Key events

2011

JANUARY

• Genopole®’s Board of Directors reappoints the management team.
At its January 6 meeting, the Genopole® Board of Directors reappointed Thierry Mandon as President, Pierre Tambourin as CEO and Françoise Olier as Deputy CEO to further 3-year mandates.

• Novagali Pharma looks to treat dry eye syndrome.
Novagali Pharma has received a positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency for the company’s Phase III clinical trial on Cyclokat® for the treatment of dry eye syndrome. The multicenter, double-blind, pivotal study will include about 250 patients. Novagali Pharma intends to obtain the requisite clinical trial authorizations during the first half of 2011. The study results should be available by mid-2012. “There is no single reference treatment for dry eye in Europe”, commented Novagali Pharma’s President and CEO Jérôme Martinez. “As a consequence, about 18 million people have a significant medical unmet need”.

• WatchFrog signs a collaboration agreement with the Pasteur Institute of Lille.
The company WatchFrog (headed by Gregory Lemkine) has signed a collaboration agreement with the Pasteur Institute of Lille. The agreement covers the industrialization of a new biological model for detecting endocrine disruptors. The tests developed by WatchFrog will now benefit from the Pasteur Institute of Lille’s industrial know-how and national scope.

• Agdia Biofords signs an agreement with Phytotechnology Laboratories.
Agdia Biofords (a company specializing in the development and commercialization of kits for detecting plant pathogens and GMOs) has finalized a distribution agreement for Europe with Phytotechnology Laboratories (Kansas, USA). Phytotechnology Laboratories’ catalogue lists over 450 quality products for plant biology R&D. This collaboration will enable Agdia Biofords to expand its offering of products dedicated to plant-based biotech.

FEBRUARY

• VitamFero closes its initial round of financing with venture capitalists _An early-stage biotech developer of new anti-parasitic vaccines at its labs housed in French INRA/University Research Unit UMR 483 for Immunology, Parasitology and Vaccinology at the University François-Rabelais of Tours (France), just finalized significant fund-raising of 1.1 million Euros with CapDecisif Management and G1J (...)
[+] Press release

• Genopole® and the Paris Region Innovation Center (Centre francilien de l’innovation, CFI) sign a collaboration agreement.
The agreement signed on February 22 formalizes a collaboration that was set up a year ago. CFI Innovation Advisor Caroline Meunier holds a twice-monthly consultation at Genopole®, in order to (i) guide company managers towards key partners (consultancy firms, market research providers, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, etc.) for leveraging their innovative projects and (ii) help companies to apply for financial assistance from Oséo (the French state innovation agency) and the Paris Region Innovation Fund (FRI).

MARCH

• The Genopole® business plan competition: five finalists are shortlisted.
The five innovative life science projects selected for the Genopole® business plan competition in environmental, agricultural and industrial (i.e. non-medical) biotech variously feature a new antifungal natural product, methods for filtering out heavy metals from industrial effluents, a new-generation DNA sequencing technique, green technology for formulating innovative products and technology for producing and purifying recombinant proteins. [+] Press release

• The “Proteomics 2011 and beyond” colloquium: high-level scientific presentations.
The March 21-22 colloquium (co-organized by Genopole® and the URGV and LAMBE labs) attracted about one hundred participants to the University of Evry-Val-d’Essonne. Over the course of the event’s 12 presentations, international experts in proteomics presented the different strategies and techniques used in this field, with high-throughput analyses, targeted, quantitative and cell-scale analyses, bioinformatics approaches, protein interactions and posttranslational modifications.
[+] Press release

APRIL

• Genopole announces the winners of its business plan competition
On Thursday, April 7th, Genopole presented awards to the winners of its business plan competition for biotech start-ups in the healthcare, agricultural and industrial sectors at an event held at the Maison de la Chimie venue in Paris. Magpie Polymers and PicoSeq were selected from a final short-list of five.
[+] Press release

• IntegraGen Announces Exclusive Licensing Agreement with The John Hopkins University and Massachusetts General Hospital for Autism Gene
IResearchers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and IntegraGen have demonstrated that a specific mutation to this gene, known as a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), is found in individuals with autism. IntegraGen has recently reported that the risk of autism is increased in children who have older siblings diagnosed with autism when this mutation of the JARID2 gene is found in combination with autism-related point mutations (SNPs) on other genes.
[+] Press release

• M. Yu Zhengsheng, Shanghai Communist party chief, visits Genopole®
On Wednesday, April 20th, Yu Zhengsheng (Secretary of the Communist Party of China’s Municipal Committee in Shanghai and a member of the Central Politburo) visited Genopole®, France’s leading biopark.
[+] Press release

• The UBIAE lab at the heart of the Paris marathon.
The UBIAE Integrated Biology of Exercise Training lab (headed by Véronique Billat) performed a unique in situ experiment during the 35th Paris Marathon on April 10. The researchers recorded real-time physiological data in 15 volunteer marathon runners (including Bernard Thomasson, a journalist from the France Info national radio news station). There were two main objectives: to provide new information on the body’s response to endurance exercise and to validate new recording and telemetry techniques. The runners had been fitted out with the necessary material (face masks, sensors, etc.) by the researchers before the start and were monitored throughout the race. This unusual experiment enabled the researchers to collect a large amount of valuable scientific data and to optimize the telemetric devices.

MAY

• New England Biolabs opens new subsidiary office in France
New England Biolabs (NEB), a world leader in the production and supply of reagents for the life science industry, extends its global subsidiary network with the opening of New England Biolabs France, located at Bioparc Genopole in Evry.
[+] Press release

• Genopole® receives a visit from a Cuban delegation.
On May 27, Genopole® welcomed a delegation from the Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB). The Center was founded in 1986 to the west of La Havana, as part of a science cluster comprising about 7,000 researchers and fifty or so organizations. The CIGB illustrates the Cuban state’s ambitions in biotech and underpins a very important sector of the economy. It has been estimated that around three billion dollars have been invested in the sector since the 1980s (source: the Biotechnologies in Cuba, 2009 report from UbiFrance Missions Économiques).

• Genopole celebrates excellent results for 2010. In 2010, Genopole®’s excellent results confirmed its position as France’s leading life science park.
Genopole® member companies raised a total of €47.8 million in 2010 - a 190% increase on 2009 (€16.5 million). The cumulated 2010 turnover of Genopole®-accredited companies rose by 14%, relative to 2009 (€140 million versus €124 million, respectively).

• Genopole® receives a visit from the Chinese Minister of Science.
“We want to collaborate with you and perform joint research on finding treatments for genetic diseases”, stated the Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Gang Wan at the end of his visit to Genopole® on May 30. He added that “the Chinese central government and local authorities have initiated a financial support scheme for encouraging French companies to set up in China”.

JUNE

• Genopole to attend the BIO International Convention in Washington, DC
Genopole® (France’s leading biopark located just south of Paris and home to 20 academic labs, 17 shared-access technical facilities and 66 biotech companies) will be attending (as it does every year) the BIO International Convention. The 2011 event is to take place in Washington, DC, on June 27-30. The BIO International Convention is the largest global event for the biotechnology industry and constitutes a great opportunity for Genopole® to showcase its companies to potential international partners.
[+] Press release

• Genopole® signs an agreement with the Shanghai Center of Biomedicine Development.
Eric Lameignère (Director, Genopole® Entreprises) attended the Shanghai Bioforum with four Genopole® companies (DNA Therapeutics, NOKAD, Xentech and Genewave). On June 2, he signed an agreement setting out the basis for future collaborations between Genopole® (France’s leading life science park) and the Shanghai Center of Biomedicine Development (a public-sector organization).

• Five Genopole® companies honored in the French national business plan competition for innovative technology companies.
Five of the companies in Genopole®’s portfolio (Endodiag, GenoSplice, Inatherys, LPS and Plasmabiotics) were honored on June 28 at the awards ceremony for France 13th national business plan competition for innovative technology companies. The competition is organized by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research and has leveraged the incorporation of 1270 companies - 80 % of which are still in business.
[+] Press release

JULY

• GLOBAL BIOENERGIES is awarded a new funding from the French innovation agency OSEO.
One month after its successful IPO, Global Bioenergies (FR0011052257 – NYSE Alternext : ALGBE), located in the Genopole technology park in Evry, South of Paris, today announces the receipt of a €475K funding from the French innovation agency OSEO. The funds will be used to start the industrialization of the company’s process to convert renewable resources into isobutene, a gas which can be converted into liquid fuels and various polymers. This funding reinforces the financial support Global Bioenergies had already received in the past from OSEO, the principal state agency to finance innovation programs.
[+] Press release

• Biomethodes winner of Chemstart’up competition in the field of chemistry and innovative technologies
Biomethodes has won the CHEMSTART’UP 2011 prize which rewards innovation at the service of sustainable development, with its innovative process OPTALYSIS®. The innovation consists in converting non-food lignocellulosic feedstock to biofuels and co-products such as renewable chemicals and biomaterials.
[+] Press release

• GLOBAL BIOENERGIES and SYNTHOS enter a strategic partnership.
Synthos S.A., a European leader in the manufacturing of rubber, and Global Bioenergies S.A., an industrial biology company developing sustainable routes to light olefins, today announce the signing of a partnership agreement to develop a new process for the conversion of renewable resources into butadiene, involving research funding, multi-million euro development fees, royalty payments, repartition of exploitation rights, and a €1.4m equity investment in Global Bioenergies.
[+] Press release

• The mitochondrion is found to contain microRNAs.
Several microRNAs have been discovered in the human mitochondrion. The work was carried out by researchers from the UBIAE Integrated Biology of Exercise Training (a lab on the Genopole® biopark) and the Biochip and Functional Genomics group at the French Atomic Energy Commission’s Large-Scale Biology Laboratory. [+]

• MAB-Solut, a new, integrated player in the field of antibodies.
MAT-Biopharma has created MAB-Solut, a business division supplying custom antibodies.

AUGUST

• The company Epixis participates in a promising European study on the development of a hepatitis C vaccine.
On August 3, 18 European partners (including the Genopole®-based company Epixis) published promising results in animals for the development of a vaccine against the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The technology is based on the use of chimeric “viral pseudoparticles” built with fragments from two different viruses. Following vaccinations in the mouse and the macaque with these viral pseudoparticles, the researchers observed the production of HCV-neutralizing antibodies.

• I-Stem obtains stem cells that pigment the skin.
Christine Baldeschi’s group at the I-Stem institute (funded by INSERM/AFM, based at Genopole® and headed by Marc Peschanski) has obtained in vitro functional melanocytes - the cells that pigment the skin and protect it from ultraviolet light. According to the researchers, this type of cell could one day be used to treat patients suffering from skin pigmentation disorders (whether genetic, such as Griscelli syndrome, or not (vitiligo)). The results were published in the journal PNAS on August 19.

SEPTEMBER

• Novagali: Catioprost Phase II positive results
Novagali Pharma announced today US phase II positive results on the efficacy and safety of Catioprost® in patients with glaucoma and presenting concomitant ocular surface disease (OSD). The study met its objectives demonstrating intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction and OSD signs and symptoms improvement compared to Travatan Z® control group.
[+] Press release

• Results from New Test Designed to Aid in the Earlier Identification of Children at Higher Risk of Autism
IntegraGen, a biotechnology company dedicated to gene discovery and the development of molecular diagnostic products and services, announced today the results of a study which reports the ability to better predict the risk of autism in children who have an older sibling diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study, presented during the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics meeting in San Antonio, Texas, is based on a test which identifies genetic variants which the researchers showed to be associated with autism. Over 1,200 families and nearly 2,000 children were included in the study.
[+] Press release

• GLOBAL BIOENERGIES and SYNTHOS enter a strategic partnership
Synthos S.A., a European leader in the manufacturing of rubber, and Global Bioenergies S.A., an industrial biology company developing sustainable routes to light olefins, today announce the signing of a partnership agreement to develop a new process for the conversion of renewable resources into butadiene, involving research funding, multi-million euro development fees, royalty payments, repartition of exploitation rights, and a €1.4m equity investment in Global Bioenergies.
[+] Press release

• Signing of an acquisition of a controlling interest in Novagali Pharma by Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd
Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Osaka), a leading Japanese pharmaceutical company, and Novagali Pharma S.A., a French biopharmaceutical company specializing in ophthalmology and focusing on new ocular therapeutics, announce today that Santen, Novagali and certain of its shareholders, including the funds managed by Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Auriga Partners, IdInvest Partners and CDC Innovation, have entered into a share purchase agreement (hereafter “SPA”), whereby Santen shall acquire shares representing 50.55%1 of the share capital of Novagali for a cash consideration of €6.15 per share, representing a premium of 71.3% over the last traded price as of September 27, 2011.
[+] Press release

OCTOBER

• InnaVirVax announces Phase I/IIa clinical trial authorization granted by AFSSAPS for its VAC-3S vaccine for the treatment of HIV infections
The first-in-class therapeutic VAC-3S vaccine-candidate, based on a cutting-edge discovery, aims at preserving the immune system of patients infected with HIV-1. This clinical trial will be conducted at the Pitié-Salpêtrière and Cochin Hospitals in Paris.
[+] Press release

• Issuance of key patents covering new vaccines for VitamFero
VitamFero, a biotechnology firm from the Genopole® portfolio that is developing new vaccines against certain parasitic diseases, announced the issuance of «princeps» patents for the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand that cover a live, attenuated second-generation strain of Toxoplasma Gondi as the basis of new prophylactic applications. VitamFero develops new vaccines to prevent certain parasitic diseases and the strain forms the technological basis for innovative prophylactic applications.
[+] Press release

• Global Bioenergies deploys its R&D platform
Global Bioenergies S.A. (FR0011052257 – NYSE Alternext : ALGBE), an industrial biology company developing sustainable routes to light olefins, today announces the extension of its R&D platform.
[+] Press release

• Genopole® congratulates Novagali Pharma.
On September 28, Novagali Pharma (a Genopole®-based company specializing in ophthalmologic treatments) announced that the Japanese firm Santen had committed to acquisition of a majority equity stake. “We are delighted with this news”, stated Genopole® CEO Pierre Tambourin. He added that “it testifies to Genopole®’s high international profile and its ability to attract interest from major pharma companies”.

• Global Bioenergies extends its R&D platform.
Global Bioenergies (FR0011052257 – NYSE Alternext: ALGBE), an industrial biology company developing light olefin bioproduction processes, announced the extension of its R&D platform on October 27.
[+] Press release

NOVEMBER

• VitamFero and Oniris have signed an agreement to study the efficacy of a vaccine candidate against neosporosis
VitamFero, a biotechnology firm in the Genopole cluster that develops novel vaccines to prevent specific parasitic diseases, and Oniris, an institute of higher education and specialized research, particularly in human and animal health, announced the signing of a services contract to study the efficacy of a new generation vaccine candidate against bovine (cattle) neosporosis.
[+] Press release

• BioQuanta and Gentronix announce commercial partnership covering commercialization of the Mitoxis® functional metabolic platform
BioQuanta SA, a French company engaged in the implementation of predictive and personalized medicine and Gentronix Limited, the specialist genotoxicity assay provider, are pleased to announce the signing of a commercial agreement covering the commercialization of the Mitoxis® functional metabolomics platform from BioQuanta.
[+] Press release

• Global Bioenergies enters into an agreement with a German car manufacturer
Global Bioenergies (FR0011052257 – NYSE Alternext : ALGBE), today announces the signature of an agreement with a major German car manufacturer regarding an undisclosed application of its technology.
[+] Press release

• Global Bioenergies and LanzaTech launch a collaboration to assess the bioproduction of isobutene from carbone monoxide
Global Bioenergies and LanzaTech Ltd, two industrial biology companies, today announce the beginning of a feasibility study to examine whether Global Bioenergies’ pathway, leading to the direct production of isobutene, can be functionally transferred into LanzaTech’s carbon monoxide using organism.
[+] Press release

• Genopole® hosts a visit from the Japanese company Daiichi-Sankyo. _ On November 7, Genopole® (France’s leading biopark) hosted a visit from a delegation from Japan’s second largest pharma company, Daiichi-Sankyo. The Japanese firm is particularly interested in research being carried out by two Genopole® companies, DNA Therapeutics and GeneSignal.
[+] Press release

DECEMBER

• Success of the Simplified Cash Tender Offer for the Shares and bons the souscription d’actions of Novagali Pharma SA by Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd
Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (« Santen ») and Novagali Pharma SA (« Novagali ») announced today the success of the simplified cash tender offer for the shares and bons de souscription d’actions (“BSAs”) of Novagali initiated by Santen. The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (“AMF”) published today the results of the Offer which took place from December 2, 2011 to December 15, 2011 included. Over the course of the Offer, 7,545,247 shares, 700 2014 BSAs and 5,406 2019 BSAs have been tendered, for €6.15 per share, €4.03 per 2014 BSA and €2.75 per 2019 BSA.
[+] Press release

• The Genopole® Entreprises Bioincubator expands its technical facilities
Thirteen years after its creation in the heart of France’s first life science park, the Genopole® Entreprises Bioincubator has moved up a gear. It has expanded its technical facilities by commissioning 100 m2 of extra lab space and new, specialized equipment.
[+] Press release  

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