Asier Albizu: "We need a new model of collaboration that responds to sectoral needs, based on interdisciplinarity and highly qualified talent."

4gune: What is BIOLAN and what are its challenges in a changing global context?

Asier Albizu: BIOLAN is a biotechnology-based company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets advanced and innovative analytical devices for the food and healthcare sector. The company was founded in 2006 in response to a need in the food industry for efficient and rapid analytical tools for quality control and food safety through the detection and quantification of parameters of interest, and it has subsequently gone on to focus on health diagnostics and drug monitoring. 

BIOLAN's analytical and diagnostic solutions are mainly based on amperometric enzymatic biosensors, and have subsequently diversified towards immunochromatographic tests or molecular biology techniques, which is the result of a compendium of the application of various technologies, to which digital technology has been added since 2020. 

BIOLAN's challenge is to further consolidate its global positioning by adapting to the changing environment, essentially because the main premise of our strategy is to respond through innovation to the sector's needs at all times and everywhere.

4gune: In this multifactorial challenge that requires multidisciplinary approaches, how do you see the importance of Business + University collaboration and its potential to contribute to addressing this challenge?

Asier Albizu: BIOLAN has always been committed to collaboration with scientific-technological actors, including, of course, the University. This type of collaboration provides us, on the one hand, with the acquisition of external knowledge, and on the other hand, it offers us the opportunity to attract talent in areas relevant to BIOLAN's technological strategy and the market in which it participates.

Industry in general, and biotechnology in particular, is constantly changing and technological innovation plays a fundamental role in this process. This is why the incorporation of new technologies is essential to remain competitive. 

In this context, it is necessary to strengthen the ties between universities and companies with new collaborative models that enable us to anticipate the challenges of the future, to generate new knowledge and to be able to transfer it to companies in order to develop applications and exploit it by creating value and business.

Furthermore, it is important for BIOLAN that training programmes include this vocation for the exploitation of knowledge, from a multidisciplinary approach, so that the talent of the future can face the social and environmental challenges we face.
 

4gune: In a global arena in which both industry and the University are becoming increasingly internationalised, would you say that there is any differentiating element or added value in cooperation with the Basque University over cooperation with international universities? 

Asier Albizu: Mainly the proximity, the direct link with the territorial context and its impact on the development of the Basque Country.

At BIOLAN, we understand that the Basque University has a better understanding of the needs, challenges and opportunities of the environment, which enables collaboration to be more aligned with the priorities here, generating a direct and faster impact on the socio-economic environment.

In BIOLAN's "Kilometre 0" strategy, the commitment to collaboration with the Basque University is a commitment to geographical proximity that facilitates this relationship and fosters the creation of more long-term alliances based on trust, which enables us to generate stronger ties and exploit synergies with greater flexibility to adapt to changes in the context.

We believe that working with the universities of the Basque Country also helps us to retain talent, encouraging students and professionals to stay here, boosting the Basque economy and generating positive feedback between the university and the business sector.
 

4gune: Desde el punto de vista de tu industria, ¿hacia dónde debe evolucionar la Universidad para seguir contribuyendo a responder a las demandas del sector?

Asier Albizu: At BIOLAN, we believe that, in order to continue effectively contributing to the demands of the biotechnology sector, the University must evolve in several strategic directions, such as promoting interdisciplinary training that combines technical skills in various technological areas, integrating new trends and technological branches, such as, for example, digital or those related to environmental sustainability. 
 
On the other hand, we consider the promotion of knowledge transfer to be essential, to ensure that, whenever appropriate, it is not limited to the academic sphere, but feeds innovation in the industrial sectors, with the university being a driving force for new applications of the knowledge generated to create value and wealth.

In short, the university must reinforce a model of close collaboration with industry, in order to provide a real response to the needs of the different sectors, through multi- and interdisciplinarity, as well as highly qualified talent.

4gune: Do you think that programmes like 4gune + PARKE can play a role in this evolution?

Asier Albizu: Yes, indeed. At BIOLAN, we believe that this type of programme plays an important role in collaboration and technology transfer. This initiative fosters the relationship between the different players and fosters the exchange of knowledge, from a comprehensive and open approach to different challenges that leads to innovation, contributing to competitiveness and economic growth in various ways.

We believe that the 4gune +PARKE Programme fosters the creation of a new collaborative ecosystem between Business + University in which innovation must be the ultimate goal, moving forward in a coordinated and comprehensive manner to continue generating value.
 

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