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Top Barrier 2: Finance Blue Biotechnology is considered to be ‘invisible’ and as such investment is hard to come by. Blue Biotechnology is complex and there is little understanding of it outside the ‘sector’ which does make it an unattractive proposition to investors who lack the expertise, understanding and time to fully realise the applications and potential of Blue Biotechnology. An interface or platform which would bring together investors, SMEs and researchers together could facilitate a better understanding and potentially attract more investors to the sector. In Norway, for example, industry is involved at the early stages of research to provoke interest and to provide basic knowledge. However different types of financing and different solutions are needed at the different stages along the value chain. In fact there can be multiple solutions for the same stage: it is a matter of identifying what will work best in a particular situation. Financing of Blue Biotechnology could happen in waves: first an idea is funded, then background research and initial product development is funded, and finally funding is to upscale, commercialise and bring the product to market. Also discussed was investors’ preference for predictability and certainty in products and the markets, and this includes a predictable regulatory framework within which to operate. It was difficult to determine for participants if financing barriers were specific to Blue Biotechnology or were in fact common to all biotechnology sectors. Top Barrier 3: Knowledge Stakeholders reported that it was not clear what marine biotechnology activities were taking place and who was involved. Mapping the Blue Biotechnology landscape in Europe could be beneficial to financing and collaboration, two issues which are connected. The idea of an interface between industry, research and policy was suggested as a way forward to facilitate knowledge sharing and communication between stakeholder groups. Knowledge is vital in motivating actors to collaborate and informing potential investors. This is an aspect of Blue Biotechnology which is likely to benefit from the recently launched Marine Biotechnology ERA-NET and its coordinating activities. Top Barrier 4: Regulation Stakeholders identified the need for legal certainty in Blue Biotechnology. Regulatory issues relating to the traceability of marine resources was noted as a possible barrier to investment. Researchers are not aware of regulatory requirements and nor do they understand how newly drafted regulation will work in practice. There is a lot of uncertainty in the sector. Policy Options A number of suggestions were made by stakeholders with regards to possible areas of EU intervention. These are as follows:  Support bioprospecting activities;  Facilitate access to samples and data i.e. support biobanks;  Facilitate industry and research collaboration;   Clarify regulatory framework in order to create legal certainty; Introduce a coherent policy plan which is aligned to Member State policies. Conclusion: Ten points of interest The meeting was concluded by a summary of ten points of interest to take forward in the subsequent policy preparation steps: 1. Definition of the Blue Biotechnology sector There is currently no clear definition of a Blue Biotechnology sector. There are so many Blue Biotechnology activities that it may not be possible to create one generalised sector which encompasses such a complex area. Perhaps the ‘sector’ is too complex to delineate and to do so would be counterproductive. In fact different definitions are required for different purposes. Thus for Study in support of Impact Assessment work on Blue Biotechnology 39

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