Archive for April, 2006

EVRY, France, April 5 /PRNewswire/ — The 2006 edition of the BIO
(Biotechnology Industry Organization) trade show will be held in Chicago
next week (April 10-12). Genopole(R) will attend this major event as part
of a delegation coordinated by the Paris Il-de-France Regional Development
Agency (ARD). Six innovative companies supported by Genopole(R) -
BioMethodes, Drugabilis, GenOptics, MATBiopharma, Nokad and Vaxon Biotech -
will equally be represented at the show.
“The annual BIO show attracts the world’s key biotech players. For a
cluster like Genopole(R), it’s an event that we can’t afford to miss”,
explains Thierry Mandon, President of Genopole and First Vice President of
the Essonne County Council. Since its foundation in 1998, Genopole has
attended this event on a regular basis – enabling the cluster to achieve
true international visibility.”
“The BIO event enables us to meet our foreign counterparts and benefit
from their experience but also allows us to showcase the novel approaches
to biotech business support that we have implemented here at Genopole”,
adds Pierre Tambourin, Genopole’s(R) CEO. In fact, our biopark stands out
by combining a company incubator and a pre-seed fund (Genopole(R) Day One),
backed up by scientific and industrial infrastructure. Thanks to a broad
array of financial, technological, scientific and real estate tools, a
dense, rich fabric of companies has formed around Genopole(R).”
Therapeutic innovation is the core concern of Genopole’s(R)
stakeholders. The forthcoming establishment of a University Medical Center
unit and the creation of a biomanufacturing facility at the heart of the
campus will add the final building blocks to a biocluster which is already
generating innovative medical techniques.
The Genopole(R) portfolio now includes 57 start ups, of which 35 have
been founded or incubated on the campus. The Genopole(R) biopark (with a
strong biopharmaceutical theme) brings together drug discovery &
development companies, technology providers and service companies. Twenty
business have already commercialized products and/or services and 15
therapeutics are currently under development for a range of indications,
ranging from cancer to ophthalmological complaints.
Six Genopole-mentored companies – BioMethodes, Drugabilis, GenOptics,
MATBiopharma, Nokad and Vaxon Biotech (see over) – will attend the
international BIO convention this year. “This event will offer our
companies a great opportunity to showcase their products, skills and
know-how. The business conventions, seminars and forums provide a host of
occasions for meeting their future partners and customers”, explains
Veronique Dufey, Executive Director of Genopole(R) Enterprise.
Genopole(R) key figures:
23 academic laboratories, including 2 national centers
2 national platforms, 7 open-access technology platforms, 6 major
technical facilities.
57 biotech companies, including 35 founded and incubated by Genopole(R)
118 million euros in equity raised by Genopole(R)-based companies
87,000 sq meters of business and lab accommodation, including:
1 biotech business incubator with 2,600 sq meters of floor space
6 business accommodation modules, totaling 22,000 sq meters of floor space

Contact:

Veronique DUFEY, Executive Director of Genopole Enterprise
+33-1-60-87-84-48 – veronique.dufey@genopole.fr – http://www.genopole.fr

Six companies from the Genopole(R) portfolio will attend BIO 2006:
BioMethodes
BioMethodes (a French biotechnology company founded in 1997) is a
leader in the protein engineering field. Our company has invented Massive
Mutagenesis(R), the first ever high-throughput, combinatorial,
site-directed mutagenesis technology. In addition, we have recently
developed two outstanding direct selection systems – dramatically reducing
the time needed to obtain improved proteins:
– THR(TM), for identifying proteins with improved stability.
– Solexis(R), for directly selecting soluble variants.
Over 30 projects have been successfully completed for major industrial
partners such as GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, AB Enzymes, Roquette and
bioMerieux. BioMethodes also generates a portfolio of proprietary enzymes
and therapeutic proteins using in-house technologies.
Contact : Ali AIT-IKHLEF, Business Development Manager -
ali.ait-ikhlef@biomethodes.com – http://www.biomethodes.com
Drugabilis
Drugabilis is the first CRO to specialize in pharmaceutical
physicochemical characterization and formulation as applied to the early
selection of new drug candidates. We deliver both experimental support and
consulting services to a customer’s research efforts by helping to select
drugable compounds and delivery systems.
On a day-to-day basis, Drugabilis characterizes the physicochemical
profiles of research compounds and the physical properties of early API
bulks. Drugabilis also designs and characterizes custom formulations for
use in any type of animal experiment. We are committed to working on
minimal API amounts and to meeting very tight deadlines.
Contact : Joel VACUS, CEO & CSO
contact@drugabilis.com – http://www.drugabilis.com
GenOptics
GenOptics technology enables truly multiplexed protein analysis.
Genoptics develops label-free protein array detection systems for
accelerating disease screening and drug candidate identification. The
company’s innovative SPRi (Surface Plasmon Resonance imaging) technology
enables real-time, simultaneous monitoring of up to 400 bio-interactions in
an array format.
GenOptics has already currently developed two protein array platforms:
SPRi-Plex(TM) automates large scale screening operations, whereas
SPRi-Lab(TM) is an open configuration for innovative experiments. The
company has also designed the SPRi-Biochip(TM), an innovative new bio-array
chip capable of monitoring hundreds of interactions and label-free
molecules.
Contact: Philippe KEROUREDAN, CEO
pkerouredan@genoptics-spr.com – http://www.genoptics-spr.com
MAT BioPharma
MAT BioPharma is engaged in the development of first-in-class antibody
therapies for the treatment of cancer. The Company’s most advanced product,
Ferritarg(TM), is an antibody therapeutic for the treatment of Hodgkin’s
disease and will soon enter Phase I/II clinical trials. The MAT preclinical
pipeline contains product candidates for acute myeloid leukemia, chronic
lymphocytic leukemia, hepatocarcinoma, pancreatic cancer and metastatic
melanoma. MAT is currently seeking partners in the US in order to
accelerate downstream development of these compounds.
Contact :Franziska POSSMAYER, Director Business Development
f.possmayer@matbiopharma.fr – http://www.matbiopharma.fr
Nokad
Nokad is a service company developing a unique functional knockout
technology that specifically inactivates protein functions. This innovative
approach helps to break through the limits imposed by genetic KO (mice
only, time-consuming and lack of reversibility). Nokad models are available
in all mammalian species within only 6 months, with a switch from one
animal strain to another or from one species to another within only 2
months. We obtain stable, reversible phenotypes which are equivalent to
genetic KOs. This technology allows simultaneous inactivation of several
proteins and is suitable for proteins arising from alternative splicing or
from gene clusters. Other services: functional characterization, generation
of antibodies against non- or poorly antigenic proteins.
Contact : Amine ABINA, president & CSO
abina@nokad-technology.com – http://www.nokad-technology.com
Vaxon Biotech
Vaxon Biotech (founded in early 2004) is a product-driven
biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery and development of
innovative vaccines for the treatment of cancer. Vaxon Biotech is the first
entrant to make vaccines with a new class of antigens: optimized cryptic
peptides. These innovative vaccines show good tolerance and immunogenicity,
both in animals and in Phase I cancer patients. The most advanced products
are Vx-001 and Vx-006. Treatment with Vx-001 induced lengthy disease
stabilization or a partial response in about 30% of patients. Vx-001 is due
to enter a pivotal phase IIb clinical trial in hepatocellular cancer,
together with a phase IIa study in non-small cell lung cancer. Vx-006, the
second compound, should enter phase I/II clinical development in the
prostate cancer field by Q4-2006.
Contact : Philippe BERTHON, CEO
pberthon@vaxon-biotech.com – http://www.vaxon-biotech.com

SOURCE Genopole