Science City York managers today expressed delight at the success of the first White Rose Bioscience Forum in York.

The two-day Forum was organised by the White Rose University consortium - comprising the three Universities of York, Leeds and Sheffield - in conjunction with the UK Bioindustry Association, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Yorkshire Forward, and other sponsors.

More than 200 delegates from around the UK converged on the Central Science Laboratory at Sand Hutton, which showcased the region's research strengths, including the new bio-incubator facility on York Science Park, and a wide range of technologies now being developed by more than 150 Yorkshire companies.

Keynote contributors included Dr Trevor Nicholls, chief executive of Oxagen; John Purvis, the Scottish MEP who has particular expertise in bioscience; Crispin Kirkman, the chief executive of the Bioindustry Association; and Chris O'Donnell, chief executive of Smith & Nephew.

For Dr Nicholls, the event was a return to his roots, having attained both his BA and his DPhil at the University of York in the 1970s, before going on to head one of the UK's fastest-growing biotechnology companies. He said he was amazed and delighted at the extent of the high-tech developments which have grown up in York in recent years.

For Chris O'Donnell, the forum provided a chance to explain Smith & Nephew's global development strategy. He suggested that healthcare companies such as his were increasingly turning to biotechnology to develop the products of tomorrow.

Those products include Dermagraft, an organic skin patch for healing wounds, which achieved approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a few weeks ago.

He also spoke about the company's decision to site its worldwide Group Research Centre in York, and the long-term success of its collaboration with the University of York.

The Forum also featured contributions from more than 70 other speakers from local universities and companies.

Afterwards, Professor Colin Garner, chief executive of the York-based Centre for Biomedical Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (CBAMS), said: "We are delighted with the Forum. Events such as these are all about quality contacts - and I have already met two potential customers and a potential investor.

"So it has not just been an interesting conference - it has also been good business."

Steve Poile, managing director, of Pharmalicensing Ltd, said: "This Forum provided us with an excellent opportunity to network with leading companies in our region, and highlighted the growing strength of Yorkshire as a centre for biotech excellence."

Anna Rooke, project manager of Science City York, who masterminded the event, said she was delighted at its success. "The number and quality of the delegates, and their enthusiastic participation, has helped to cement our reputation as one of the UK's leading bioscience clusters," she said.