2007

2007

 January:

• In collaboration with other researchers from France and the Netherlands, a research group at the National Genotyping Center identifies the gene responsible for the accumulation of triglycerides in NLSDM (neutral lipid storage disease with myopathy). The results are published in Nature Genetics in January 2007.
  [+] Press release
• January: the role of GenOdyssee’s GEA007.1 interferon in the treatment of hepatitis C is confirmed by American researchers. The study data (published in January in PNAS) demonstrate the importance of interferon-stimulated gene 15 in the host response to infection and thus concur with GenOdyssee’s own results (published in December 2006).
• January 31st-February 2nd: G1J runs a workshop entitled “Pre-Seed Funding: a Launchpad for Accessing Venture Capital” at the Entrepreneurs Show in Paris - a key meeting for company managers and business service providers.
  
   February:
  
  
• February: BioSolution (based in the “Genopole Entreprises” business incubator since January 1st 2007) announces the signature of a collaboration agreement with the Spanish company Integromics. The terms of the agreement grant BioSolution the right to market and distribute Integromics’ software solutions for genomic, proteomics and drug discovery in France.
  
• February 1st: François Goulard, French Minister Delegate for Higher Education and Research, visits Genopole® and announces the creation of a Genomics Research Institute under the auspices of the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) via the merger of the Evry-based Genoscope (the National Sequencing Center) and the National Genotyping Center.
  
• February 2nd–4th: Genopole® attends the European Career Fair in Boston with three objectives: (i) help promote the “reverse brain drain” for European researchers, (ii) detect, interest and attract high-quality candidates to Genopole and (iii) identify European or international skills likely to aid the development of Genopole®’s portfolio companies.
  
• February 13th: the Arte TV channel broadcasts a program entitled “Tous semblables, tous différents” (“All the same, all different”). Pierre Tambourin (CEO of Genopole®) and Florian Holsboer (Director of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Germany) participate in the international debates on ethics and society.
  
   March:
  
  
• March: Nautilus Biotech files an IND for oral Belerofon® at the FDA. Belerofon® is potentially indicated in the treatment of a number of diseases, including chronic hepatitis C. The company also signs a collaboration and licensing agreement with HanAll Pharmaceutical (KSE 009420) on the development and marketing of three of its products in South Korea.
  [+] Communiqué de presse
  
• March 15th–16th : Genopole® attends the BioEntrepreneur 2007 event (BIOMEDEC) in Paris.
  
   April:
  
  
• April: Novagali Pharma announces positive results for the pivotal phase III clinical trial of Vekacia® for the treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis. On the basis of these data, Novagali plans to file an MAA at the EMEA by mid-2007. Novagali Pharma also announces the start of a strategic collaboration and the signature of a licensing agreement with Topigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a biopharmaceutical company specializing in respiratory disease) in the field of ocular allergies and allergic rhinitis.
  
• Nautilus Biotech launches a phase I clinical trial of subcutaneous Belerofon®, potentially indicated in the treatment of a number of diseases, including chronic hepatitis C.
  
• HORIBA Jobin Yvon announces its collaboration with GenOptics for the worldwide distribution of its label-free, real-time surface plasmon resonance imaging systems.
  [+] Press release
  
• LFB S.A. and MilleGen announce the signature of a collaboration agreement on the development of a new generation of recombinant monoclonal antibodies, with greater therapeutic efficacy and thus better cost-effectiveness.
  
• A research group from the GenHotel lab publishes data in PNAS confirming the genetic linkage between the PTPN22 gene and rheumatoid arthritis (the most common auto-immune disease).
  [+] Press release
  
• April 4th: NOKAD obtains the first functional KO in the rat. The results reveal a new function for the erythropoietin receptor and potentially open the way to treatment of post-chemotherapy platelet deficiencies.
  
• April 15th: The LEPHE exercise physiology lab (headed by Véronique Billat) achieves a first by measuring cardiac flow in 10 runners during the Paris Marathon. This experiment helps understand how the cardiovascular system adapts to exercise.
  
   May
  
  
• May 7th-11th: The Epigenomics Program lab hosts a high-level course entitled “The Complexity of Biological Networks”.
  
• May 24th: To mark the arrival of the 60th campus company (Sigma-Aldrich Proligo), the CEOs of all Evry-based biotech firms are officially presented with Genopole® accreditation.
  [+] Press release
  
   June
  
  
• June: in the wake of a €8.4 million round of fundraising, Nautilus Biotech obtains FDA authorization for the launch of phase I clinical trials of oral BELEROFON® in the United States.
  [+] Press release
• Novagali Pharma’s Vekacia® (a cyclosporine A-based drug for the treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis) obtains orphan designation from the FDA.
  [+] Press release
• Jean Weissenbach, a CNRS research director and CEO of the Genoscope National Sequencing Center, is awarded France’s “Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale” prize.
• The COBRED consortium (Colon and Breast Cancer Diagnostics) led by BioSystems International receives a €2.9 million grant from the European Commission.
• A group of researchers from the INSERM “Genetics and Epigenetics of Metabolic, Neurosensory and Developmental Diseases” Unit 781 obtains encouraging results in a phase I/II trial for the treatment of neurological damage caused by Friedreich’s ataxia. The data offer good short-term prospects for therapy of this seriously incapacitating disease.
  [+] Press release
  
• June 9th: Genopole attends the European Research and Innovation Exhibition in Paris.
  
• June 26th: The MEDICEN Paris Region competitiveness cluster holds its Annual General Meeting.
  
   July
  
  
• July: the French national technology start-up competition has become one of the Ministry for Research’s main innovation support tools. Following the nomination of projects by regional juries, 2007’s 9th edition of the competition saw national prizes awarded to 3 Genopole®-based candidates: Cellvir and Visiorel in the “Creation & Development” category and Pierre Malvoisin in the “Emergence” category. The competition can award significant financial support to company creators and entrepreneurs (up to €450,000 for the best projects).
  
• Genopole® accredits BioQuanta, an R&D company offering a range of services to biotech companies, the pharmaceutical industry, the cosmetics industry and academic laboratories. The company has designed and developed a high precision in silico platform for drug design and molecular modeling.
  
• The INSERM AVENIR/Genopole® ATIGE/I-Stem research group led by Michel Pucéat becomes one of France’s first research groups to be authorized to work on human embryonic stem cells. In collaboration with Philippe Ménasche (a heart surgeon at the Georges Pompidou European hospital and Director of the INSERM “Cell Therapy in Cardiovascular Disease" Unit 633), Michel Pucéat’s group demonstrates for the first time that human embryonic stem cells can differentiate into cardiac cells within diseased rat hearts.
  
• July 7th: the cornerstone ceremony for the future South Ile-de-France Medical Center (Centre Hospitalier Sud Francilien, CHSF) takes place.
  
   August
  
  
• August: major progress is made in understanding plant biology, with the publication in Nature of the first detailed analysis of the grape vine genome sequence. Collaborative work by scientists from the Evry Génoscope (part of the CEA Genomics Institute) and INRA in France, several universities and the Istituto di Genomica Applicata (IGA) in Italy has led to publication of the first detailed sequence of the genome of the grapevine, Vitis vinifera. The researchers obtained a very high quality sequence - a first for a fruit-bearing plant that is cultivated both for fresh fruits and the latter’s transformation into wine. The results will improve our understanding of plant evolution and the genes involved in giving wine its aromatic properties
  [+] Press release
  
   September
  
  
• September 11th: Inauguration of the I-Stem and SABNP laboratories, in the presence of Valerie Pécresse, France’s Minister for Higher Education and Research.
  
• Genopole® Services (intended to provide campus companies with shared services) launches a pilot project with a group of 20 companies: for 2 to 3 months, the latter will benefit from free, unlimited access to all or part of the databases of several publishers, such as Elsevier, Nature and ADIS Insight. The next objective is to offer online access at special rates to all the companies in the Genopole® portfolio.
  
• the electrophoresis company Sebia commits to an environmentally responsible approach and receives Level 1 accreditation in an environmental quality management system audit by LNE, a publicly-funded research organization whose mission involves the performance of studies and research for consumer protection and sustainable development.
  
• Sigma Aldrich Proligo (a specialist in DNA and RNA synthesis) receives ISO 9001v2000 accreditation for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of oligonucleotides for use in research.
  
• September 13th: Genopole® hosts the presentation of a “White Biotech” sector monograph, organized by the Regional Directorate for Industry, Research and the Environment (DRIRE).
  
• September 26-28th: LThe 2007 edition of the EuroBio show takes place in Lille: Genopole® runs a joint booth with 7 companies from its portfolio: BioSolution, Drugabilis, Genosafe, Sigma Aldrich Proligo, Texcell, Watchfrog and Xentech. The MEDICEN Paris Region cluster exhibits on a neighboring booth. [+] Press release
  
   October
  
  
• October : GenoSafe® (a company specializing in evaluation of the safety and efficacy of biotherapeutic products) increases its lab space by 30% and reinforces its scientific team by recruiting six staff. The company is responding to strong growth in its business activity.
  [+] Press release
  
• As every year, Genopole® opens its doors to the public during the France’s national Science Week, with support from Essonne County Council. This year’s program includes visits to laboratories and biotech companies, the “Junior Gene Café”, an exhibition on DNA, the “DNA School” workshops at Généthon, Genopole® and the Evry 2 shopping mall and, lastly, the play entitled “What makes humankind?” (performed at the Evry Forum), written and performed by Marie-Odile Monchicourt, a science journalist at Radio France.
  [+] Program
  
• Genopole® exhibits at the Fitness and Health Show at the Porte de Versailles convention center in Paris. A seminar by Pierre Tambourin and “DNA School” workshops enable the general public to become more familiar with issues in genetics and healthcare.
  
• Signature of the founding charter for the Clinical and Translational Research Center.
  [+] Press release
  
• The ESPCI (the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, in Paris) and Genopole® start an educational collaboration aimed at promoting a Masters in Bio-engineering and training multidisciplinary engineers in physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and the engineering sciences. The University of Evry-Val d’Essonne joins the collaboration in order to further reinforce the attractiveness of the Evry campus for students.
  
• Researchers discover how Agrobacterium tumefaciens (a bacterium causing tumors in plants) uses the plant’s own defense mechanisms to insert a DNA fragment into the host genome - a Trojan horse strategy! The results were generated by work initiated by Heribert Hirt (now Research Director of the joint INRA/CNRS/University of Evry-Val d’Essonne Plant Genomics Research Unit Genopole®) whilst at the University of Vienna and were published on October 19, 2007 in the online edition of Science.
  [+] Press release
  
   November
  
  
• November: Vaxon Biotech (the biopharmaceutical R&D company specializing in cancer immunotherapy) announces that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products has granted orphan drug status to its Vx-001 product. Vx-001 is intended to treat HLA2 patients suffering from non-small cell lung cancer expressing the TERT antigen. Another lead compound (Vx-006) is also in Phase I/II clinical development in the treatment of prostate cancer.
  [+] Press release
  
• Les équipes d’Eric Le Cam du laboratoire “Interactions moléculaires et cancer” (UMR 8126 - Institut Gustave Roussy/CNRS/Université Paris Sud) et de David Pastré, du laboratoire Structure et activité des biomolécules normales et pathologiques – SABNP ont développé une nouvelle méthode d’observation de l’ADN par microscopie de force atomique dans des conditions très proches de celles du vivant.
  [+] Communiqué de presse
  
• CEBR Showcase - Novembre 2007 - Bruxelles
  Researchers led by Eric Le Cam (from the joint Institut Gustave-Roussy/CNRS/University of Paris-Sud UMR 8126 “Molecular Interactions and Cancer” laboratory) and David Pastre (from the INSERM U829/University of Evry-Val d’Essonne’s “Structure and Activity of Normal and Pathological Biomolecules” lab at Genopole®) develop a new atomic force microscopy method for imaging DNA under conditions very similar to those found in living systems.
  website.

• November18-22th: Genopole® and Marc Peschanski (Director of the I-Stem institute) organize a high-level course on stem cells and their therapeutic applications. Seventeen world-famous specialists address four main themes: embryonic, mesenchymal, hematopoietic and organ stem cells and cloning.
  
   December
  
  
• December: The 10th edition of the INPI Ile-de-France 2007 Innovation Trophies rewards the Génoplante Valor plant genetics exploitation consortium for its research work and its pro-active policies in innovation and intellectual property management.
  [+] Press release

• The protein engineering company Biomethodes publishes an article in Nature on its proprietary THR™ technology, which solves the problem of protein stability.
  
• Oxalya (a company providing public and private-sector R&D labs with a comprehensive range of software packages and services for scientific calculation and numerical modeling) moves into the Tour Evry 2 building on the Genopole® Evry campus.
  
• December 7-8th: Téléthon : €102,315,233! This figure corresponds to the funds raised by the 2007 edition of the French national Telethon, organized on December 7 and 8 by the French Muscular Dystrophy Association (AFM) and the France Televisions national broadcasting service, with the support from local Radio France stations. The result again proves how much the general public supports the AFM’s fight against genetic diseases and backs its search for innovative therapies.
  
• Positive results from a Phase I trial of an exon-skipping treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and continuation of the study with funding from the French Muscular Dystrophy Association (AFM). The trial (run by a Franco-Italian consortium group and coordinated by Luis Garcia (CNRS) and Yvan Torrente (Milan University)) uses an exon-skipping gene therapy technique to restore long-term function in the muscle stem cells taken from muscular dystrophy patients. The results (some of which were generated at Généthon) are published on December 13, 2007, in Cell Stem Cell and constitute a milestone in autologous cell therapy (which involves “rehabilitating” the patient’s own cells).
  [+] Press release

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