special focus of biotech finances

BIOTECHFINANCESStrategic information for bioinduStry deciSion makerS and inveStorS

france, nord-Pas de calais - Special issue

Biotech finances : What is the background of the eura-santé structure?etienne Vervaecke : Eurasanté was founded in 1996 by the Lille University & Regional Hospital Center with the aim of making its transfer of technology to industry more dynamic and organized. This initial mission allowed us to merge with the academic landscape of the Nord-Pas de Calais region, as well as to support a number of partnership projects and start-ups. This crea-tion of value, focused on the health sector, has fueled the growth of a true regional life sciences industry employing around 22,000 people in over 780 companies today. At the Eurasanté complex in the Lille metropolitan area in particular, this represents some 135 companies with 2,700 employees. In addition to the aim of promoting research and supporting businesses, animation of the ecosystem is also provided by the Nutrition, Health, Longevity (NHL) competitiveness cluster, which is managed by an independent governance structure. This dual responsibility of assisting a cluster and an economic develop-ment agency is a defining feature and great strength of the Lille region

which enables local entrepreneurs to have simultaneous access to an agency, a competitiveness cluster, an incubator, and a business asso-ciation.

Bf: four main lines of deve-lopment have been delibera-tely selected: cardiometabolic disease, cryptogenic inflam-matory bowel diseases (ciBD), neurodegenerative diseases, and nutrition. Why were these chosen?e.V.: When we worked on the competitiveness cluster project, we wanted to specify what we offer by

focusing on our strong points. Our regio-nal history, both in terms of academic

research as well as the industrial side of things, quickly led us to the four main areas you mentioned. There is a rea-

son why in France the only Labex (academic cluster of excellence) focused on cardiovascular diseases is located in Lille with companies such as Genfit or Naturalpha active in the field. The same is true for neurodegenerative disorders, with a dedicated Labex and several companies including AlzProtect or Genoscreen. As for the nutrition sector, things are a bit different. It

Eurasanté, tHE BaCKBOnE OF LIFE sCIEnCEs In tHE nOrD-Pas DE CaLaIs rEGIOn

etienne vervaecke

As a major player in the French life sciences industry, the Nord-Pas de Calais Region benefits from a very competitive ecosystem. to its advantage, it possesses a well established and dynamic cluster producing quality science. being located just a short distance from belgium, opportunities for partnerships and funding abound. biotech finances took a closer look with etienne vervaecke, ceo of eurasanté.

“Lille’s strength is the fact that it has a

competitiveness cluster, incubator, and business

cluster all under the same banner.”

cont

ents apteeus pushes back the

limits of personalized medicine

Page 3

LFB moves forward along-side clinicians in Lille

Page 4

The week in brief alzProtect, eat-cell biotech, naturalpha, 4P Pharma, vaxinano…

fUnDinG financing its biotech in nord-Pas de calais: mode of operation

bio TiCkeT Lille, the strange attractor of biotech companies

Pages 8 - 9 - 10 1

fUnDinG inTerview ComPaniesVF Bioscience deploys its line of probiotic nutritio-nal supplements

Page 5

Page 12

2 BIOtECHFInanCEs • France, Nord-Pas de Calais - Special Issue

france, nord-Pas de Calais - special issueinTerview

is embodied by family-owned compa-nies such as Roquette, Lesaffre, Ingre-dia, or Copalis, which are all very esta-blished in and attached to the Nord-Pas de Calais region which invests a lot in their industrial activities and in the in-dustry as a whole.

Bf: What scale do you work on for the expansion and development of your region? Do you feel the strict regional territorial divi-sion is something that needs to be overcome?e.V.: One of the major interests at play in the establish-ment of competi-tiveness clusters is the progressive “the-matization” or spe-cialization of the va-rious health clusters towards the areas in which they are the strongest. Rhône-Alpes has therefore turned to immunology, whereas Midi-Pyrénées has focused on cancer, and PACA on rare diseases. These areas of focus should obviously exceed the strict territorial confines of the cluster, merging with national and/or European players in some cases of border clusters like ours with Belgium, for example, which is very close to us. This dynamic of transverse expansion is increasingly becoming a reality, as attested by the number of new members of the NHL cluster outside of the Nord-Pas de Calais region, which this year achieved nearly 50% of the 20 subscriptions. Bf: You mention transnational collaborations, how do you fuel this dynamic and what impact does this have on your funding methods?e.V.: Our public funders, including the region itself, understand that their support has served to sustain a dynamic whose epicenter is the Nord-Pas de Calais region but whose scope and ambition are of international propor-tions. More specifically, right now we have four European Interreg projects underway with our partners in neigh-

boring countries. We are also in the process of working to create research networks with Wallonia and Flanders, focusing on the issue of nutrition and lifestyle diseases. At the national level, we are working with Nantes on bio-materials, with Marseille on diagnostics, and with Valorial on bio-markers for

large scale project. It is important for us to be well established - among the various French clusters - in order to have true international visibi-lity. Furthermore, we also often work together, be it at Bio Japan, Bio US, or other major Euro-pean trade fairs for example.

Bf: speculators announce the scheduled end of government support for the clusters. What is your point of

view concerning this matter?e.V.: Financial pressure is clearly mounting, and it is apparent that we are still in a phase of recession and reductions in all kinds of subsidies and government as-sistance. In this context, it is quite likely that the go-vernment will pro-vide the funding of the clusters to local communities in 2-3 years’ time. To date, opera-ting a center like ours costs around €650,000 to €700,000 annually. 45% of this figure is covered by contributions from private members, 35% by local and regional authorities, and 20% by the government.

Bf: What then would come of the fUi which now funds the projects approved by the various clusters?e.V.: The Single Interministerial Fund (FUI), a real linchpin of the mecha-nisms behind the competitiveness clusters, is not likely to be stopped or replaced any time soon. It represents an important aid to the sector, with

strong industrial returns due to the high upstream selectivity of the products. We extensively sort the candidate files which we submit, and the FUI ultima-tely finances 55% of them. At the NHL cluster, this figure reaches 80%. This is a strong recognition of our exper-tise, of which we are very proud. For example, during the last FUI campaign we presented 3 projects, including one in collaboration with Lyonbiopôle, and we got a positive response on two of the files. In recent years we’ve noted a real change of the type of sourcing em-ployed in the projects that we’ve sub-mitted. Whereas the first applications were very “downstream” with little in-volvement on our end, we are currently working on much more early-stage pro-jects programs, cooperating intensely with their leaders.

Bf: how important is it for the entrepreneurs you work with to use this source of funding to fi-nance their projects?e.V.: Several years ago we encounte-red a lot of apprehension from entre-preneurs towards collaborative projects such as Bpifrance or the FUI, which were viewed as very complicated to organize, not fully compatible with the Research Tax Credit (“CIR”), and the payment of which often came too late with respect to industrial requirements,

especially for small businesses. This mentality has changed and we now come across many companies which have never had worries of this nature. Obtaining an FUI or ISI fun-

ding sends a strong signal to the market about the reputation of a company. It’s also a non-dilutive means of advancing one’s work, which is something very valuable today. The partnership aspect of this type of consortium shouldn’t be overlooked since it can be very limiting to approach these things alone. In my opinion, conducting group research is a factor of sustainable success. This helps open innovation to move forward with an incrementally stronger R&D dyna-mic. l

“it’s important to work together

to achieve greater visibility.”

interview conducted by Juliette Lemaignen

© m

axim

e d

ufou

r Pho

togr

aphi

es

BIOtECHFInanCEs • France, Nord-Pas de Calais - Special Issue 3

france, nord-Pas de Calais - special issue

ere is an innovative concept which could revolutionize the way we handle the treatment of rare diseases. involved in the development of chemical

drug candidates at the inseRM U761 Labo-ratory (Pasteur institute of Lille, Lille 2 University), Benoît Deprez and terence Beghyn have been joining forces over the last year for the company apteeus, incu-bated by eurasanté on the campus of the Pasteur institute of Lille. "We realized that the traditional concept of drug development, which is based on the answer to a medical question by a universal drug candidate with a broad scope, wasn’t financially compatible with the therapeutic niches occupied by rare diseases,” explains terence Beghyn, ceo of apteeus, who goes on to say: “the cost of R&D, which is very great, will be very difficult to amortize over a small popula-tion and the instances of reimbursement will soon be unable to accommodate the overly expensive treatments.” to work around this problem, apteeus decided to revert the drug development scheme by starting with the patient and then moving towards larger markets while working with existing drugs. “our project is to automatically screen all of the active ingredients currently sold on the patient’s own cells while monitoring the faulty process resulting in the disease. Within a few days, we can thus deter-mine which molecules could be used to treat the pathology of the disease in ques-tion. this is the principle of personalized medicine taken to the extreme, employing the concept of one drug for one patient.”

two awards in the national Competition of the Ministry of researchin order to specify its approach, apteeus initially opted to focus on inherited meta-bolic diseases which account for about 5% of rare diseases and which have the advan-tage of being mostly monogenic and there-fore easier to treat, using a single molecule

that targets the cause of the disease. With the encouragement of the two awards it received from a national contest by the Ministry of Research, offering a total package of €275,000, the company is currently conduc-ting the proof of concept of its approach in conjunction with Dr. Dries Dobbelaere from the Lille Regional & University hospital center for two patients suffering from the same creatine transporter defect. Leaders of the project have already identified 15 molecules which may potentially be active in these patients. they are furthering their investigation by examining the potency of these compounds on the patients’ cells and by analyzing all available information on the safety profile and pharmacokinetics of the identified molecules. “the challenge is to ensure that the drug is well active and will not result in any uncontrolled side effects,” explains Benoît Deprez, who has accounted for roughly 20% of the project. “once we’ve obtained this information, we will be able to convince the doctors to administer the

molecule to his or her patient, either as part of an off-label prescription, as a temporary authorization for the use of the drug for the named patient, or lastly in the context of an n-of-1 clinical trial.” the results of the first use of this indication in humans should be compiled in 2015. they will probably serve as a go/no go for the financiers interested in the model. Large scale deployment by apteeus will likely cost several million euros which the founders will seek to pool together from regional and national venture capital, with a first round secured in 2015. l

fUnDinG

aPtEEus PusHEs BaCK tHE LIMIts OF PErsOnaLIZED MEDICInE

terence beghyn and benoît deprez

“We need to complete the first round of funding in 2015.”

20 million20 million patients currently suffer from rare diseases in europe, with about 5% of those affected by approximately 300 inherited metabolic diseases.

5-40Thanks to the follow-up obtained on the first two campaigns on patients’ cells, the founders of apteeus estimate that there are between 5 and 40 active mole-cules serving as candidates for repositioning based on new indications from the rare diseases for each patient.

1 600+The apteeus library now consists of nearly 1,600 active ingredients. and this number is constantly changing.

Partners Pasteur institute of Lille, eurasanté, Lille 2 University

By Juliette Lemaignen

opinion of alain gay, Head of cardiovascular medical affairs and Women’s Health at bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals

in my opinion, the basic idea for the pharmaceutical industry in the coming years is to start with the patient in order to provide him or her with better treatment. Recent treatment developments now allow us to address major public health issues. now we need to improve upon this in order to provide additional service, both to

patients and practitioners. the concept of drug repositioning is, in this sense, an interes-ting idea. We pharmaceutical companies have molecules in our portfolio which could meet new needs that arise and it would be interesting to identify them beyond simple clinical observations compiled during the trials. however, one thing is cer-tain: biotech companies must be extremely careful when it comes to the safety and tolerance of their molecules if they wish to be of interest to us.

h


france, nord-Pas de Calais - special issueinTerview

LFB MOVEs FOrWarD aLOnGsIDE CLInICIans In LILLEa renowned company of the Lille region, the french fractionation and biotechnologies Laboratory (Lfb) has a presence in nord-Pas de calais through three sites, including a research center that is home to one of the group’s flagship projects: a drug candidate against fetal alloimmunization. Sami Chtourou, Deputy Mana-ging Director, Innovation and Scientific Affairs, discusses the program and more broadly the role of the LFB within the eurasanté structure.

Biotech finances : You are a key business in the eurasanté Bio-Business Park. in what areas are you a major player locally and how are your activities divided across the region?sami chtourou: We have a strong background with Eurasanté. The esta-blishment of our research center at this site actually goes back some 10 years, with an ever growing number of staff over the years. During this period, we have developed sound scientific excel-lence which is reflected throughout the territory. We have finally been imple-menting an extensive network of par-tnerships and collaborations at the local level. More specifically, we operate at three different sites: a research center with some 45 employees which I lead at the Eurasanté campus; a production faci-lity for drugs derived from plasma, which

employs around 550 people in Lille; and lastly, a drug warehouse located in Carvin where all LFB medications are stored prior to distribution and which has a staff of approximately 30 people. In total, nearly 700 people work for LFB in the Lille metropolitan area, though the group numbers some 1,600 people throughout France as a whole and 2,000 people worldwide. Tens of millions of Euros in investment have been allocated to these facilities over the last 10 years. Bf: What drug project are your researchers currently working on?s. c.: Our lab innovates in the three key areas focused on by the LFB Group: hemostasis, immunology, and intensive care. One of the flagship projects resul-ting from the technological platform developed in Lille is a recombinant monoclonal anti-D antibody, indicated for preventing the risk of fetomaternal alloimmunization. This is a condition that can affect women pregnant with their second child. As demonstrated by the initial clinical results, our antibody can destroy the Rhesus positive fetal red blood cells causing an immune response from the mother against her fetus, and as such we are able to prevent the risk of immunization. The product is under-going a phase II clinical study in France, and in particular at the Lille Regional & University Hospital Center. A phase III study is expected to start within the next two years. Bf: What are the advantages of being part of a business park such as eurasanté Bio-Business Park?s. c.: The cluster forms a dense network of research, educational, and care insti-tutions with which we are able to easily interact thanks to our geographical loca-tion. We work with the Lille Regional & University Hospital Center and the Lille 2 University, and particularly with professors Jenny Goudemand, François Fourrier, Eric Hachulla, and Pierre Des-reumaux. We also appreciate the start-

up spirit which prevails throughout the campus; a spirit which we share because, though we have an industrial approach, we maintain our responsiveness and entrepreneurial dynamism which, in our view, are the source of all success when it comes to drug development. Bf: What are the areas of develop-ment in Lille?s. c.: We have at our disposal two key proprietary technological platforms for antibody engineering which we use for developing our products. The first is de-

signed to enhance the cytotoxic activity of the antibodies through the Fc function, and the second increases the half-life of the monoclonal antibodies by a factor of 3 as a result of a greater affinity of the Fc fragment with the FcRn receptor. We are going to provide access to these plat-forms to other industry players via licen-sing agreements on these technologies or through co-development. Additionally, we are continuing our efforts alongside the cluster’s start-ups, and we try to assist them. We have ongoing discussions with Eurasanté and its members through our scientific and technical partnership ma-nager, Rémi Urbain, in order to maintain and expand our collaboration with the local ecosystem. l

Sami chtourou,deputy managing director, innovation and Scientific Affairs at LFB

“We also appreciate the start-up spirit

which prevails throu-ghout the campus,

which is the source of all success in terms of drug discovery.”

interview conducted by anne-Laure Languille


france, nord-Pas de Calais - special issue ComPanies

he satisfaction of having a first dietary supplement on the mar-ket is clear on the faces of the franco-Belgian duo heading

Vf Bioscience. named Reg’activ cholesté-rol, the product comes in an elegant dark red box. “the majority of our distributors around the world have kept our design,” says Maxime L. Vaeremans, Marketing Di-rector for Vf Bioscience. founded in late 2011, this young and innovative company established in the eurasanté bio-incuba-tor develops dietary supplements based on patented probiotics either coming from outside or from its own collection of 200 strains, as well as functional ingredients such as vitamins. Released in 2013, Reg’ac-tiv cholestérol is designed for people with moderate hypercholesterolemia, which af-fects 10-15% of the population depending on the country. “Reg’activ reduces the rate of cholesterol in the blood by 20% and

improves other blood parameters related to the risk of developing cardiovascular disease,” explains Marc frémont, R&D Director of the start-up. in fact, the clini-cal study carried out for this product on 25 subjects demonstrated a 19% reduction in LDL, a key marker of atherosclerosis. Lac-tobacillus fermentum Me-3, the probiotic strain contained in Reg’activ, was isolated by a research team from the University of tartu in estonia, from which Vf Bioscience obtained its license.

Fundraising underwaythe company, which adheres to an almost virtual structure composed of the two partners, markets its product through a network of specialist distributors in europe, south-east asia, and across the american continent. it has also been sold in pharmacies in south france since september. With this first scientific success, which it hopes to turn into a commercial success as well, Vf Bioscience aims to quickly develop its own pipeline. financed so far through private funds, in addition to an equity loan of €50,000 from Bpifrance and an interest-free loan of €40,000 from the north entrepreneurship network, this biotech company is poised to successfully complete a €400,000 fundraiser with finovam in particular. this money will allow it to develop another dietary supplement indicated for cardiovascular health that acts on triglycerides (reducing triglycerides by 20-25% by the end of the trial), as well as type 2 diabetes, which could be taken in combination with Reg’activ cholestérol. in order to boost sales of the two products in the United states, where 15% of the population is affected by cholesterol issues, Vf Bioscience will soon open a branch overseas. the latest flagship

product from its pipeline is a supplement for liver function and detoxification named Reg’activ Vitalité, which is scheduled to be released by the end of the year. With these first three products, the start-up aims for sales of €2 million in 2016. l

VF BIOsCIEnCE DEPLOYs Its LInE OF PrO-BIOtIC nutrItIOnaL suPPLEMEnts

maxime L. vaeremans and marc frémont

“our flagship product Reg’activ reduces the blood cholesterol level by 20%”

€1.2 billionThis sum represents the market for dietary supple-ments in france.

3 to 4 To accommodate its continued development, vf bioscience will recruit 3-4 people in the months ahead.

4in 2015, the company will release 4 new dietary supplements.

Partners bankCiCLaw firm for Current affairs bignon-LebrayLaw firm for Patent mattersPlasseraudConsulting firm & incubatoreurasanté

By anne-Laure Languille

t

opinion of alexandre Labé, development director of the nutrition, Health, Longevity cluster

Vf Bioscience has had the support of nord entreprendre since the end of 2013. this is a network of business leaders who help other leaders to fortify their compa-nies, and includes an interest-free loan between €15-90 K, in exchange for which the company undertakes to create 5 to 10 jobs within three years. Vf Bioscience boasts

several major advantages such as the experience of its leaders in the sector, a first product on the market, and research collaborations with international institutions. But the managers have also identified their challenges: how to achieve international deployment? how to get the company in a

sustainable research cycle? how will all of these actions be funded? these are questions to which the two managers have found solutions.



onceived and organized by the eurasanté economic De-velopment agency and the nhL competitiveness cluster, Biofit is following a rather

unique theme in the world of business conventions: creating innovation by gathe-ring academic and industrial players for two days. “so it’s not a trade show,” cla-rifies eurasanté. “the meeting between public laboratory teams and industry teams in the context of fostering develop-ment programs is Biofit’s center of gra-vity, so to speak,” says nicolas carboni, President of the tto conectus alsace.

BioFIt: How does it work?to conduct the meetings, academics, industrial players, and the technology transfer officers can schedule up to 15 individual appointments per day. With a duration of half an hour each, they will be held from 9:00 aM to 6:00 PM on the sidelines of thematic discussions. from the time the meeting platform begins in november, it will be possible to make contact with partners prior to the business convention. afterwards, each participant will be able to flexibly manage his or her own schedule, with the ability to set aside time to attend the discussion panels. With a practical overtone, these discussions will address various topics concerning open innovation. how can early-stage innovation be financed? What are the best practices for collaborative research? What new trends have emerged in terms of technology transfer and industrial scouting? to answer these questions, high level speakers will share their views: big pharma open-innovation directors, tto directors, biotech patrons, and investors. this will include adrian carter from Boehringer ingelheim, Jeffrey Ulmer from novartis Vaccines, Duncan holmes from GsK, and even sanofi’s Bernd stowasser, just to name a few.

ttOs are running the showthe involvement of the ttos is one of the attractions of the Biofit business convention. they will be able to fully play their role as business facilitators according to nicolas carboni of the tto conectus alsace. “the triangular meeting between academics, biotechs, and industry represents the most fertile ground for developing the innovations of tomorrow. the academic-industrial push remains marginal, even though more and more pharma is sourcing technology directly with public laboratories. ttos are behind the creation of the meeting.” the partnership aspect is reflected in the sponsors of the operation, which is

financed equally by local authorities, the nord-Pas de calais region, and private partners. “this allocation of resources is necessary, as the convention cannot rely solely on entry fees since the price has been reduced for academics and start-ups”, explains eurasanté. finally, Biofit reaffirms its international position by welcoming representatives from 35 countries. Due to its geographical proximity, the event will include many players from Belgium. this is an interesting way to promote research collaborations between laboratories and industrial players operating on both sides of the border. l

ConvenTion

BIOFIt taKEs a stEP CLOsEr tO aCaDEMIC InnOVatIOn anD tHE InDustrIaL WOrLD

By anne-Laure Languille

Since the first edition in 2010 in Lille, which was attended by some 330 participants, the BioFIT business convention has taken on a whole new dimension. This year 800 researchers, biotech CEO, pharma directors, and TTO (Technology Transfer Offices) are expected to be present in Lille on December 2 and 3 to determine opportunities for collaboration. the program includes panel discussions and one-to-one meetings.

nicolas carboni“the triangular meeting between academics, biotechs, and industry represents the most fertile ground for developing the innovations of tomorrow.”

c

38%The proportion of academics and TTo who will participate in the 2014 edition. Pharmaceutical companies represent 34%, with investors, clusters, and other services making up 28%.

€999entry fee for mature companies. €399 for start-ups younger than 3 years and €849 for TTos, clusters, and research institutes.

13The number of panel discussions over the two days.



The market place for innovation in food, nutrition & health

nutrevent.com

June 17 & 18, 2015Lille, FRANCE

SAVE THE DATE

> Qualified one-to-one meetings

> High-level conferences



vaxinano is developing nanoparticles for its vaccines

alzProtect is on the rise

eat-cell biotech checks your tregs!

he power of nanotechnology adapted to the colossal market for vac-cines is the area chosen by Prof. Didier Betbeder, head of the nano-particles research team of Lille 2 University. this former biotech

manager, who notably co-founded Biovector therapeutics back in the 90s on the concept of a nasal influenza vaccine, is resuming an entrepreneurial stance with the launch of the Vaxinano project. the concept is to deve-lop innovative vaccines quantitatively encapsulating specific antigens in starch nanoparticles. it’s a bold proposition which opens this technology up to an almost unlimited number of applications. to get started, Prof. Betbeder set out on a project involving toxoplasmosis, co-directed by Prof. Dimier-Poisson from the University of tours. the team has already obtai-ned proof of concept for their nano-vaccine in mice, and they are currently testing it in sheep in a controlled trial set up with the inRa and financed by the tto. “the first market we envision is that of animal vaccination, because it is the most accessible and significant in terms of commercial benefits,” comments the researcher, who concludes: “however, we intend to replicate our model in humans for other indications in the short term, such as for parasitic infections, as well as for any illness requiring a cell-mediated vaccine such as hiV or hepatitis B, for example.”

nown for its research in the area of neurodegenerative diseases, alzPro-tect, founded in 2007 and developed in the eurasanté bio-incubator, has just completed an initial fundraising campaign bringing in €2 mil-

lion. “We’ve collected €1 million from a single investor, a new entrant to our capital Pierre Besançon, €600 K from finovam and nord france amorçage, as well as €400 K from 14 other individual investors,” says Philippe Verwaerde, head of the 10-person company. thanks to this process, alzProtect has advanced to a whole new level. its new reputation comes primarily from the fact that it has just begun a Phase i trial for its flagship compound aZP2006. Developed in frontotemporal dementia which, along with alzheimer’s disease, belongs to the group of tauopathies, aZP2006 has demonstrated encouraging preliminary results. once Phase i is completed, the company will again appeal to outside investors to fund the next stage, this time with the aim of raising €12 million to go all the way to the proof of concept stage. alzProtect is already working with Pr. florence Pasquier from the Regional and University hospital center in Lille on the design of Phase iia which will be carried out in 2016. the molecule is also planned to be reviewed in another Phase iia trial looking at progressive supranuclear palsy. Priced at €6 million, this project may be funded by a european consortium under the horizon 2020 framework.

“analysis of the activity of regulatory t lymphocytes should be a statutory prerequisite for any new drug candidate under development,” says nadira Delhem, head of the virus-in-duced cancer immunoregulatory team at the institute of Bio-

logy in Lille. “Many developmental and treatment failures in the sector are particularly due to an overactivity of the regulatory t lymphocytes which inhibit the immune response. in the “best” case, a tumor will resist a treatment, but in the “worst” case, the patient may suffer significant side effects including autoimmune disorders.” this very important observa-tions was validated by Dr. Delhem’s team on human cell models, as part of a trial of a molecule whose development was halted in Phase ii. “the next step consists of marketing the product in the form of services, after 10 years of research,” adds nadira Delhem, who will continue to serve as a consultant for the company eat-cell Biotech which operates the plat-

form. any biotech or pharmaceutical company, with a budget of tens or hundreds of thousands of euros depending on the project, can test the molecule. to test a molecule with three doses, the response time will be around 4 weeks. saving both time and money should prevent business developers from being skeptical for too long...

t

K

ComPanies

Philippe verwaerde

Prof. didier betbeder

dr. nadira delhem



Health claim: naturalpha spreads the word to european industrials

cousin biotech and Lille 2 university develop innovative prosthesis

diagast industrializes abodiag technology

aturalpha advises ingredient produ-cers on obtaining

health claims for their food products, and in addition to conducting clinical trials. according to the regula-tions of the efsa (european food safety authority) from 2012, manufacturers may

not include health claims on their products unless they have been scientifically proven. Posting a turnover of €2 million, the cRo, founded in 2001, seeks to increase

its business output. this phase will require educational efforts directed at industry stakeholders who are reluc-tant to conduct clinical trials. to win them over, natural-pha organizes training sessions on the efsa regulations. compared to competitors, the 25-person company has several assets to its advantage, including the ability to recruit volunteers and, in particular, its access to obese or overweight patients which is more common in nord-Pas de calais than in the rest of france. one of its latest clients also bolsters its credibility. the client in ques-tion is the oxylane-Décathlon group, which should soon receive its first claim for a sports nutrition product.

n Lille, sMes and clinicians work together with ease. this has been the case with

the project bringing together cou-sin Biotech, a developer of textile-based medical implants for the last 20 years, and the team led by Prof. françois Pattou (inserm 859, Lille 2 University), a specialist in non-pharmacological treatments for diabetes. françois cousin,

chairman of the supervisory Board of the cousin Medi-cal Group, and Prof. françois Pattou want to develop an

effective prosthesis against obesity and type 2 diabetes. their teams, which have been working together for several weeks, have already co-filed two patents on the technology in question. their collaboration should soon be formalized by an agreement under the orchestration of satt nord. “as we move forward with confidence, this agreement will only serve as a formality,” says françois cousin, who has long presided over cousin Biotech even prior to its acqui-sition this year by Dalle & associates. for the sMe with €14 million in turnover and 100 employees, this program is part of its tradition of open innovation which will enable it to enhance its pipeline. “such a device would complement our range of gastric bands,” concludes françois cousin.

iagast, a flagship company of the eurasanté Park where it was established in 1995 contributes its Lille expertise in the area of blood transfusions

and blood-derived products along with LfB and Maco-pharma. owner of the Bordeaux tPe aboDiag since last March, Diagast launches the industrialization of its haem-trap technology, complementing its range of Qwalys auto-mated systems. “aboDiag technology has the advantage of being intuitive and enabling the execution of hundreds of tests in a very short time,” says Bruno Morino, ceo of Diagast. the tests in question involve blood grouping, identification of phenotypes, and the research and identi-fication of antibodies. Diagast also needs to advance tech-nologically and to develop support and a new subsystem

for the marketing planned for 2017. thanks to sales of these new systems, the Lille industrial company, which currently boasts a turno-ver of €30 million, hopes to reach €50 million within the next 5 years, and €100 mil-lion in 10 years. aware that it needs to find ways to make its ambitions into reality, it intends to expand its pro-duction facilities and to double its workforce over the next five years for a total investment of €15 million.

n

i

D

Stéphane Postic

françois cousin

bruno morino

ComPanies

recently created, 4P Pharma opens its capital to investorsormed last august, the start-up 4P Pharma is the latest creation of the eurasanté Biotech incuba-tor. to fund the development of its drug candi-

dates, it is opening its capital to investors. “a round has just started with the aim of raising €900 K,” explains Re-vital Rattenbach, ceo of the start-up whose scientific lea-dership comes from itschak Lamensdorf, the ceo of the israeli company Pharmaseed. other fundraisers calling for millions of euros will follow to push the candidates to the clinical proof of concept stage for their transfer to a pharmaceutical company. Based at the Pasteur institute in Lille, 4P Pharma follows an original model. it iden-tifies promising technologies from the ttos and bio-tech companies, co-develops them with a scientific team

during maturation, and then decides whether or not to get a license. after sourcing from the southeast and north ttos, its portfolio contains three pro-grams including two for which it has posed licensing options. the most advanced among them is targeted at muscular dystro-phy and has obtained encou-raging results. the regulatory pre-clinical trials will take place in 2014/2015 before entry into clinical trials in 2016 if 4P Pharma exercises that option.

f

revital rattenbach

© L

aure

nt m

ayeu

x Ph

otog

raph

ies

© É

ric f

logn

y/al

eph



breast cancer, and then? kalicou innovates

biostatistics: orgamétrie boosts its growth

he “Kalicou” research project on “the expe-rience of young women

diagnosed with breast cancer and their partners” is about to launch its third component. “the impact of breast cancer on those close to patients and its management, in the long term, is still not well known or categorized,” says Dr. Laurence

Vanlemmens, oncologist at the oscar Lambret center. With a pink ribbon on her chest, this passionate practitioner,

joined by Prof. Véronique christophe, professor of health psychology at Lille 3 University, hopes to establish a com-puter interface that will make it possible to assess the sub-jective experience of young women with this disease and their partners in real time. this platform, which will be developed by two it specialists, aquilab and alicante, will enable clinicians to monitor their patients in real time and to receive specific alerts about them, or their partners, when encountered with serious difficulties coping with the disease in various regards, including the management of everyday life, children, relationships, or their professio-nal life. to complete the project, the female duo will need €100 K.

oubling its turnover in five years’ time is the goal that has been

set by the cRo orgamétrie, which specializes in biostatis-tical studies and clinical trials both before and after marketing authorization. to achieve this, the Roubaix company which currently generates €3 million in turnover is mapping out its

future development. first, it will restructure its human resources with the installation of middle management for

better division of labor. the second operation will include bolstering its data management ability organized around an ecRf solution for data collection, a shift which it began a few years ago. finally, a diversification of its activities is also part of its strategy. orgamétrie also invested €100 K in another kind of Lille cRo, oncovet clinical Research, which aims to offer pharmaceutical companies models of dogs and cats which are naturally sick. “this three-stage rocket is in combination with our daily efforts to sustain our collaborations with industry players and to remain a choice partner,” says Pierre clerson, doctor and ceo of orgamétrie, who also publishes seven to eight scientific papers per year.

t

D

dr. Laurence vanlemmens

dr. Pierre clerson

enTrePrises

EGID intervenes to fight diabetes

Lunginnov: from diagnosis to treatment for respiratory infections

inding innovative answers to metabolic diseases by focusing on non-pharmacological means is a field of research opened up by the team of Prof.

françois Pattou, Director of the U 859 diabetes cell the-rapy unit of the european Genomic institute for Diabetes (eGiD), responds to a growing health need. in just a few years diabetes has become a true epidemic, affecting more than 382 million people worldwide in 2013. a go-getter by nature, Pr. Pattou has connected a serious of col-laborative projects in order to arrive at sufficient means to develop an ambitious R&D policy. the academic team works towards this goal with several industry players, including Macopharma to develop a program in the area of islet transplantation for type 1 diabetes, which has

already successfully treated 45 patients, as well as cousin Biotech, for project to deve-lop medical devices capable of reproducing proven surgical operations but with a much less invasive nature. eGiD also takes part in the isi it-Diab consortium, as well as the iMi Direct project, both geared to-wards characterizing markers of response in patients.

llowing practitioners to predict respiratory ag-gravation in a patient using a specific biomarker is the mission set forth by Philippe Lassalle, ceo

of the Lille company Lunginnov. after the discovery of the molecule endocan and its properties of expression at the level of respiratory endothelium, this researcher at the Pasteur institute in Lille has developed a kit ca-pable of predicting two main types of diseases: sepsis and lung inflammation. an application is also under de-velopment in the field of oncology, with the possibility of using endocan as a marker of angiogenic response. so far self-funded through revenue from product sales and

services (€170,000 in 2013), as well a grant provided by Bpifrance and by individual investors, Lunginnov is seeking industrial and financial partners to accelerate its activities and advance its program of thera-peutic development linked to the endocan marker. this product could enter the clinical stage by 2017/2018, which in the meantime will require a fundraiser for several million euros.

f

a

Prof. françois Pattou

Philippe Lassalle


france, nord-Pas de Calais - special issue fUnDinG

finance

• the nord-Pas de calais region invests in a development contract intended for sMes with fewer than 250 employees through grants which can reach up to 10% of the investment amounts anticipated by the companies.

• in order to make the funding and support of technology start-ups in the nord-Pas de calais region more dynamic, the venture capital branches of finorpa (finorpa scR) and iRD (inovam) merged in february 2014 to create finovam, a regional prime-pumping company allocated €15 million. finovam aims to strengthen the development and financing of innovative seed projects, primarily technological, by providing additional resources to support long-term projects with great potential. in particular, finovam invested €2 million in the latest round for alzProtect, set up in the eurasanté bio-incubator. in the eyes of hélène cannard, a finovam Board Member, it is important for biotech companies “to structure enough equity funds to enable them to finance pre-clinical phases and then to grant access to venture capital.”

• the proximity to Belgium is favorable for investment coming from that country: iRD has historically held a partnership with Louvain Vives ii, a cross-border fund based in Leuven, which has the ability to intervene in nord-Pas de calais.

• the nord france amorçage regional pump-priming fund was launched in late 2012. it supports small and medium-sized companies in the priming and post-priming stage, as well as the innovative projects of existing companies. acting only as a co-investor, nord france amorçage may invest up to €800 K in companies.

• the “Business angles of north france” association aims to serve as an intermediary between companies seeking funding and the business angels in the region. it also seeks to educate and inform project leaders on the importance of opening the capital of their

business, and it lets business angels know about potential investments.

• along these same lines, the clubster santé business network has launched the “invest innovate” platform with eurasanté, which is responsible for linking project leaders/entrepreneurs with a group of about one hundred investors consisting of private individuals who are able to inject between €150 K to €500 K, whether or not they want to be involved in management. over 3 to 4 meetings per year, the different members attend presentation pitches. “the north is an important contributor to the isf,” says etienne Vervaecke, Director of eurasanté. “it would be a shame not to allocate these funds, using the tePa device, to innovative companies, and that’s exactly what we try to do with invest innovate.” since 2009, invest innovate has made it possible to raise approximately €40 million for the 48 projects presented.

• Unsecured loans: the northern entrepreneurship network and LMi innovation grant unsecured loans without interest or collateral to individuals only. the project leader can also receive up to €90 K in the form of a loan from each of these organizations.

• Bpifrance is a key player in the funding of biotechnology companies in the nord-Pas de calais region. included in the assistance it offers for innovation, Bpifrance funds biotech companies both in the process of being created (feasibility studies, etc.), as well as those in the development phase (equity loans, etc.). the assistance to the development of a drug candidate is part of Bpifrance’s scope.

sUPPoRt

an important partner for biotechs in the nord-Pas de calais region, the eurasanté economic development agency supports the health/biotech industry through a team of forty individuals specializing in different areas: support for development and the creation of innovative businesses, research development,

the incubation of innovative projects, and guiding the “nutrition, health,, Longevity” competitiveness cluster. addressing both food health and therapeutic & biotechnological innovation, this cluster has helped to approve numerous fUi projects focused on three themes: neurodegenerative diseases, chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and cardiometabolic & nutrition related diseases. Lille is also known of its expertise and skills pertaining to blood related products, with the presence of companies such as Macopharma and Diagast. for etienne Vervaecke, ceo of eurasanté, the role of the development agency extends far beyond regional borders: “We are very active in the promotion of the area in order to attract businesses to the nord-Pas de calais region”, a region where “there is a flurry of activity related to the health industry, which is hardly known and recognized!” eurasanté organizes professional events, such as Biofit and nutrevent, and aims to accelerate financial and scientific partnerships. eurasanté is also a privileged contact when it comes to raising funds: “We have a network in capital investment, venture capital, and the business angels in france and Belgium.” l

FInanCInG Its BIOtECH COMPanY In nOrD-Pas DE CaLaIs: MODE OF OPEratIOn

1515 projects approved by eurasanté have had access to the fUi.

€142 million 14 projects supported by the nhL Cluster are win-ners of future investments, and have thus received a total funding of more than €142 million.

€163 million since 2006, eurasanté has backed 72 projects funded with a total r&D budget of €163 million and nearly €70 million of public aid awarded.

i n order to support the development of its economic network, the nord-Pas de calais region has imple-mented a range of financial tools available at different stages and for all amounts, both for start-ups as well as more “late-stage” companies. Biotech finances has prepared an overview of these devices

and how they work.

Funding contributors finovam, ird, nord france amor-çage, the nord-Pas de calais re-gion, the business angels of north france, invest innovate, the north entrepreneurship network, Lmi inno-vation, clubster Santé, bpifrance.

sources of supporteurasanté, J’innove en nord-Pas de calais, regional chamber of commerce and industry, the “nu-trition, Health, Longevity” cluster, and the Pasteur institute of Lille.

sTraTeGiC overviewu The main deals in Nord-Pas de Calais during the year 2014 reciPient’S name tyPe of oPeration tranSaction amount name of tHe buyer or maJor inveStorS

bio TiCkeT

Lille, the strange attractor of biotech companiesBy H. Ella

s it the proximity to Brussels, the distance from Paris, or perhaps the vitality of its research centers which makes Lille

a major attractive center in the field of life sciences? Perhaps it’s all the above and then some. With companies operating in sectors as diverse as genomics and diagnostic kits, the latest generation of antibodies or innovative treatments for metabolic diseases, the whole spectrum of life sciences seem to be represented. As such, with nearly 2,200 researchers and no less than 780 companies in the health industry, the Nord-Pas de Calais region ranks third place. With all of this diversity, the Lille region has been attracting biotech companies for many years, and it’s the sort of place that makes full use of all creative will. Particularly sensitive to initial conditions, the development and creation of businesses requires a truly innovative ecosystem from the get-go. A special partner of research centers and excellent universities, the Lille bio-cluster

Eurasanté has been able to mobilize many different energies, including local investors: Finorpa and Inovam. These investors, in the final phase of integration, merged their prime-pumping activities under the name Finovam, preferring a single fund of €15 million to crumbling abilities as can often be seen in our beautiful regions. Such an operation is uncommon since it involved the combination of two actors, one public and the other private, each having distinct purposes beforehand. The goal now is to move to the next level more quickly with an interregional seed fund coving the Picardie, Champagne-Ardenne, and Lorraine regions, which will benefit from the support of the National Priming Fund. Today, with the presence of a few champions, including the most iconic, Genfit, which has one of the largest market capitalizations, the Lille region can look at how far it’s come with peace of mind. l

i

© É

ditio

ns e

urop

éenn

es d

e l’i

nnov

atio

n. L

a ph

otoc

opie

non

aut

oris

ée e

st u

n dé

lit.

Visit oUR BLoG ! http://blog.biotech-finances.combiotech finances est une lettre hebdomadaire imprimée et en ligne publiée par les Éditions européennes de l’innovation.• Directeur de la publication et de la rédaction : Jacques-bernard taste [email protected]• Rédactrice en chef : Juliette Lemaignen - [email protected]• Rédaction : Anne-Laure Languille - [email protected] et H. Ella - [email protected]

• Maquette : Laure Pascal - www.lp-infographie.eu• SERVICE ABONNEMENTS: Bénédicte Pociello - 04 81 91 60 88 [email protected] • Société éditrice : Éditions européennes de l’innovation au capital de 40 326 euros• Siège social : 108 rue Bossuet, 69006 Lyon - France• Téléphone : + 33 (0)980 08 51 45 • Fax : + 33 (0)980 08 51 46

• RCS Lyon : 480 764 398 • Commission paritaire : 0616 I 79205 • ISSN : 1298-9428• Prix du numéro : 40,60 euros HT• Prix de l’abonnement annuel : 1 276 euros HT (44 numéros par an)• Site web : www.biotech-finances.com • blog : blog.biotech-finances.com• Publicité : + 33 (0)980 08 51 45• Imprimeur : maqprint, 3 rue Thomas-Édison - B.P. 59 - 87202 Saint-Junien

Genfit Capital increase €49.7 M Multiplesmtd capital increase €5,4 m nord capital PartnersalzProtect capital increase €2 m Pierre besançon, finovam, nord france amorçage, business angelsMDoloris Capital increase €1,1 M Historical shareholders including Finovam and SiparexAlzProtect Obtaining a grant €1 M BpifranceOCR Capital increase €700 k Nord France Amorçage, A&S (Autonomie et Solidarité) and business angelsLipofabrik Capital increase €200 k Business angelsCousin Biotech Transfer ND Dalle & Associatesagro-Levures et dérivés SaS transfer nd Lesaffreagrauxine transfer nd Lesaffre

this special issue received support from

Cette action est cofinancée par l’Union européenne

For 15 years biotechfinances has been the first weekly newspaper dedicated to all aspects of biotechnology. do you want to subscribe? Go to www.biotech-finances.com

Get introduced to biotechfinances !BIOTECHFINANCESL’INFORMATION STRATégIque deS bIOdécIdeuRS eT deS bIOINveSTISSeuRS

Hebdomadaire • Lundi 6 octobre 2014 • N° 652

Som

mai

re

aut-il supprimer le CIR ? Voilà une ques-tion qui mérite d’être posée pour appeler, immédiatement et sans

détour, une réponse négative

car le CIR est, assurément, l’un

des dispositifs de compétitivité

les plus intelligents qui aient été

mis en place pour soutenir le

développement des sociétés inno-vantes. Ce principe posé, il n’en

demeure pas moins que d’aucuns

se reconnaîtront dans la formule

immortalisée par le Géronte de

Molière dans ses fourberies de

Scapin : « Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère ? ». Car

enfin, si 18 000 sociétés font bien

appel au CIR en France, combien

ont-elles baissé les bras et refusent

désormais de s’engager dans ce

dispositif ? Renoncements et dé-

fections n’ont jamais été vraiment

comptabilisés mais la probléma-

tique du CIR dans sa durabilité,

abordée lors des Universités d’été de l’AFSSI, à Dijon

ce 30 septembre, n’a pas laissé de susciter de vifs dé-

bats. Chacun des entrepreneurs y est allé de son vécu.

Chantage de l’administration fiscale directement sur

la personne et les biens en cas de rébellion, contrôle

quasi systématique des « heureux » bénéficiaires, ver-

satilité des inspecteurs, instabilité, insécurité, les cri-

tiques ont fusé. La grogne profonde n’est pas nouvelle.

Régulièrement le sujet ressurgit et l’administration en-

voie l’un de ses valeureux soldats au feu. En témoigne,

exemple parmi tant d’autres, la mise au point effectuée

bien avant l’été à Lyon par le Préfet Carenco qui s’est

cru obligé d’émettre un communiqué de presse indi-

quant que « non ! », il n’y avait pas de corrélation auto-

matique entre le CIR et un potentiel contrôle répressif

des bénéficiaires. C’est dire la défiance et le climat

délétère qui règnent autour du fameux dispositif dans

tout l’Hexagone, toutes filières

confondues ! Comme si cela ne

suffisait pas, l’administration fis-

cale sort parfois de ses cuisines

une recette, ou plutôt une doc-

trine, qui est un de ses secrets de

fabrique comme la directive du 4

avril 2014 remettant en cause la

possibilité pour une partie d’entre

elles d’enregistrer au titre du CIR

les dépenses de recherche sous-

traitées auprès d’elles par leurs

grands clients industriels (1). Une

directive au nom de laquelle plu-

sieurs entreprises, dont certaines

ont témoigné aux universités d’été

de l’AFSSI, ont failli purement

et simplement déposer le bilan.

Alors quelle solution adopter

pour garder et sécuriser ce dispo-

sitif du CIR qui, outre ces vicissi-

tudes administratives, est apprécié

de tous ? Philippe Berna, délé-

gué innovation auprès du média-

teur national inter-entreprises,

au ministère de l’économie, de

l’industrie et du numérique tout comme Christophe

Lecante, Président de la commission innovation au

Comité Richelieu et encore d’autres intervenants ont

pointé la nécessité de travailler sur des outils de sta-

bilité comme le rescrit fiscal. Il doit être « évolutif »,

il doit être « participatif », les « deux » a-t-on entendu

lors pendant les sessions d’échanges. L’administration

fiscale sera-t-elle de son côté ouverte et sensible à ces

pistes de réflexion ? En tout cas, elle n’en avait pas

pris le chemin en ne daignant pas envoyer l’un de ses

représentants, pourtant très espéré, à la journée de

l’AFSSI. l(1) – Lire Bf n° 638 du 26/05/2014 : « CIR : gros grain pour les

CRO »

Som

mai

re

Opération levée de fondspour Atlanthéra

Page 3 500 k€ amorcent lepipeline d’ImmuSmolPage 4 la semaine en bref : Fondation Four-

nier-Majoie / Le Québec / Cardio3 BioSciences…

financements Apidel recherche 5 à

7 M€ pour ses combinés-médicaments

Page 2

Page 5

entrePrises

financements

GranD anGle

LeS FourberIeS du CIr

« La problématique du CIR dans sa durabilité a été abordée lors des Universités d’été de l’AFSSI »

Par Jacques-Bernard Taste

IPo : à la santé des petits porteurs !

Pages 6 et 7

F5,3 Md€Le nombre de déclarants a

plus que doublé entre 2007 et 2012 pour dépasser 20 400

entreprises en 2012. Ces der-nières ont déclaré 19,2 Md€

de dépenses éligibles pour l’année 2012, générant un cré-

dit d’impôt de 5,3 Md€.

10 %Certaines entreprises rem-

plissent une déclaration CIR pour de très petits montants

de dépenses : 10 % des socié-tés déclarent moins de 30 K€

de dépenses.

32 %Le taux de CIR constaté est

d’autant plus faible que l’effec-tif du bénéficiaire est élevé : le

CIR représente 32 % des dé-penses éligibles pour les TPE

et 24 % pour les entreprises de plus de 5 000 salariés.

BIOTECHFINANCESL’INFORMATION STRATégIque deS bIOdécIdeuRS eT deS bIOINveSTISSeuRS

Hebdomadaire • Lundi 22 septembre 2014 • N° 650

Som

mai

re

15 %La France ambitionne de prendre 15 % du marché mon-dial des biotechnologies.

20C’est le nombre de nouveaux traitements que le plan « bio-technologies médicales » per-mettra de mettre sur le mar-ché.

100 M€Une centaine de millions d’euros sera spécifiquement allouée aux lauréats travaillant dans les domaines de l’immu-nologie, de la thérapie cellu-laire et des vaccins.

es 34 plans de reconquête conçus pour relancer la mécanique industrielle de la France atteindront-ils réellement leur ob-jectif ? Jusqu’à présent, sur le papier, rien

ne permet d’en douter tant l’idée paraît adaptée et

brillante. Mais déjà la mise en œuvre laisse accroire

que, pour que la réussite soit totale, des ajustements et

des précisions sont urgents. Pour les biotechnologies

médicales, l’Appel à manifestation d’intérêts (AMI) a

été lancé au début de l’été. Il a fait d’ores et déjà sor-

tir une douzaine de beaux dossiers dont celui d’OSE

Pharma, sélectionné cette semaine ou encore France-

CellVax. Avec sa technologie Memopi, OSE Pharma

entend réapprendre au système immunitaire à attaquer

les cellules tumorales en augmentant la réponse spéci-

fique T cytotoxique. Le produit phare de l’entreprise,

baptisé Texopi, va bientôt démarrer une phase III sur

500 personnes en Europe et aux États-Unis dans l’in-

dication du cancer du poumon non à petites cellules à

un stade avancé. Le candidat-médicament pourra en

parallèle être développé en phase II dans d’autres can-

cers invasifs dont ceux du sein, des ovaires, du colon et

de la prostate. Des avancées très solides sur lesquelles

l’équipe de Dominique Costantini entend capitaliser

pour dynamiser son processus d’IPO qui vient d’être

lancé cette fin de semaine. Dans la même logique, le

consortium FranceCellVax regroupe les sociétés Abi-

vax, Neovacs, Valneva et l’Institut Pasteur. Il porte sur

le développement industriel et commercial, en 5 ans,

de vaccins innovants actuellement en phase d’évalua-

tion clinique, et ce avec une échéance de mise sur le

marché autour de 2020. Il prévoit également l’utilisa-

tion des plateformes immuno-technologiques de l’Ins-

titut Pasteur pour optimiser l’évaluation préclinique et

le développement chez l’homme de candidats vaccins.

Les lauréats sont bien-sûr enthousiastes et certains que

« tout est en ordre pour faire avancer rapidement leurs

projets très ciblés dans la même direction, avec l’objec-

tif de renforcer la compétitivité de la France dans des

domaines de pointe et fondamentaux pour la méde-

cine de demain ». Cependant, ils n’en conservent pas

moins une lucidité d’analyse et des exigences fortes

sur le déroulement de la mise en œuvre, car quelques

modalités, et non des moindres, restent encore floues

comme en témoigne Dominique Costantini. « On

nous a annoncé que nous accéderions à deux atouts

clés pour notre développement : l’obtention d’un label

et l’inclusion dans un processus de fléchage personna-

lisé. Nous avons entendu parler d’aides au niveau juri-

dique pour la propriété intellectuelle, de services de

valorisation, et d’aide au franchissement de barrières

réglementaires, mais nous n’avons pour l’heure pas

plus de détails sur les avantages de ce nouveau statut »,

souligne-t-elle. Une clarification rapide s’impose donc

pour ne pas casser la dynamique qui vient d’être créée.

Le fléchage global d’un nouveau label est certes fonda-

mental, mais ces sont les détails opérationnels et des

« milestone » concrets qui nourrissent le quotidien de

l’entreprise. Et ils sont attendus avec impatience ! l

Som

mai

re

Épigénétique : Inventiva signe avec Curie-Cancer

Page 3

Médecine nucléaire : AAA consolide sa position en Italie

Page 4 la semaine en bref : Subatech et Air Liquide / Bioxodes / BioWin / Axelera… marchés Nicox renforce ses compétences

en ophtalmologie billet bio Le Corporate Venture, stratégie

anticrise

Page 2

Page 5

Page 8

Partenariats

m&a

GranD anGle

Projets d’AveNIr Pour les bIomed : quANd Il y A uN flou…

Dominique Costantini « Une douzaine de projets ont émergé pour les biotech médicales »

Par Juliette Lemaignen

management des chercheurs : ménager ses actifs clefs

Pages 6 et 7

L

BIOTECHFINANCESL’INFORMATION STRATégIque deS bIOdécIdeuRS eT deS bIOINveSTISSeuRS

Hebdomadaire • Lundi 13 octobre 2014 • N° 653

Som

mai

re

asée à Montréal et à Munich, TVM Capi-tal Life Science, une des sociétés de capital-risque majeures dans le secteur des sciences de la vie en Amé-rique du Nord et en Europe de l’Ouest, vient de l’annoncer : son Fonds VII a été clôturé pour un montant de près de 160 M€. Une enveloppe qui figure parmi les belles levées de fonds de VC européens, à l’instar de celles de Sofinnova Partners en France avec son fonds Sofinnova Capi-tal VII de 240 M€ ou encore d’Edrip avec Biodiscovery 4 doté de 192 M€. TVM, originale dans son approche, a attiré plusieurs industriels pharmaceutiques à son capital dont Eli Lilly and Company, qui fait partie des investisseurs majeurs du nouveau fonds, ou encore Bukwang Pharma de Corée du Sud. Ces alliances avec des laboratoires pharmaceutiques ont pour but d’appuyer la stratégie project-focused-company (PFC) de TVM. Cette démarche consiste à acquérir des mo-lécules en développement précoce auprès de pharma ou de biotech dans le monde entier, puis de financer ensuite une entreprise virtuelle orientée projet pour chaque candidat-médicament. L’objectif est de déve-lopper les produits jusqu’à une preuve de concept cli-nique avant d’en céder les droits à des biopharma. Ces PFC auront la possibilité de faire appel à Chorus, une organisation virtuelle de développement de médica-ments faisant partie du groupe de recherche externali-sée «Global External R&D» d’Eli Lilly and Company. « L’équipe de Chorus est composée de chercheurs

d’envergure internationale en développement, qui sont capables de générer des données d’études de haute qualité grâce à l’ap-plication de plans de dé-veloppement efficaces et ciblés », explique le Dr Hu-bert Birner, associé prin-cipal chez TVM Capital Life Science, qui projette de dédier « 50 % de ses investissements à l’Europe de l’Ouest : France, Alle-magne et Royaume-Uni, et le reste à l’Amérique du Nord, et notamment aux entreprises de Mon-tréal où est basé le siège social de TVM. Au total, cela représentera environ 80 M€ par territoire, ré-partis entre 7 et 10 investissements sur une période de 5 ans ». Côté aires thérapeutiques, les participations de TVM seront intégralement centrées sur des socié-tés de drug development dans des indications à haut potentiel dont l’oncologie, les maladies du système nerveux central et la cardiologie. Pour accéder au mar-ché français, TVM compte sur ses partenaires finan-ciers historiques, dont Sofinnova Partners avec qui il a déjà collaboré sur plusieurs dossiers. Les deux prota-gonistes soutiennent ensemble le toulousain Cerenis, spécialisé dans le développement de nouvelles théra-pies HDL pour le traitement des maladies cardiovas-culaires et métaboliques. Ils ont également partagé les déboires de la biotech de Mulhouse, Neuro3D, qui a été cédée en 2007 pour 21 M€ à Evotec alors qu’elle avait levé 55 M€ auprès de ses actionnaires. l

Som

mai

re

Amatsigroup s’implante dans le « vet corridor » aux États-Unis

Page 3

Imagerie moléculaire : Cyclopharma double ses efforts de R&D

Page 4

la semaine en bref : Le Fonds pour l’avenir suisse / Néomed et Mitacs / Numab … financements Biodiesel : Agrisoma lève 5,6 M€ pour ses graines de carinata

billet bio Noir c’est noir ! Page 2Page 5

entrePrisesentrePrises

GranD anGle

C’est pArti pour tVM Fonds Vii AVeC 160 M€

dr Hubert Birner « Nous soutiendrons 15 à 20 projets en 5 ans »

Par Juliette Lemaignen

innoBio fête 5 années de succès

Pages 6 et 7

B 5 + 5Le fonds TVM Life Science Ven-tures VII est lancé pour une pé-riode de 10 ans dont 5 années d’investissements et 5 années de folow-on.

600TVM reçoit en moyenne 600 dossiers par an et en sélec-tionne in fine moins de 1 % pour ses investissements.

10 M€Un total de 10 à 12 M€ pourra être investi par entreprise à travers plusieurs tours de table.

Page 8

special focus of biotech finances

Documents