Health & Life Science Cluster Bulgaria is a professional non-government organisation that was founded to unify the efforts of experts, scientists, practitioners, researchers, academic institutions, start-ups, globally established companies, incubators, technology transfer companies, journalists, marketing and PR experts, who work for the advancement of biotechnology and life sciences field in Bulgaria. The main goals as an organization are to position and popularize Bulgaria as a global centre for health and life sciences, to support the growth of the health and biotechnology sectors, as well as to encourage the synergy between the academy, media, entrepreneurs, investors, public institutions and start-ups, in order to turn innovative ideas into new products and bring new technological solutions on the market.

The cluster participates in the establishment and the Management Board of the Association Bioscientific Society Bulgaria, which aims to support the development of biosciences in Bulgaria and the consolidation of a unified society of representatives of the Bulgarian bioscience community, working and studying both within Bulgaria and abroad. The cluster is a member of the Managing Board of the biggest employer association in Bulgaria - the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (KRIB), which produces three-quarters of the GDP of the country.

The Health & Life Science Cluster focuses its efforts on the development of a technology program at all levels: regional, national and international. It has an official partnership with national authorities (Ministry of Innovation and Growth, Ministry of Economic, BSMEPA, Bulgarian Investment Agency), regional authorities (Sofia Municipality, Varna Municipality, Stara Zagora Municipality, Bourgas, Plovdiv), universities and R&D centres (the Medical University of Sofia, Medical University of Plovdiv, Sofia University, Trakia University, Technical University, GATE, BAS, Quasar, Perimed, Sofia Tech Park) and it is a member of the newly established EDIH - Zagore.

The cluster has a project with Sofia Municipality and Sofia Tech Park for the creation of the first BioCenter in Bulgaria that will be started at the beginning of 2021. The strong collaboration with the innovative ecosystem allows us to attract high impact over our communicational messages.

The cluster cooperates with related networks and clusters in Europe, which contribute to the experience and access to the life sciences sector. The Cluster is a Member of EuropaBio (https://www.europabio.org/), Europe’s largest and most influential biotech industry organization, CEBR - Council of European Bioregions (https://www.cebr.net/), ECHAlliance (www.echalliance.com), ECCP https://clustercollaboration.eu/, DIH.Net and has strong support and partnership with local authorities, European represents international partners such as Oxentia (www.oxentia.com), Deep Knowledge Group: DKG (www.dkv.global), etc.

Health & Life Sciences Cluster Bulgaria already has two successful project proposals next to Horizon Europe.

·       VELES EXCELLENCE HUB (Strengthening the South-East Europe Smart Health Regional Excellence and Boosting the Innovation Potential), HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS-04

·       INNAXE (Inclusive & aligned INNovation Agendas across Europe), HORIZON-EIE-2021-CONNECT-01-01

The cluster has a strong collaboration in the SEE region with Greece (iED, Joist), Romania (RoHeath, etc.), Turkey (Bogazici University, DAI, Ankara Theranostics, Tekiu, etc.), Serbia (AI Serbia, AIDA Technologies, etc.) & other Balkan countries.

The cluster has a strong partnership with AI Cluster Bulgaria (www.aicluster.bg), which is among the founders of the EAIF - European AI Forum, together with CroAI (Croatian AI Association), Hub France IA, KI Bundesverband (Germany), ai4si (AI for Slovenia), AI Austria, Nederlandse AI Coalitie | NL AIC (Netherlands), Digitalpoland Foundation (Poland) and the Artificial Intelligence Association of Lithuania. The EAIF is the first not-for-profit organisation acting as a familiar European voice for more than 2,000 AI companies in Europe.

The Program of the Cluster is based on several strategic directions and consists of a number of projects, which are closely interlinked and support the realization of the objectives of the Cluster.

●        Spin-off Bulgaria Initiative  http://spinoff.bg/

●        Life Sciences Park (in collaboration with Sofia Municipality and Sofia Tech Park

●        Creation of Life Sciences Innovation Hubs / on a regional level (Blagoevgrad, Stara Zagora, Varna, Ruse)

●        Mapping of life sciences resources and potential in Bulgaria

●        Hackathons - AI & I, AI Girls (with Digital National Alliance and EIB), Sciences with the Future (with America for Bulgaria Foundation)

●        Regulation - Regulation - Ethic, IP, NEIA, AI Act, Chips Act, Data Act

●        Media Center / Sciences PR

●        Female Entrepreneurship: GRIT - International Female Accelerator (https://grit-femaleaccelerator.com/)

●        Venture Build Studios

●        Life Sciences Club (Next to Sofia Tech Park) https://www.facebook.com/ClubBiotechnology/

●        Collaboration on EU and International Projects