The Board met at the end of March at Byondis in Nijmegen, a leading biotech company on the Westkanaaldijk industrial estate. The meeting focused on innovation in healthcare, accelerating smart sustainability and strengthening the regional lobby towards the coalition agreement.
Byondis: innovative strength in the region
Huub Sanders, co-founder of Byondis, welcomed the Board to the campus. Following this, Christoph Korpus, CEO of Byondis, gave an inspiring presentation on the company's activities. Byondis develops pioneering cancer treatments based on targeted therapies and precision medicine.
A key spearhead are so-called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs): advanced therapies that target cancer cells in a highly targeted way. Originating from Synthon, Byondis has developed into an international player, with strong roots in Nijmegen.
The campus in Nijmegen is a unique place where research, development and pharmaceutical production come together. In this way, Byondis not only contributes to medical breakthroughs, but also to strengthening the regional innovation ecosystem and talent development.
More ambition on smart sustainability
Besides Health innovation, Smart Sustainability, or circularity, was also on the agenda. The Board talked about the need to further raise ambitions in the region and, above all, to accelerate implementation.
Lifeport Regio Arnhem Nijmegen distinguishes itself through a strong combination of knowledge institutions, innovative SMEs and involved authorities. Within this triple helix, many sustainable innovations are already being developed and applied, but scaling them up remains a challenge.
The Economic Board sees a clear role here: to accelerate cooperation between companies, knowledge institutes and practical projects. This is done in close cooperation with the Green Arnhem-Nijmegen Metropolitan Region (GMR), which is working on future-proof building, circular economy and a strong green-blue framework, among other things.
Ambassadors Smart Sustainability and regional partners examine how existing initiatives can be realised faster and on a larger scale. The focus is on better linking knowledge and entrepreneurship to ongoing area approaches.
Lobby sheets: opportunities towards the coalition agreement
An important part of the meeting was discussing the lobby agenda and the opportunities the coalition agreement offers for the region. From the economic top clusters Energy, Health and High Tech, the region is working on concrete proposals, the so-called lobby sheets.
These sheets identify promising projects and programmes with which the region can contribute to national challenges, such as solving grid congestion (Energy), keeping healthcare accessible and affordable (Health) and accelerating technological transitions through semicon and high-tech (High Tech).
The inventory is done in close cooperation with regional partners, including companies, knowledge institutes and governments. The outcomes form direct input for the regional lobby, the Regional Investment Agenda (RIA) and the Lifeport Partner Fund. Insights from reports such as those by Wennink and Draghi are also included.
By connecting innovations from Energy, Health and High Tech with the themes of housing and mobility, the region is working on an integrated approach that brings together innovation, liveability and accessibility. This not only strengthens the region's economic profile, but also its position at national and European level.
10 years of The Economic Board
The meeting also marked a special milestone: 10 years of The Economic Board. In that period, the region has gone through a clear development, from consultation and exploration to concrete results and visible impact. With initiatives such as the Regio Deal, talent plans in the semicon and energy sectors and the Lifeport Partner Fund, in which dozens of partners now work together, the foundations have been laid for structural strengthening of the regional economy.
Chairman Alexandra van Huffelen emphasised the region's growing position in this respect: "What happens here is world-class."
Director Jan van Dellen looked both back and forward: "In the past ten years, the foundations have been laid. This is just the beginning." With a sharp focus on the Energy, Health and High Tech clusters and strong cooperation between government, entrepreneurs and knowledge institutions, the region continues to build on broad prosperity and innovation.
The meeting at Byondis again underlined the power of cooperation within Lifeport Regio Arnhem Nijmegen. With a strong basis in knowledge, innovation and sustainability, the region works together to create a future-proof Netherlands.
