Medicen Paris Region brought together key life science and healthcare stakeholders for an “Areas of Excellence Open Day” on February 14th at its offices in Paris’s 15th district.

Almost 200 participants(including many attending a Medicen event for the first time) participated in the Open Day, which was broken down into two phases: a general presentation of the competitiveness cluster, followed by six thematic workshops on infectious disease, oncology, nervous system & vision disorders and, in the technological field, molecular & cellular medicine, biomedical imaging and drug science & technology.

Jean-Claude Muller (Medicen Paris Region’s President) opened the day with a general presentation of the cluster. Pierre Tambourin (the cluster’s Vice President) then presented the six areas of excellence. Bernard Brigonnet (cluster CEO) continued by highlighting the criteria for project accreditation and the timeline for forthcoming calls for proposals. Yohann Leroy (Head of the Industrial Development Division at the Regional Directorate for Industry, Research and the Environment (DRIRE)) and Romain Vidal (Project Manager at the Ile-de-France Regional Council) gave more detail on how to participate in the calls for proposals issued by the French government’s Single Interministerial Fund and on the funding process for collaborative R&D projects approved by the French state and local authorities. An initial review of the amount of funding awarded to Medicen-accredited projects was also presented. Aude Sirven (Program Manager) then supplied details of calls for proposals from the French National Research Agency (ANR).

The Thematic Committee leaders then presented their respective areas of excellence (the presentations are available on request):
Daniel Vasmant (Scientific Delegate at the Ile de France Canceropôle) on oncology, Daniel Larzul (Scientific Coordinator at the Pasteur Institute’s Research Exploitation and Industrial Alliance Directorate) on infectious diseases, David Sourdive (CEO of Cellectis SA) and Françoise Soussaline (CEO of Imstar SA) on molecular & cellular therapies, Jose Alain Sahel (Professor at the Quinze-Vingts National Ophthalmology Medical Center) and Yves Agid (Professor and Head of Department at the La Pitie Salpetrière Hospital’s Nervous System Disease Federation) on nervous system & vision disorders, Pierre Chagvardieff (Assistant Director in charge of strategic alliances at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA))x and Philippe Hantraye (Manager of the Isotope & Pharmacology Unit and the Neurodegenerative Disease Laboratory at the CEA Frederic-Joliot Hospital Service in Orsay) on biomedical imaging and, lastly, Patrick Couvreur (Director of the joint CNRS-University of Paris XI research unit 8612 and Head of the “Therapeutic Innovation” graduate program) and Christian Auclair (Director of the Biochemistry and Biological Engineering Department at the ENS Cachan engineering school) on drug design science & technology.

All the participants made the most of the cocktail to get to know each other better and profit from the “cluster spirit” before moving into one of the six thematic workshop and working together to identify and develop private/public collaborative projects - it is only by creating synergy around each area of excellence and each stakeholder that diversified, ambitious projects will see the light of day!

Program and presentations

• General presentation of the cluster (Jean-Claude Muller, President)
• Presentation of the areas of excellence (Pierre Tambourin, Vice President)
• Medicen project accreditation criteria and project support from the cluster.
  The accreditation timeline for forthcoming calls for proposals (Bernard Brigonnet, CEO)
   Portes Ouvertes 140207 (07/03/2007)
  
  
• Presentation of the call for proposals by the Single Interministerial Fund and the funding process for collaborative R&D projects approved by the French state and local authorities (Yohann Leroy, Head of the Industrial Development Division at the Regional Directorate for Industry, Research and the Environment (DRIRE), and Romain Vidal, Project Manager at the Ile-de-France Regional Council)
    DRIRE - Medicen (07/03/2007)
  
  
• Presentation of the call for proposals from the French National Research Agency (ANR) (Aude Sirven, Program Manager)
   ANR - Medicen (07/03/2007)
  
  
• Presentation by the Thematic Committee leaders:
• Oncology (Daniel Vasmant, Scientific Delegate, Ile de France Canceropôle)
   Oncologie - Medicen (07/03/2007)
  
  
• Infectious diseases (Daniel Larzul, Scientific Coordinator at the Pasteur Institute’s Research Exploitation and Industrial Alliance Directorate)
   Infectiologie - Medicen (07/03/2007)
  
  
• Molecular & cellular therapies (David Sourdive (speaker), CEO of Cellectis SA, and Françoise Soussaline, CEO of Imstar SA)
   MMC - Medicen (07/03/2007)
  
  
• Nervous system & vision disorders (Jose Alain Sahel (speaker), Professor at the Quinze-Vingts National Ophthalmology Medical Center, and Yves Agid, Professor and Head of Department at the La Pitie Salpetrière Hospital’s Nervous System Disease Federation)
   Neurosciences - Medicen (07/03/2007)
  
  
• Biomedical imaging (Pierre Chagvardieff (speaker), Assistant Director in charge of strategic alliances at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), and Philippe Hantraye, Manager of the Isotope & Pharmacology Unit and the Neurodegenerative Disease Laboratory at the CEA Frederic-Joliot Hospital Service in Orsay)
   Imagerie - Medicen (07/03/2007)
  
  
• Drug design science & technology (Patrick Couvreur (speaker), Director of the joint CNRS-University of Paris XI research unit 8612 and Head of the “Therapeutic Innovation” graduate program, and Christian Auclair, Director of the Biochemistry and Biological Engineering Department at the ENS Cachan engineering school)
   Médicament - Medicen (07/03/2007)