Atlanpole Biotherapies Cluster Creates International Partnership Opportunities (A022)

PRLog (Press Release) - Mar 17, 2010 -
Chicago (word count: 1,362)
For pharmaceutical and biotech companies or research laboratories looking for high level partners devoted to healthcare and biotechnologies, Atlanpole Biotherapies is a cluster that draws together a community of innovative companies, fundamental and clinical research organizations and higher education institutions, all located in Western France. The cluster will exhibiting at BIO 2010 in Chicago from May 3 to 6 on the French Pavilion, booth 3712.

The cluster, which has attended BIO since 2006, allows access to extended skills, from biodiagnostic to biomedicine. Its stakeholders offer comprehensive and competitive solutions along the entire biotherapeutic value chain, from discovery to patient, within four areas of excellence: immunobiotherapies, radiopharmaceutical, cell and gene therapies and biomaterials.


International Cooperation
To ensure the development of biotherapies at an international level, the cluter has developed a broad network of global and strategic partnerships, already leading to effective R&D cooperation and business opportunities for all stakeholders and to several European projects (Afibio, Term, Win Atlantic, etc.). Practical cooperation has been set up with bioclusters located in Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Japan and the United States. The cluster is looking to develop other worldwide connections, especially in Israel and Asia.

For companies and labs willing to join international R&D programs and build partnerships with its members to improve tomorrow’s health, Atlanpole Biotherapies provides great contact and matching opportunity. Its team is dedicated to accelerating business connexions and international R&D partnerships to facilitate innovation and speed up new treatment availability to patients.

Atlanpole Biotherapies a growing innovation environment
With a fast increase of researchers number over the past decade – almost 1,000 specialists dedicated to life-sciences – leading to a new university hospital before 2012, the development of four new biotech start ups every year, the creation of two biotech incubator buildings opening in 2009 and 2012, Atlanpole Biotherapies is clearly one of the most attractive and dynamic place for biotherapies development.

The industrial environment is growing with more than 60 Companies in a dynamic network, completed by a world-class research potential with 35 research laboratories, 30 technology platforms providing high tech services to industry and academics. This background is reinforced through high level professional training implicating more than 9,000 students in Life Sciences and surrounded by 14,000 healthcare professionals.

Four areas of excellence
Since 2005 more than 200 public/private R&D projects labeled “Atlanpole Biotherapies” have been identified along the entire value chain of biomedicals and biodiagnostics. ln particular, Atlanpole Biotherapies exhibits specific areas of cutting-edge competencies:

1. Radiopharmaceuticals
The unique, high-energy (70 MeV) and high-intensity (750A) cyclotron Arronax, opened in the city of Nantes in early 2009 and allows production of new radionucleides such as Gallium-68, Iodine-124, Copper-64, Rubidium-82, Copper-67, and alpha particles like Astatine-211. Recently, radioimmunotherapy has shown promising result in clinical trials against cancer resistant to other treatment, recognized by the 2009 French Victory of Medicine. Moreover, radio-labeled monoclonal antibodies are currently entering an industrial development especially in prostate cancer treatment. Radiopharmaceuticals also allow new opportunities in the life cycle management of available molecules.

2. Cell and Gene Therapies
Cell and gene therapies are based on cell engineering. Their purpose is to modify ex-vivo (transfection) and/or expand autologous or allogenic cells in order to treat pathologies and biological deficiencies that cannot be presently cured. The cluster hosts 13 on-going clinical trials in this field, one of them being a phase I trial for eye disease (AAV). Promising preclinical results to treat myopathy have also been recently presented by the Veterinary School of Nantes. Within this realm, two main facilities – UTCG  (Unité de Thérapie Cellulaire et Génique) and ABG (Atlantic Bio Gmp) – ensure several development possibilities including manufacturing cell products released under cGMP conditions and complying to strict quality, safety and data recording specifications. It offers client-specific manufacturing services for clinical trials (phases I, II and III). Also possible is the production of recombinant viral vectors expressing the appropriate gene, construction of specific plasmid vectors and providing biological reagents.

3.lmmunobiotherapies
Vaccination against tumors: Atlanpole offers a cross-disciplinary approach in tumor vaccination, including academic and clinical research and industry applications. Possibilities include peptide or oligonucleotide drug development and cell therapy approaches with TIL (tumoriinfiltrating lymphocytes), CTL (cytotoxic T-lymphocites) or dendritic cells. Transplantation and auto-immune diseases: The University Hospital of Nantes expects to perform more than 4,000 kidney or kidney/pancreas transplantations in 2010, highlighting the work of the specific institute of transplantation ITERT and making it the European leader in that area. Companies (including spin-offs from the research laboratory) are now working on the development of therapeutics aimed at establishing and reinforcing immune regulation. A specific collaborative R&D program developing a CD28 antagonist to obtain long-lasting tolerance transplantation is also ongoing. The journal Science Translational Medicine published a study on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, demonstrating a new concept: a molecule capable of inducing immunological tolerance while reducing the toxicity of immunosuppressive therapy. The study was conducted on monkeys, macaques and baboons, who received a kidney transplant or heart by the team of Bernard Vanhove, Gilles Blancho (Inserm, CHU and University of Nantes), in collaboration with surgeons of the medicine faculty at Baltimore, Maryland. The Nantes team is one of leading centers in the field of transplantation. It made the CHU Nantes (the Nantes University Hospital) the first European center for kidney transplants (60% of organ transplants are on the kidney), the top French center for double kidney-pancreas transplant and a European leader for pancreas transplants.

4. Biomaterials, with a specific osteo-articular focus
The cluster gathers companies that include international leaders in synthetic bone substitutes and research facilities working on tissue engineering and bone regeneration. Biomaterials made of hydrogels or calcium phosphate ceramics are available. A pipeline of several biomaterials associated with active compounds or cells for therapeutic applications is currently under development. There are also preclinical platforms that allows the identification and evaluation of therapeutic drugs in osteoarticular pathologies in particular from tumor origin.

For more information, please contact:

ATLANPOLE BIOTHERAPIES
Emilie Menoury
Communications
Château de la Chantrérie
95, rue de Gachet
44307 Nantes Cedex 3
FRANCE
Tel.: +33 2 40 25 27 20
E-mail: menoury@atlanpole.fr
Web: www.atlanpolebiotherapies.com

or:

FRENCH TECHNOLOGY PRESS OFFICE
205 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3740
Chicago, IL 60601
Tel.: (312) 327-5260
E-mail: contact.ftpo@ubifrance.fr