innovation

Institut Pasteur Innovation Accelerator and support for projects

  • Major issues in accelerating innovation

The biggest challenge encountered by academic centers in their efforts to bring significant new discoveries to market is the gap in technological development. There is a real gulf between early-stage inventions and the stage that innovative technologies need to reach to become viable, attractive candidates with a chance of being given a license and brought to market.

The Institut Pasteur has launched a strategy to support projects in its Innovation Accelerator (set up just a year ago), with the aim of boosting their attractiveness and potential for industry partners or for the creation of start-ups. This strategy is part of a broader policy for the development of research applications, as laid down in the Strategic Plan.

Support programs combine funding strategies, technical guidance and professional expertise to help take promising innovations from the lab to the realm of business development.
 

  • The Institut Pasteur's innovation acceleration strategy

Developed jointly by the Research Applications and Industrial Relations Department (DARRI) and scientists, this project engineering strategy is aimed at developing a new pipeline of programs for innovation.
The pipeline will provide upstream support for a small number of projects which will be chosen on the basis of a strict selection procedure.

Four main criteria will be analyzed:
•    science and the disruptive aspects of the innovation,
•    the strength of associated patents and dependence on other technologies,
•    product development based on internal capabilities and partnerships,
•    the potential market, its accessibility and competitive developments.

Programs will be selected by the President on a proposal from the selection committee.
 

  • Four initial projects selected

After a project mapping process lasting several months, four projects have been pre-selected. A committee composed of external and internal experts together with members of senior management and the DARRI attended presentations of these projects on October 7. Following a favorable opinion from the selection committee, the President selected these four projects on November 6, 2020.

•    A blocking antibody, targeting human activating IgG receptor, CD16 (FcγRIII), to treat and prevent thrombocytopenia: Pierre Bruhns

•    New epigenetic inhibitors of P. falciparum blood stage infection active in Cambodia resistant strains and in a rodent malaria model: Paola Arimondo / Artur Scherf

•    HPV RNA-Seq a novel and unique molecular screening test that allows detection of pre-cancerous lesions of the cervix from cervical samples: Marc Eloit

•    Improved dengue diagnosis and prognosis: the value of a novel complex formed between dengue virus NS1 and human high-density lipoproteins: Marie Flamand

The projects will now receive technical and financial support from the DARRI to guide them through the next stages in their development with the aim of facilitating their transfer to industry.
 

  • Continued support

At the same time, the Institut Pasteur, via the DARRI, is fostering partnerships to encourage the development of start-ups, especially in the field of deep tech. To this end, the Institut Pasteur is part of a program created in partnership with Université PSL and the Institut Curie, which was selected on November 23 as one of the winners of the second SIA (SATT-Incubators-Accelerators) call for proposals under the French government's Investing in the Future scheme. The program will draw on the entrepreneurial dynamic of the ecosystem and contribute new measures for support and training, especially in the areas of market access and human resources. These measures will form a structured program and will be complemented by a series of training opportunities for entrepreneurs and scientists.

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