“We want to position Galicia at the forefront of food developments that are beginning to emerge in the field of alternative protein and precision fermentation,” says José Vilariño, president of Bioga, at the Atlantic Bioprocessing Summit 2025.
Twenty leaders from the biotech ecosystem and 300 attendees are participating in the Atlantic Bioprocessing Summit 2025, the leading forum for the bioprocessing industry in the European Atlantic Area, organized by Bioga and hosted by the Fontán Building of Cidade da Cultura in Santiago de Compostela.

Santiago de Compostela, June 17, 2025. “We want to position Galicia, an autonomous community already renowned for the quality of its raw food ingredients, at the forefront of emerging food developments in the fields of alternative protein and precision fermentation.” The president of the Bioga Business Technology Cluster (Clúster Tecnolóxico Empresarial das Ciencias da Vida – Bioga) launched this challenge this morning at the opening of the Atlantic Bioprocessing Summit 2025, the first edition of the leading forum for the bioprocessing industry in the European Atlantic Area, held at the Fontán Building in the City of Culture in Santiago de Compostela. “We will foster the creation of new startups, spin-offs, new ideas, and new business projects in the field of food-related bioprocesses so they can grow and develop new products that will become part of our daily lives in the near future.” José Manuel López Vilariño, who asserts that bioprocessing is here to stay, also encourages the traditional food industry to “position itself with high value-added products that will experience strong growth in the coming decades, allowing them to gain international market share.” The president of Bioga believes it is time to position Galicia and its biotech ecosystem for the starting point. “In the coming years, new products will emerge that don’t exist today, applications we can’t even imagine; that’s why now is the time to be there, to position ourselves as leaders in this innovative sector.”

The capital of Galicia is bringing together science, industry, and investment for the first time to showcase the latest advances in bioprocesses, the driving force behind the biotechnology revolution. This strategic model uses living organisms, such as cells and enzymes, to generate new value-added products, including medicines, vaccines, and innovative foods. Research and development in this field is driving progress that facilitates the creation of new, more efficient, profitable, and sustainable bioproducts.

Around twenty leading figures from the international biotechnology ecosystem are participating as speakers today at the Atlantic Bioprocessing Summit 2025. The city of Santiago de Compostela is hosting this biotechnology summit, organized by the Business Technology Cluster of Life Sciences (Bioga), which highlights the support of entities and companies such as the Interreg POCTEP IberoBio project, the Galician Regional Government (Xunta de Galicia), CaixaBank DayOne, and CEAMSA for the international event. Three hundred people connected to the biotech sector are expected to attend.

The Galician biotech ecosystem comprises more than 170 biotechnology companies, represented by the Life Sciences Business Technology Cluster (Bioga), which generate annual revenues exceeding €1.5 billion, invest over €115 million annually in Research and Development (R&D), and create more than 6,000 jobs. The Galician biotech sector relies on the Galician Biotechnology Sector Consolidation Strategy 2021-2025 as a central element, structuring the biotechnology ecosystem around the business production network.

The Atlantic Bioprocessing Summit 2025 was inaugurated by Loli Pereiro, manager of Bioga, and Carmen Cotelo, director of the Galician Innovation Agency. Prior to this, Esther Merino Velasco, co-founder of Taba Project, spoke about her initiative focused on research and development in the field of gastronomy. After the coffee break, Fernando Santiago Cajaraville, from the Bühler Group, addressed the search for emerging and technology companies in the United Kingdom.

Round tables

Between 12:30 and 2:00 PM, three roundtables took place. The first, titled “Startups Fueling Change: Foodtech Innovation,” was moderated by Pedro Arenas, Director of Strategic Projects and Corporate Development at CEAMSA. Participants included Iria Varela, CEO and Co-founder of ODS Protein; Sonia Hurtado, CEO and Co-founder of Poseidona; and Ana González, CEO and Co-founder of Protiberia. The second roundtable, titled “Driving Innovation: Strategic Investment in Biotechnology,” was moderated by Josu Cano, Director of Caixabank DayOne Norte. Participants included Juan Cividanes, Managing Partner of theFoodTechlab; Pablo Mosquera, Investment Director at Unirisco; and Víctor Lama, Co-founder of Enzicas. The third roundtable, titled “Technology Centers and Industry: Collaborative Ecosystems for Innovation in Bioprocessing,” was moderated by Manuel Becerra, Professor at the University of A Coruña (UDC). The speakers: Ana Torrejón, from AINIA; María José Chapela, from ANFACO-CECOPESCA; and Julio Fierro, from CETIM

After lunch, at 3:30 p.m., Carlos Campillo Martínez, Public Affairs Manager of the Good Food Institute Europe, spoke; at 3:55 p.m., Amaya Castro Ruiz, Program Management Lead of Wacker Chemie AG; and at 4:15 p.m., Manuel Porcar, CEO of Darwin Bioprospecting.

Before the closing of the Atlantic Bioprocessing Summit 2025, a round table discussion entitled “International Insights in BioProcessing” was held, moderated by Daniel Álvarez, international development manager of Bioga. Participants included Sheena Fraser, from the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC); Cathy Keenan, from the Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy (BiOrbic); and Alexandra Azevedo from Colab4food.

Why is the Galician biotechnology sector, through Bioga, promoting the Atlantic Bioprocessing Summit 2025, a leading forum in bioprocesses? Because Galicia has an innovative and cutting-edge biotechnology industry, with leading companies on the international stage and, at the same time, innovative startups developing state-of-the-art products and services—a favorable scenario for boosting the innovative generation of bioprocesses and the launch of business opportunities in this field, explain Bioga representatives.

+ info: www.bioga.org and https://atlanticbioprocessingsummit.com/ Bioga Press Office: 679.486.961