“If you analyse what’s going on in biotech, you have to look at patents. They’re the key thing. Among other things, my role is to analyse what projects are interesting, but a patent doesn’t mean much on its own. So I have to look for collaborations to get value out of any given patent, by talking to institutions in Luxembourg and the Greater Region. These are my main roles but of course you have to do a lot of work internally: everything starts with good science, and with CRP you see that Luxem­bourg is becoming internationally renowned for that. People within CRP also have to become aware of the market potential of their research. That said, scientific freedom will obviously remain, because good science is the core issue and is the first step. The next steps are development, licensing, collaborations and maybe spin-off companies. But this is quite long-term. It starts with identifying the right research.

“It will hopefully make it more professional by creating an awareness of the market potential of the science, but also create added value for CRP through collaborations and making our institution and research more visible to other institutions, and making the most of the technologies we have today. There are certainly financial elements: if you look at other institutions that have taken on board a technology transfer officer or business development personnel, they’ve developed huge revenues for those institutions. The link with Vesalius (see page 31) also brings in a lot of expertise on the business development side, and the combination can work to strengthen CRP.

“Not necessarily. In the biotech industry there is no longer a distinction between fundamental science and really applied sciences in the sense that everything starts with good research. Perhaps research will be supported with more sensitivity to market potential, but I think this is a change in awareness, not in the science itself. Furthermore, we can improve relations with institutions in other countries. We already have some, for example the collaboration with the University of Norway, but we can get more and really add to the science that is being done today in CRP Santé: by strengthening bonds and expanding what is here already. Once people notice that we are doing good research and have built up a patent portfolio, private companies and pharmaceutical organisations will be more aware of CRP. This is all ongoing. There have been a lot of good things in the past, but we have to build on those.

“There is a lot of investment in biotech here, especially on the public side. Various entities are coming together and forming a strong network, doing exciting research. This can only benefit Luxembourg and the Greater Region. While at the moment we are targeting established partners abroad, a lot of private companies here will sit up and take stock of what we are doing.

 “I would hope we will have progressed on several fronts. CRP as an institution will have become more professional, the science will be even better and we will have really strong patent portfolios. I also hope we will have started several spin-off companies. We have to look at how patients will benefit. We will have new diagnostics, new compounds... This is why we are investing. But there are a lot of obstacles, and biotech is a long-term field. It takes five to ten years to bring a compound to the market, and that compound has to survive all kinds of clinical trials. There is no guarantee of success. It is also really difficult for a start-up company to finance the first few years of existence. This is the difficulty on the business side, and it is also where Vesalius comes in. We are creating the medicines of tomorrow, and that’s very exciting. There are risks and challenges involved, but business and science are based on taking those risks. If you don’t try you’ll never know.”