WuXi AppTec Teams Up With Danish BioInnovation Institute
International Collaboration Will Help Early-Stage Start-Ups Bring Their Innovative Ideas to Market
WuXi AppTec and BioInnovation Institute (BII) have entered into a partnership agreement to help early-stage life science and biotech start-ups advance their research and translate ideas into innovative healthcare products.
The Copenhagen-based life science incubator BII sits inside one of Europe’s strongest clusters of life science research institutions and companies. Its role is to bridge the gap between academia and industry, enabling early-stage life science start-ups to bring their ideas to life, and research to market. Due to their recent success, BII was recently established as an independent foundation, with funding of up to 470 million euros over the next 10 years from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to continue accelerating world-class research.
“We are honored to form this partnership with BioInnovation Institute. BII has been very effective at connecting academia with industry and creating a supportive environment in which early-stage life science companies can develop and thrive,” says Dave Madge, Vice President of WuXi AppTec Research Services Division. “WuXi AppTec is dedicated to providing high-quality research services and industry know-how. Joining forces with BII will facilitate access to our services and expertise and create new opportunities for biotech start-ups to advance their research and increase translational success.”
Following the vision that “every drug can be made and every disease can be treated,” WuXi AppTec’s Research Services Division supports clients in the discovery and development of future therapeutics and works collaboratively to rapidly advance programs from target through to preclinical selection, and beyond. It offers an open-access platform of services in R&D and manufacturing of small molecule drugs, cell and gene therapies, and testing for medical devices.
BII has created a vibrant life science community designed to meet every need of a life science start-up. The wide range of benefits includes facilitating access to seed capital and other unique funding opportunities, state-of-the-art facilities, high-level mentoring, and business acceleration support. The world-class workspace fosters new relationships and idea-sharing among entrepreneurs and business experts. This new partnership expands these benefits, connecting start-ups with WuXi AppTec’s industry experts and creating a space for new collaborations. WuXi AppTec will offer advisory consultations to help the entrepreneurs optimize experimental plans to meet regulatory requirements and increase their chance of success. WuXi AppTec will also provide unique access to its industry-leading capabilities, so young companies can quickly translate their innovative ideas and deliver groundbreaking healthcare products to patients.
“The partnership is incredibly important for our start-ups. Its more than just competitively priced services, but also being able to access world leading drug development expertise that will be vital in helping our companies secure the next stage of capital,” says Giles Dudley, Senior Business Developer at BioInnovation Institute.
Denmark is a favorable location for drug discovery and development, with a strong university system, a tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration, abundant biobanks, extensive medical records, and fast clinical trials. With the support of BII and now WuXi AppTec, new companies there have even more opportunities to develop and succeed.
About WuXi AppTec: As an innovation-driven and customer-focused company, WuXi AppTec helps its partners improve the productivity of advancing healthcare products through cost-effective and efficient solutions. WuXi AppTec’s open-access platform is enabling more than 4,100 collaborators from over 30 countries to improve the health of those in need. Read more on www.wuxiapptec.com
About BioInnovation Institute The BioInnovation Institute Foundation (BII) is an international non-profit foundation supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. BII operates an incubator to accelerate world-class life science innovation that drives the development of new solutions by early-stage life science start-ups for the benefit of people and society. Read more on www.bioinnovationinstitute.com
