Strasbourg, January 30, 2008 - Alsace Biovalley(TM) is the new name adopted by the main aid agencies supporting life science and healthcare research and industry in France’s Alsace region, home to some of France most dynamic companies and laboratories. The aim is to simplify how the agencies go about their work and make it more effective for those standing to benefit from support, including international firms and research labs.
The bodies that have come together under the Alsace Biovalley name will work together to create a favorable environment to encourage growth and make Alsace a more attractive and competitive region for industry and science. The sectors targeted by Alsace Biovalley include medical research, healthcare, biotechnology, telemedicine, pharmaceutical manufacturing, surgical robotics and drugs.
The creation of a single governing board for the sector is in line with the region’s policy of keeping things simple and effective. Several agencies have worked together with success over the last few years and in particular two support bodies, the Alsace Biovalley Association and the Pole for Therapeutic Innovations, have demonstrated the benefits of this approach and have now merged. The resulting entity, l’Association pour le développement de la filière sciences de la vie & santé en Alsace (The Association for the development of the life science and healthcare sectors in Alsace), is responsible for the coordination of the Alsace Biovalley cluster and brings together a number of other regional aid agencies and groupings.
President of the new association is Pascal Neuville, CSO of Faust Pharmaceuticals and previously president of the Pole for Therapeutic Innovations. Nicolas Carboni becomes General Manager of the association. Carboni was General Manager of the Alsace Biovalley Association, the French arm of the tri-national Biovalley cluster which includes adjacent areas of Switzerland and Germany, now merged with the Pole for Therapeutic Innovations.
“We were determined to break free of a mold based on administrative structures and move into a more market-oriented mode of operation,” said Neuville. “We believe this bringing together of complementary support organizations is a French first in the life science sector. We will now be able to coordinate the different agencies in a much more effective way.”
“The new approach will make the Alsace bio-region much more attractive for international companies and researchers,” said Carboni. “We are at the heart of Europe and our membership of the cross-frontier Biovalley partnership with Swiss and German regions is a huge advantage and make us one of the biggest bio-clusters in Europe.”
About the Alsace Biovalley(TM) cluster The Alsace Biovalley cluster brings together and encourages the development and growth of public and private entities based in Alsace, France, and involved in life sciences and healthcare. The Alsace Biovalley cluster includes the main aid agencies which offer simplified and effective access to all the regional services and aid.
Among Alsace Biovalley’s missions are:
Help industry in Alsace obtain finance and the services of a body designated by the French government as world-class competitive pole of development Make the Alsace region even more attractive by accelerating the connections between industry, research and regional and national aid bodies Offer different products and services to the companies and laboratories in the area, including help with projects, search for partners, company incubators, enterprise creation, international expansion, economic intelligence, communication tools and scientific and market information Ensure that the region has a world-class infrastructure in place including specialized buildings, scientific service platforms, logistics, and shared services Offer an entry point to Biovalley, the single tri-national network of excellence made up of Alsace (France), the Basel region (Switzerland) and Fribourg (Germany).
Situated as it is in the heart of Europe, and hosting 200 companies, 60 laboratories and 15,000 employees, Alsace Biovalley believes it is a real catalyst and one of the largest European clusters for life science and healthcare.
