LYONBIOPOLE at BIO Philadelphia

LYON, FRANCE--(Marketwired - May 29, 2015) -

1/ Lyon: an innovation cluster

As the biggest vaccine production site in Europe and one of the largest European regions for public and private research potential in life science, Lyon and the Rhône-Alpes are home to over 600 life science companies, representing 100,000 jobs. World leaders, such as Sanofi Pasteur, Merial, bioMérieux and Genzyme are based in the region and represent the founders of Lyonbiopôle.

Supported by Lyon Métropole, Lyon's Biodistrict is devoted to health and biotechnology. In particular, it offers advanced services and is home to top organizations including the BIOASTER Technology Institute. This unique platform, a public-private partnership, enables breakthrough innovation and transdisciplinary R&D programs in infectious diseases and microbiology, bringing together academics, SMEs and industrial players.

BIOASTER has just received a donation from Sanofi Pasteur to help fund a new building in the Biodistrict campus in Lyon. This EUR 1 million donation has bolstered financial support from the Rhône-Alpes Region and Lyon Métropole, each funding 40% of the building.

2/ A strategic Lyon-East Coast connection

The Bio International Convention is also an excellent opportunity to reinforce ties between organizations from Lyon and those in Philadelphia and Boston. The Rhône-Alpes region has been twinned with Philadelphia for a number of years, and Lyon is also developing strategic ties with Boston. The two cities actively support innovation and life sciences.

Sanofi/Genzyme, which have a strong presence in both cities, initiated talks during the official visit of the Governor of Massachusetts in September 2014 and again, in Boston, in October 2014, during the official visit of Gérard Collomb, Senator-Mayor of Lyon and President of the Métropole. These exchanges led to collaboration between Lyonbiopôle and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) to build collaborative projects within the framework of the Universal Partnership (UP). Its goal is to encourage transatlantic innovation by providing technical and financial support for collaborative projects.

The rapprochement of these two eco-systems also led to Big Booster - Bio & Tech & Global Impact. This is the first international non-profit accelerator organized between Boston and Lyon, and dedicated to supporting innovative projects with a high potential for economic, social and/or environmental benefit. Its goal is to become Europe's biggest early stage start-up competition. This program will focus on three fields of excellence: health, digital and cleantech.

3/ An impressive delegation

At the BIO International Convention on June 15th - 18th, Lyonbiopôle -- the international competitive cluster in the health sector uniting public and private actors in research programs -- will take an important delegation to Philadelphia. The official representatives of Lyonbiopôle, Lyon Métropole, Invest in Lyon, and the Lyon Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be joined by 20 innovative companies from the region; this will be the biggest French delegation to attend the event.

Among the companies present:

• New companies, such as PDC*Line Pharma, which offers a new class of therapeutic anti-cancer vaccine, Elsalys Biotech, which develops anti-bodies against cancers and inflammatory diseases, and Maat Pharma, which offers an exclusive product that enables the safe and effective repair of intestinal microflora.
  
  
• More established companies such as Alizé Pharma, which groups together companies specialized developing innovative biopharmaceutical medications and therapeutic proteins and peptides to treat metabolic and rare diseases, Alaxia, which develops new treatments for severe respiratory diseases and Eveon which works with pharmaceutical laboratories to co-develop innovative automatic and safe solutions for preparing and/or injecting medications.
  
  
• Kallistem, which performed the world's first in vitro spermatozoa maturation. At the BIOVISION Investor Conference in Lyon last April, this Lyonnais start-up also received the Jury's Special Award. Kallistem will attend BIO International for the first time this year.
  
  

As well as biotechnologies that have successfully been floated on the stock market and are continuing to enlarge their product and service pipeline:

• Adocia develops innovative formulas of pre-approved therapeutic proteins, Erytech Pharma, specialized in innovative cancer treatments that starve tumors.
  
  
• Flamel Technologies, specialized in developing controlled drug release through two technologies.
  
  
• Genoway, specialized in developing genetically modified research models of high added value for the biopharmaceutical research industries and academic research.
  
  
• Transgene, which designs, develops and makes immunotherapy for cancers and infectious diseases.
  
  

Did you know?

Lyon based start-up Inova was selected by the organizers of BIO International to develop and implement the event's new partnering software.

About Lyonbiopôle

Today, the Lyonbiopôle competitive cluster is considered a leader and a one-stop shop for the health industry in the Rhône-Alpes region. Its aim is to support the emergence and development of innovative technologies, products and services for more personalized medical care for patients. It operates in four strategic fields: Human medicine, Veterinary medicine, In vitro diagnostics and Medical devices & technologies.

Focusing on infectious diseases since its creation in 2005, Lyonbiopole is now supporting ambitious projects and companies in other fields of life sciences, such as cancer, nutrition, metabolic diseases and neurosciences.

In 2014, the Lyonbiopôle community had 176 members, 4 world-class industrial founders (Sanofi Pasteur, bioMérieux, Merial, BD), 154 innovative small and medium-size companies focused on healthcare and 18 research centers including 3 of the region's university hospital centres. The European Cluster Excellence Initiative awarded Lyonbiopôle the Gold label in November 2014.

About Lyon and ONLYLYON
ONLYLYON is both the brand and the territorial marketing program carried by 13 local institutional partners whose goal is to boost Lyon's international reach and attractiveness.

Lyon Métropole is the second largest metropolitan area in France and one of Europe's 10 principal urban regions. It has 1.6 million inhabitants and is structured around sectors of excellence including health, cleantech and digital.