Asebio and Garrigues sign a collaboration agreement to provide legal advice to new biotechnology companies
The Spanish Association of Biotechnology Enterprises (ASEBIO) and the law firm Garrigues have signed a collaboration agreement in Madrid to provide legal advice to biotechnology start-ups.
The agreement lays the foundations for a specific legal advice program to be offered by Garrigues, on special terms, to biotech firms. The program will cover the various start-up and launch phases for new enterprises, and thus sets the stage for a joint venture, the top priority of which is to encourage the creation of a biotechnology infrastructure in Spain.
The agreement arises from the need to take specific action to help the biotechnology industry reach similar levels of competitiveness and growth to those in other European countries and the rest of the world. In the field of law, the biotechnology industry has certain special characteristics which require specialist advice. With this agreement, new or recently-formed biotech concerns will be able to call on the specialist advice they need to take their first steps, enabling ventures to get underway rapidly and efficiently.
The advisory services provided by Garrigues will focus on the areas of corporate/commercial, tax, employment and labor, and intellectual property law, notwithstanding any potential agreements subsequently with the enterprises. Any biotechnology firms introduced by ASEBIO can benefit from this agreement, provided they are newly-formed entities or have been operating for no more than three years.
About ASEBIO
The Spanish Association of Biotechnology Enterprises (ASEBIO) has nearly 80 members (large enterprises and SMEs, associations, foundations, technological centers, universities and IPOs) from the worlds of business and research in Spain.
Since 1999, ASEBIO has served as a platform for exchanging ideas and promoting organizations interested in the development of Spain’s biotechnology scene. To this end, it works closely with the regional, national and European authorities, as well as with socla organizations with an interest in the use of biotechnology to improve quality of life, the environment, and to create skilled employment.
About Garrigues
Garrigues is today Continental Europe’s largest law firm. Founded in 1941, it currently offers integral and effective advisory services in all tax and legal areas, backed up by a workforce of 1,525 professionals. It has the largest network of offices in Spain (in 24 cities) as well as its own offices in Brussels, New York, Lisbon, Shanghai and Casablanca.
On the international stage, Garrigues promotes “Affinitas”, the Latin American Alliance of Lawyers (present in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Peru and Portugal). Furthermore, it is one of the founding members of Taxand, the independent international alliance dedicated exclusively to tax matters, formed in 2005 and currently boasting 30 member firms from four continents.