Introduction

In the healthcare industry, there is symbiosis between the various components of a complex system which is ultimately designed to improve mankind's well-being and meet society's ever increasing expectations for the alleviation of suffering. Universities and researchers want the opportunity to discover and innovate, while the producers of drugs and medical devices must also discover, achieve market share, and return a profit to their investors. The notion of partnership has thereby come to reach into the very heart of the healthcare industry. Medical centers thereby lower costs and receive R&D funding, while industry gains access to new technologies, centers for clinical investigation, and increased market share. Though already an established model in the developed world, the above paradigm has yet to reach many emerging markets. The Bio Cities are the tip of the spear to do just that.

Bio Istanbul

Bio Istanbul is the vision of BCDco in partnership with the Turkish Ministry of Urbanization and Environment, TOKi, and the TOKi affiliate, EPP.

With a population of 17 million, Istanbul is the largest city in Europe and the Middle East. It is also one of the richest, ranking as the ninth wealthiest city in all emerging markets and 34th in the world overall. Istanbul's size and wealth create a unique opportunity for the development of facilities that do not currently exist in the region, such as advanced laboratories, Grade A office space in a park environment, a children's hospital and associated high-end housing. In 2008, the Turkish government recognized the importance of the healthcare industry to the development of the economy and approached BCDco to create a vision of Bio Istanbul. The project infrastructure is currently under construction, with the hospital scheduled to open in 2014.

www.bioistanbul.org

Bio Riyadh

The Riyadh metropolitan area is another large city in the emerging MENA region with a young population and no children's hospital. Bio Riyadh, to be located on a site of 200 hectares just to the South of the metropolitan area is currently planned to include a major medical center, step down facility, significant commercial space in a green, oasis type environment as well as a range of residential spaces. The project site is just 25 minutes from the Kingdom Tower with a new access road to be completed in 2012. The project's official launch is scheduled for Q1 2013

Like Turkey, the Kingdom today has an established class of doctors and scientists both at home and abroad, many of them eagerly awaiting the opportunity to take part in their country's most significant effort towards excellence in pediatric care and biomedical innovation.

Bio Moscow & Other Bio Cities

The Bio Moscow project is in its earliest stages and will not be officially announced before late 2013. Like many projects in Russia today, Bio Moscow is geared towards the preservation and renaissance of an existing culture of scientific discovery and innovation, a culture much damaged by the brain-drain of the last two decades. Moscow, like other cities in the region, today has no main center of pediatric excellence.

BCDco is currently assessing the feasibility of additional Bio Cities in Europe, the Middle East and Far East. Key criteria for the selection of Bio City locations include the political will of the local and national governments, the availability of skilled personnel, the cost of land, the interest of the healthcare industry in a given region and the scientific ambition of the local population.