The partnership agreement between CRP-Santé and Vesalius Biocapital has two aims. Vesalius will not only help the research institute assess the economic potential of its projects, but will also train a scientist from CRP-Santé in practical business plan analysis for a two years period – in parallel to undertaking an MBA. The trainee will be skilled up in the particular challenges of drawing up business plans for the life sciences sector. “To judge whether the technological basis is sufficiently broad and protected – intellectual property – in order to build an enterprise out of it,” explains Stéphane Verdood managing partner of Vesalius. Other challenges include defining the right business model and identifying and eventually recruiting the right management team, which needs to have experience with start ups, he says.

Vesalius, with a capital fund of some 75 million euros based in Luxembourg, aims to invest in biotechnology while reducing the risks of investment. It has specialised in investing in young, early and mid-stage European life sciences companies working in the field of diagnostics, therapeutics and cutting-edge biomedical technologies, what it calls “the soft spot between nascent and established companies.” The company is active in France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK, where it has close links with major research institutes and universities. Its four partners each bring their own specialised and complementary competences to the company: Verdood has 25 years experience as a business consultant in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry; Dr. Gaston Matthyssens is a highly experienced and hands-on biotechnology venture expert; Alain Parthoens is an experienced business expert and investor in the food and life science industry; and Dr. Christian Schneider has extensive work and investment experience in the areas of diagnostics and medical R&D. They have been able to build an extensive collaborative network in Europe and are now looking to collaborate with Luxembourg scientists.

The investors have a clearly defined ideal portfolio that is weighted towards therapeutics and drug delivery, molecular diagnostics, medical devices and cell therapy. “The future of health care, diagnostics, is these days being reinvented as well as medical devices. New therapeutics such as protein based drugs and cell therapy are at the edge of breaking through,” Verdood explains.

CRP-Santé will benefit from the highly specific competences of Vesalius for the assessment of the economical potential of its research projects. The aim is to come up with a first spin-off within the next two years. Vesalius will also assist CRP-Santé in other forms of economical valuation, such as intellectual property rights, licences, and strategic partnerships. And, if the resulting spin-off proves viable, Vesalius will look for investment partners. “It is common practice in life science to syndicate investments,” says Verdood.