promoting the biotech and pharma industry and facilitating cooperation between entities in the sector.
The leaders of the initiative are MediCan Consulting CEO Alon Ben-Noon, Immune Pharmaceutical scientific development director Keren Weiser, Prize4Life scientific officer Hagit Alon, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) senior VP innovative development Rom Eliaz. The organization is just beginning, but the first professional conference for its members is already being planned for October.
For all the employees in the industry, a benefits club along the lines of Hitech Zone is planned (possibly to be called "Biotech Zone"). "We want to create the same kind of unit pride among employees in the biomed industry as exists among high-tech workers; after all, they aren't very different from high-tech employees," Ben-Noon says. Indeed, salaries educational levels in biomed are similar to those in high tech, from the medium to the high levels (although the situation of beginning biomed employees is not so good).
A website is also being set up for all the employees in the industry; it will feature articles by workers in the industry and criticism of suppliers (inspired by criticism of suppliers for the general public, such as Midrag), a service that does not currently exist. The website will also include a virtual community facilitating direct communication between companies developing products, universities, incubators, and investors.
Only employees in biotech companies with a rank of VP or higher who are personally invited will take part in the organization, and potential investors will also be invited. The companies can present themselves to the investors, and hear professional lecturers on subjects like the future of the pharmaceutical industry, trends that include other industries, and other core topics of concern to the CEOs of these companies in Israel.
There is no unified organization currently representing the biomed industry, and there is no professional group that includes the entire industry. As far as professional groups are concerned, there is an organization for biochemists and microbiologists and laboratory workers affiliated with the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel), but it represents mainly the laboratory workers, not those employed in startups and their business interests. The Manufacturers Association of Israel has a Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Environmental Society, but it is meant mainly for large companies in the field, and is regarded as not very representative of startups. The Israel Life Science Industry (ILSI), which represents the biomed industry, merged with the Israeli Advanced Technology Industries (IATI), which represents the high-tech industry. IATI continues to represent the biomed field, but does not address the needs of the biomed sector exclusively. There are also a number of permanent forums at which biomed industry executives meet, such as BioExecutive Forum and TBM Group conferences, which are aimed mainly at encouraging cooperation between senior executives and the exchange of ideas, but these have no representation of ordinary employees, so it is possible that there is room for another workers organization in the sector.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 29, 2015
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