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Technology by Bilan 2016 SPECIAL ISSUE ON BIOALPS, THE LIFE SCIENCE CLUSTER OF WESTERN SWITZERLAND technologyBY BioAlps 4 à 6: compagny profiles and business guide P38 INSIDE THE SECRETS OF THE BRAIN WESTERN SWITZERLAND’S BUOYANT NEUROSCIENCES CLUSTER TRANSLATES RESEARCH INTO INNOVATIONS 2 CONTENTS EDITORIAL 3 The brains who uncover the secrets of the brain How to explain a biological one of the most noble missions science can pursue, be- machine that contains 100 billion neurons each inter- cause taxpayers who support universities also happen connected by an average of between 1,000 and 10,000 to be patients. Neuropathologies account for a third of synapses to allow information to circulate at speeds of health-related costs in Europe. With ageing, the number up to 120 metres a second? How to explain emotions, of people aff ected by Alzheimers and Parkinsons is due consciences, dreams or love? And beyond that, how to explode in the coming years, threatening the econo- can you diagnose and cure the vast range of nervous mic viability of health systems as underlined by neuro system-related diseases that aff ect no fewer than one startup business angel Martin Velasco (see page 23). in three people worldwide? Strokes are the leading cause of handicap. Multiple scle- Explaining the brain, one of the last great frontiers of rosis aff ects 3 million people, placing an unbearable toll 14 science, is the fi rst critical mission of Campus Biotech on families, friends and social (see page 14) a futuristic facility in the heart of Geneva workers. And the list goes on. supporting 750 neuroscientists, engineers, psychiatrists, Because there are few if any Campus Biotech: Brains inside technologists, medical doctors... a tool that is for neu- cures for all these neurologi- Campus Biotech’s futuristic technological platforms attract the best scientists to the challenge of understanding, rosciences a bit like what CERN is for particle physics. cal problems, Campus Biotech curing and perhaps enhancing the human brain. BY FABRICE DELAYE It all started early in the 2000s when neuroscientist and the neurosciences cluster of Patrick Aebischer became president of the nearby Swiss Western Switzerland beyond it Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) (see have a second mission: to trans- page 40). He soon created the Brain Mind Institute with late discoveries in the lab to the the explicit ambition of discovering the biological basis patient’s bedside. e Wyss of consciousness. He recruited promising young re- Center is off ering competitively searchers to join forces with the already strong pool of awarded support for neurotech- neuroscientists in the region. Among them was Henry nology projects that have the po- Markram whose ambition was to model all scientifi c tential to make substantial clini- knowledge about the central nervous system in order cal impact. is promises an en- to build a digital simulation of the brain. e project be- tire new generation of prosthesis came Blue Brain in 2005 and grew to become the Human which could be controlled by the NEWS & VIEWS FEATURES BIOALPS 4 À 6 BUSINESS GUIDE Brain Project when the European Union chose it as one nervous system and restore sen- of the two 1 billion euros-funded research initiatives of sory perception. 6 Sophia Genetics 14 Campus Biotech: 38 Regen Lab 52 BioAlps its fl agship Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) With the support of the various institutions in the re- democratises Brains inside Business Guide 39 Cosmotech programme in 2012. gion such as the University of Applied Sciences Western data-driven e same year an unfortunate event happened in Switzerland in Geneva (HEPIA) and the Swiss Institute medicine 17 In Henry Markram’s brain 40 EPFL Geneva. Pharma company Merck, which had acquired of Bioinformatics, Campus Biotech is emerging as a Geneva-based Serono, decided to downsize its opera- powerhouse in neurosciences. A new building has just 8 Ferring celebrates 41 Bio Factory 10 years of presence 20 Health Valley map tions there, leaving the brand new headquarters built opened to welcome the startups that will spin off from in Switzerland 22 Neuroscience 42 Vifor by Serono empty. Former owner Ernesto Bertarelli research done there and in the region. Everybody is now start-up did not accept this situation. Together with entrepre- aware that breakthrough research in neurosciences may 9 Amazentis prepares 43 Celgene neur Hansjorg Wyss, who had just sold Synthes Stratec lead to success. Not least because one of the fi rst neu- to launch the 24 MindMaze to Johnson & Johnson, he decided to buy the facility. roscience startups that has emerged from this cluster, “vitamin C of 44 Akabe Aebischer and the dean of the University of Geneva, AC Immune, has just succeeded in making an IPO on anti-ageing” 26 The BeNeFri, Jean-Dominique Vasalli, off ered to move the Human NASDAQ and is moving forward with its revolutionary a network for 45 Sintetica 10 The SICHH, Brain Project as well as various research initiatives drugs for Alzheimer’s. studying the brain 46 HES-SO CONTENT incubator such as the National Centre of Competence in Research e story of the brains exploring the brain on the 28 Neurorehabilitation 47 SIB “Aff ective Sciences – Emotions shore of Lake Geneva has just 12 The Biopôle: a 3 From the editor in Individual Behaviour and begun. We hope you’ll enjoy vibrant life science 30 Building a strong 48 Covance FABRICE DELAYE Social Processes” into the new- “Campus Biotech translates discovering in the following community patent portfolio in 4 From the President ly opened Campus Biotech. pages what’s coming next. neurosciences 49 Debiopharm BENOIT DUBUIS 13 Nanolive’s 3D of Bioalps Hansjorg Wyss added a grant to discoveries in the lab to the cellular exploration 32 Safe Host 50 Ziemer Ophtalmic 5 Guest editorial create the Wyss Center for Bio FABRICE DELAYE JOHN DONOGHUE and Neuroengineering. patient’s bedside.” Editor of Technology 35 GGBA 51 OM Pharma 36 e Large View COUVER: DR, CONTENT: DR PHOTO: NINGHETTO Understanding the brain is by Bilan TECHNOLOGY BY BILAN AUTUMN 2016 4 EDITORIAL EDITORIAL 5 Health Valley: the Dynamics Geneva’s Wyss Center is poised of Global Innovation for the neurotech revolution , our region in the West of companies are already here. AC Immune, Asceneuron, From developing mind control devices that help pa- side and outside the body. Switzerland near the lake of Geneva has become the GenKyoTex and Novimmune, for example, as well ralysed people move again to bionic eyes and even a e Wyss Center now has 18 projects including Health Valley, a world-class laboratory for discovering as many others, are growing companies whose roots solution for dyslexia, Geneva’s Wyss Center wants Neurocomm - our miniaturized, wireless version of and developing the healthcare of the future. anks to are fed by the innovation originating in our research to be at the heart of the neurotechnology revolution. the early BrainGate technology with the potential to many visionary individuals, exceptional infrastructure institutions and which benefi t from our supportive directly reactivate paralyzed limbs through thought. and fi nancial support, the Bioalps life sciences cluster environment. Ever since my early training in biology I have wanted to We are also working on a novel electrode to restore has become one of the most dynamic and innovative Indeed, beyond the scientifi c and technological inno- know what makes humans so smart. We know that our vision and a project exploring brain stimulation to help in Europe. It is driven by leading scientifi c research and vations of the Health Valley, it is critical to ensure that brains produce interesting functions like creativity, or people with dyslexia powered by exceptional people supporting the commer- these discoveries are translated into measurable benefi ts the skilled movement of a ballet dancer through com- When Hansjörg Wyss decided to create the Wyss cialisation of academic innovation through to indus- in the clinic and that they will be put to the service of the plex patterns of neural activity, but we are still a long Center here in Geneva, he knew there was alrea- trial application with the ulti- patient as soon as possible. ere is always a long matu- way from fully understanding how the brain accom- dy a great deal of cutting edge mate aim of improving the lives ration time between scientifi c discovery and clinical plishes these remarkable feats. Until relatively recently brain science and technology of patients and their families. application - Pasteur and Koch highlighted the existence we didn’t even have a way to study and record activity development going on in the is magazine off ers a deep of germs in the 19th century, but it took a generation to from the brain directly. region. Hansjörg has given me dive into the spectacular expan- benefi t from the development of antibiotics. e aim Ten years ago, at Brown University in the US, we de- the freedom to develop the sion of the Bioalps Health Valley, should be to continue to reduce this time to a minimum, veloped a little electrode-array that picks up patterns Wyss Center in such a way that one of the fastest growing life and for that it is necessary to test these new approaches of signals when placed on the brain. is was the key we can combine the crucial science clusters in the world and and active substances as effi ciently as possible in order to the BrainGate system that my team and I worked elements of neurotechnology rated the third most important to answer the simple question of whether they help save on. By implanting a tiny sensor in the area of the brain development - neuroscience, European centre for research lives and improve the quality of life of our fellow citizens.
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