ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM
BIO Startup Program 2022
As in many other sectors, startups are the dynamic business model that successfully proved to be the new locomotive power of the pharmaceutical industry during the pandemic. In today's pharmaceutical R&D, startups are the main actors of innovation. Having become the new carriers of innovation in basic research, startups have also taken their place as important actors in the pharmaceutical value chain. Between 2016-2018, 65% of the 118 new drug licenses granted by the FDA were issued to startups.
One of the most important contributions of AIFD and its member companies to the Turkish economy and society is their support to innovation. With this mission, to support startups, the new carriers of innovation, and thus contribute to the development of the innovative pharmaceutical industry in our country, AIFD has assumed since 2019 the patronage of the "BIO Startup Program", Türkiye's first biotechnology-themed accelerator program, which was launched by ReDis Innovation in 2016 and has successfully implemented the program on an annual basis since 2019.
The BIO Startup Program, which aims to play an accelerating role in the growth of biotechnology startups in our country and the access of bioentrepreneurs to global connections, consists of providing intensive training and mentoring within the framework of a bioentrepreneurship camp for startups that are eligible to participate in the program, participation in the BIO Startup Demo Day, where candidates will be evaluated by the jury formed as a result of this preparation process, and meetings where the startups selected by the jury are brought together with investors after a comprehensive preparation process.
The BIO Startup Program has an important place in the future of life sciences, innovation, and R&D. With this accelerator program, startups have been provided with various trainings such as marketing, licensing and regulations. Since the start of the program, startups have met many innovations in their fields of work, learned to look at their startups from different angles thanks to the trainings, started to specialize and started working to overcome their deficiencies.
In 2022, 14 bioentrepreneurs applied to the BIO Startup Program. After the evaluation phase of the applications to the BIO Startup Program was completed, the program was launched with 7 startups.
In 2022, entrepreneurs who completed the online training and mentorship process attended the Bioentrepreneurship Camp and received training and mentorship from expert trainers and leading professionals in the sector. The startups participating in the camp also had the chance to get in touch with representatives of global AIFD member companies and benefit from their experiences. In 2022, unlike previous years, experts from the local or global relevant departments of AIFD member companies (Innovation, Start-up collaborations, Accelerator Program & Incubation Center, CVC-Investment branches, etc.) shared training and experience within the scope of Bio-Entrepreneurship Camp.
Five bio-entrepreneurs selected among the bio-entrepreneurs by the jury at the BIO Startup Demo Day event continued to meet and hold meetings with the actors of the global biotechnology ecosystem, investors and companies within the scope of the "BIO Startup Global Company and Investor Meetings" of the program.
The BIO Startup Program, which AIFD has been running since 2019, is planned to be transformed into a year-round platform within AIFD in 2023, instead of an annual program, both to differentiate it from other startup development programs and to profit from the accumulated experience.
