Vilnius University’s Institute of Biotechnology celebrated its 40th anniversary. To commemorate this special moment, a conference was held in the Lithuanian Academy of Science and welcomed over 150 participants. The establishment of the Institute by four spin-off companies between 1988 and 1994 marked the start of the modern biotech industry in Lithuania. Nowadays, the Institute of Biotechnology is the national leader in life sciences with a total of 10 spin-off companies in 2015.