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The chemicals and life sciences sector remains the undisputed leader in innovation. The amount spent on R & D in Belgian chemicals, plastics and pharmaceuticals almost doubled to €4.5 billion in 2018, a new record, and life sciences (pharmaceuticals and biotechnologies) account for nearly 90% of total R & D expenditure in the sector.

Innovation is the life blood of the chemical and life sciences industry. essenscia’s innovative research is therefore crucial to the development of new products, applications and services in the federation’s 10 strategic priorities: Circular Economy; Sustainable Development; Energy & Climate; Talent (Labour market, education and training); Social dialogue (Labour relations); Product safety (REACH - Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances, CLP - Classification, Labelling and Packaging of hazardous Products); Safety, Security, Health and Environment; Innovation & IPR; International Trade; and Infrastructure & logistics.

A quarter of Belgium’s private sector researcher population is working for the chemical, plastics and life sciences industry (about 7,800 full-time equivalent scientific researchers in 2017). That is why the Belgian pharmaceutical industry is highly R&Dintensive: according to EFPIA, it ranked second behind the United Kingdom in 2015 as regards R & D/production.

A European leader in clinical trials

In 2016 Belgium was second in place in Europe with 1,399 clinical trials and 507 new applications. It also accounted for 20% of all clinical trials in the EU for cancer, 25% of all clinical trials in the EU for the digestive system and 23% of all clinical trials in the EU for virus diseases.

In this framework essenscia has set up a strong IP strategy since it is a key to the sector’s competitiveness. Since 2010 the number of patents doubled. Chemicals, pharmaceuticals and biotechs account for 1/3 of all Belgian patents. A new record was even reached in 2018 with 455 patents, an increase of 76% in 5 years. This comes as no surprise since Belgium is home to leading R&D’s centers with focus on sustainable innovation. Indeed, worldwide technical competence centers are part of the Belgian chemical cluster: BASF Antwerp, Evonik, Covestro, Soudal, AGFA, Solvay, INEOS, Eastman, ExxonMobil, P&G, Total, Dow Corning, Prayon… to name only a few.

Numerous initiatives in the field of innovation

Numerous initiatives have been launched by essenscia. In 2011 the federation created the essenscia Patent Cell for chemistry and life sciences in order to provide support to the chemical and life sciences companies, in particular SMEs, so as to protect their innovation. Various actions are being undertaken such as workshops, tailor-made advice, technology watch, communication actions… “How to optimize your IP portpolio?” and “Technical tools to develop and protect your intellectual property” are among the topics covered.

For its part, the biannual essenscia Innovation Award is the most prestigious prize for industrial innovation in Belgium. It was launched in 2012 and relies upon the support of the Patent Cell. With this competition essenscia aims to promote the many innovations in the Belgian industry and to encourage companies to invest even more in innovative and sustainable products and applications. Access to the competition is open to all industrial companies operating in Belgium. During the evaluation of the innovation projects the jury takes into account various criteria such as a clear link with chemistry, life sciences or materials, the contribution towards sustainable development, the strategy for intellectual property management and the value added for the Belgian economy. The winner is awarded a prize of €30.000.

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To date 130 innovation projects have been submitted. And the various editions of this high level award ceremony all enjoyed a nationwide press coverage, allowing broad recognition for winners (Emulco/BASF, Agfa Graphics, GSK…) but also finalists. In 2019 the Innovation Award gained extra allure because essenscia celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. By participating applicants contributed to a century brimful of innovation. The award ceremony took place on 2 April 2019 in Brussels and rewarded Mithra and its flagship product Estelle, a new generation contraceptive pill based on the natural hormone estetrol.

Free assistance and strategic advice to start-ups and SMEs

Following the success of the first Innovation Award, essenscia founded the Innovation Circle in 2013 with the support of Deloitte and KULeuven. Thanks to this Circle start-ups and SMEs active in the fields of chemistry, materials and life sciences are provided with free assistance and strategic advice by former CEOs of the industry. This partnership allowed the evaluation of 75 projects.

As for the Innovation Fund, it was established in 2015 as a further step in essenscia’s permanent strive to boost innovation. This initiative enjoys the financial support of major industrial companies. The Innovation Fund aims at investing in innovative start-ups in chemistry, materials and life sciences with a strong focus on sustainability and digitalisation. As a result a capital of €28 million was invested in 21 promising companies such as InOpSys, PharmaFluidics, TrendMiner, Proceedix, REIN4CED, Univercells, Circular Organics…

Another important step by essenscia was the Innovation Academy: this joined initiative of Deloitte and the Innovation Circle started in 2017. In this framework Deloitte professionals act temporarily as interim CxO in order to assist start-ups in their innovation process and commercial growth.

Les Zinnovants

Essenscia is not only working with fellow member companies from the chemicals and life sciences sector. In order to be convinced of this, it suffices to consider “Les Zinnovants”: this unique collaboration between the federation and UCL university has yielded ten humorous videos to stimulate innovation. “First is not always best”, “Convince” or “Ask yourself the right questions” are among the themes investigated. These videos provide students and companies with alternative tools for creative brainstorming and innovation processes.

What is more essenscia is implied in competitivity clusters for open innovation, catalysators for a sustainable chemistry: Catalisti in Flanders, GreenWin and BioWin in Wallonia. Together they work on renewable chemicals (using nature’s power), process intensification (faster, smaller, better), sidestream valorisation (waste becomes resource), and advanced sustainable products (clean and green). This collaboration enables progress in the field of production of sustainble products and materials, sustainable integration of materials, as well as treatment and valorisation of waste.

Essenscia is the main shareholder in BlueChem, the first incubator for sustainable chemistry in the Benelux that is due to open in Antwerp in 2020. Dedicated to start-ups and SME’s in chemistry, BlueChem will promote collaborative research projects in coopera tion with large enterprises and will be a meeting point for technology scouting and open innovation. The incubator will rely upon state-of-the-art infrastructure (3,375 m²): 3 ready-touse & 12 customizable labs; 24 private offices; 4 large offices for partner companies; 20 flexible workplaces; and 5 meeting rooms & large board rooms. It will also be a top location for investment prospecting.

Innovations that contribute to a successful approach of the climate challenge

The chemicals, plastics and life sciences sector is striving to become a world leader in energy efficiency. Examples of innovations include hyper-efficient batteries for better energy storage, ultralight materials for a lower fuel consumption in transport, high-performance insulation for sustainable construction, essential building blocks for renewable energy, insulation materials for energy efficient household appliances, and CO 2 as a raw material for the production of mattresses. These examples all contribute to address global societal challenges such as the reduction of CO 2 -emissions and the transformation of CO 2 and wastestreams into valuable resources. This resonates perfectly with essenscia’s creed: improving everyone’s quality of life.

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essenscia Federation for Chemistry and Life Sciences Industries Contact: Yves Verschueren Managing Director essenscia Tel.: +32 2 238 97 11 E-mail : yverschueren@essenscia.be www.essenscia.be @essenscia_NL @essenscia_FR facebook.com/essenscia