Biocitech, the life sciences technology park based in Paris, France, announces its annual review of 2012. Biocitech concluded a variety of agreements with regional players throughout 2012, with the aim of creating a support framework ‘par excellence’ for life science SMEs in the Ile de France region of France, including Paris. The agreements are intended to help resident companies on site build their networks and generate business opportunities.
These networking activities ensured that residents could continue to innovate throughout 2012 despite the tough economic climate. Residents recorded the completion of seven preclinical studies during last year and set up three Phase I and two Phase II clinical trials. The number of scientific publications remains significant, with 14 articles published last year. Almost 60 partnership agreements were signed in 2012, compared with 13 in 2011, demonstrating Biocitech’s vitality and the growth of the business activity taking place there.
2012 also saw Biocitech initiate a partnership policy with various players in the Greater Paris region to support residents in developing their businesses. As a result, in July 2012, the technology park concluded a cooperation agreement with AP-HP (the Paris public hospitals system). In this context, sponsors of projects launched by AP-HP can take advantage of easy access to Biocitech premises, while the residents of the technology park can access AP-HP innovations, through technology transfer, joint development and clinical development agreements.
In conjunction with IRD (the French development research institute), the University of Paris 13 and a number of regional and local authorities, Biocitech also helped to found the Bondy Innovation association and Bond'Innov, the association's incubator for innovative projects. This incubator is the only one of its kind in a sensitive urban zone. It provides business founders, particularly in the field of biotechnology, with the opportunity to set up in the Seine-Saint-Denis area; giving them access to skills and resources to launch and start developing their business.
Bond'Innov and Biocitech are already lending their support to three biotechnology initiatives:
- Regulaxis, which produces synthetic molecules that inhibit or accelerate growth hormones for diagnostic and therapeutic applications
- Biochoros, which is working on a process to modify the properties of regulatory peptides implicated in cellular signals.
- Selkis, which develops anti-mosquito products for cutaneous application using a new active molecule derived from natural sources.
Finally, Biotech and the CCIP (Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry) signed a service agreement with a two-fold objective. For the CCIP, this means providing economic information and industrial property monitoring services. The agreement will also see the creation of the Netbiotech network, a grouping of Biocitech park businesses. Netbiotech members will meet several times a year to share best practice, with support from the CCIP.
The Biocitech technology park is highly experienced in providing life science SMEs with tailored business accommodation that can grow with their needs, in combination with services to accelerate the growth of their business. Biocitech offers entrepreneurs a choice of premises to suit their business from start-up to maturity, combining office space with industrial standard laboratories over a floor area of 12 to 5,000 square meters. The businesses on site employ between 1 and 150 staff. The park is the only site in the Ile de France region of France to comply with ICPE regulations (industrial, commercial and agricultural operations subject to particular regulation and environmental protection measures).
“We were keen to set up a dynamic regional network last year. We signed agreements with a number of key partners in the Paris area to support resident companies in their economic development,” said Jean-Francois Boussard, chairman of Biocitech. “These agreements cover different aspects of companies' lifecycles, from start-up to market launch of their products, via financing. In 2013, we plan to introduce private and public investors to the unique features and drive of our resident companies, in order to help them grow their capital.”
For further information, go to: http://www.biocitech.com
