Toulouse, Lyon and Bangkok, 8th December 2022 – Within the framework of the “BIOCLUSTER” Call for Expressions of Interest of the Health Innovation Plan 2030, the Toulouse University Hospital, the Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier University and the BioNet company have just signed a memorandum of collaboration in order to create a Biocluster for the development of innovative biotherapies.
Biocluster TB4T: the desire to accelerate the development of biotherapies and vaccines in France
This application, led by Prof. Louis Buscail and uniting the Toulouse University Hospital, the BioNet company and the University of Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier, aims to respond in the short term to an urgent need for innovative vaccines in the field of infectiology and emerging diseases.
In the medium term, DNA and RNA-based technologies will also enable the development of treatments in other therapeutic areas.
The members of the Toulouse Biocluster for Innovative Therapies (TB4T) aim to create an environment that favors innovation and start-ups, training and information exchange, and international collaborations.
The challenge is also to ensure the local production of drugs in the Occitanie region in order to ensure France’s strategic autonomy.
Professor Louis Buscail is the coordinator of the Biotherapy module of the Clinical Investigation Center (CIC) of Toulouse (CHU / Inserm / UT3 – Paul Sabatier) and has more than 15 years of experience in the development of innovative drugs. He is supported in the structuring of the project by the biotherapy module of the Toulouse CIC and Innov’Pôle Santé (IPS), the innovation acceleration platform of the Toulouse University Hospital.
Jean-François Lefebvre, General Director of the CHU of Toulouse
“The Toulouse University Hospital is one of the French university hospital centers of excellence in care and research. Our teams have been involved in Biotherapies for many years through the Biotherapy module of the CIC, a mixed teaching and research structure, which is nationally and internationally recognized. The TB4T Biocluster is the concrete expression of this strong involvement and should allow the development and acceleration of new DNA/RNA technologies, for which the expertise of Prof. BUSCAIL and his teams is particularly recognized, within a very favorable scientific and industrial ecosystem fully mobilized around the project.”
Professor Jean-Marc Broto, President of the University of Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier
“In a world of particularly rapid technological change, our university is heavily involved in training for the professions of the future, particularly biotechnology, alongside its historical partners. The TB4T Biocluster in Toulouse, which focuses on DNA/RNA therapies, is a good example of this.”
Pham Hong Thai, General Director of BioNet
“We are very pleased that our teams based in Lyon and Bangkok have this opportunity to collaborate with the University Hospital Center (CHU) of Toulouse and the University Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier on this Biocluster project in France. BioNet has helped create bioclusters in several countries to develop vaccines. We have recently established an end-to-end manufacturing process to produce DNA and mRNA vaccines. Access to these technology platforms, which have already been validated in the clinic, allows us to develop innovative drugs in record time.”
About the CHU of Toulouse
The Toulouse University Hospital treats approximately 280,000 patients each year, making it the fourth largest hospital in France in terms of activity. The CHU offers a wide range of care, teaching, research and innovation in most areas of health, from prevention to innovative treatments. 2255 research projects are underway, including 532 for which the UHC is a promoter. More than 8000 participants have been included in these studies, 534 professionals are in charge of this activity for a total budget of more than 27 M€. For more than fifteen years, the Toulouse University Hospital has been developing, as a promoter, research protocols for biotherapies in collaboration with the Inserm-Paul Sabatier University joint research units and regional industrialists, of which about ten are currently underway. These clinical trials integrate biotechnologies applied to gene therapy, cell therapy and monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of various diseases, notably cancer, cardiovascular, autoimmune, neurodegenerative and genetic. The creation of the TB4T Biocluster in Toulouse will ensure the development of vaccines and innovative therapies based on DNA and RNA throughout the value chain and will constitute a responsive and agile one-stop shop.
About BioNet
BioNet is a biotechnology organization that shares its expertise and innovation to ensure rapid access to vaccines. Located in France and Thailand, BioNet creates genetically engineered vaccines and produces Pertagen®, the world’s only recombinant pertussis vaccine containing a genetically inactivated pertussis toxin. BioNet has also established technology platforms to produce DNA and mRNA vaccines, with 10 projects in preclinical and clinical studies. BioNet advances global research by collaborating with world-renowned scientists and organizations (including Institut Pasteur, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH, CEPI, and IVI). BioNet has also forged a groundbreaking alliance with several vaccine manufacturers that has resulted in the deployment of 10 billion doses of polio vaccine over the past 20 years. Finally, BioNet has contributed to the development of bio-clusters for vaccine evaluation and production in India, Africa, and Australia.
www.bionet-asia.com and www.bionet.one
About The University of Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier
The University of Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier is one of the leading French universities with more than 37,000 students. The diversity of its laboratories and the quality of its teaching in the fields of science, health, sports, technology and engineering have ensured its scientific influence for more than 50 years.
The university has 64 laboratories and federative structures focused on research. From the atom to exoplanets, from big data to oncology, from human and social sciences to ecosystems, the range of research is extremely broad and first-rate. It is recognized as one of the world’s top 300 universities and is among the top 10 French universities according to the Shanghai ranking (Academic Ranking of World Universities).
Strongly involved in 4 of the CNRS’s own research units, it was awarded the “HR Excellence in Research” label by the European Commission on 30 June 2020. It will be fully involved in the scientific support of projects submitted to the TB4T Biocluster.
UT3 is also one of the pillars of this project in terms of training, through the creation of the Faculty of Health on a single site, the University Center for Health Education and Research – CUERS – which is the result of the merger of the 4 health faculties. This is a unique structure in France, making it possible to link fundamental biology, health professions and continuing education in the health sector up to micro-certification and skill blocks. Also, its investment will be made both in initial training in biotechnologies, and in lifelong training of personnel in the sector through the factory school that is proposed in the Biocluster TB4T Occitania.
Additional Informations:
CHU of Toulouse: ratineaud.m@chu-toulouse.fr
University of Toulouse III, Paul Sabatier: helene.sovignet-pont@univ-tlse3.fr
BioNet Europe, Lyon, France: info@bionet.one
BioNet Asia, Bangkok, Thaïland: info@bionet-asia.com
