Evotec and Bioaster partner to build technology and innovation hub in Lyon

Together, the companies will aim to put forward new research projects against infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance, potentially creating new therapies and technologies.

BIOASTER is a technology and innovation hub located in Lyon, France that has created a new model to address the latest challenges in microbiology, including antimicrobial resistance and vaccine safety and efficacy.

The organisations have been working together since the beginning of 2020 and Evotec represents the first global R&D company to locate staff in BIOASTER's premises in Lyon.

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, the two organisations aim to put forward new research projects against infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance, potentially creating new therapies and technologies.

This collaboration had already started through the European research projects and development consortium ERA4TB (European Regimen Accelerator for Tuberculosis) and GNA NOW (Novel Gram-negative antibiotic now) within the AMR accelerator supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative IMI2, aimed at reducing resistance to antibiotics and developing new therapeutic solutions.

"BIOASTER is proud to have support from the French and European leaders in diagnostics, vaccines, and animal health, and is pleased to formalise such a partnership with Evotec at the Lyon site. This allows BIOASTER to strengthen its agility and its capacity for technological innovation, in particular on antimicrobial resistance. BIOASTER now has a high-value network of close partners, which covers our four fields of application: antimicrobials, diagnostics, vaccines and microbiota understanding are key for manufacturers and patients alike," said Dr Philippe Archinard, President of IRT BIOASTER.

"The agreement will nurture the research ecosystem of Lyon Metropole and its Biodistrict, and impact on both national and European levels. The fact that Evotec, a company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, chose to locate its unit dedicated to infectious diseases together with BIOASTER in the Biodistrict Lyon, reinforces the reputation of this French health ecosystem, while offering a more complete and more powerful technological toolbox to speed up industrialisation of innovations," said Emeline Baume, first vice president of Lyon Metropole.

"We are very glad to be partnering with BIOASTER, bringing Evotec's proven global resources for anti-infective research and drug development to Lyon," said Dr Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec. "Both Evotec and BIOASTER have made a long-term commitment to tackle the challenge of antimicrobial resistance and we are confident that together we will be able to efficiently drive forward the progress in this field with high and rising unmet medical need."

The two entities gather more than 120 researchers in total, share the same advanced infrastructures, including five BSL3 laboratories, with easy access to diverse equipments: this co-location creates a new pole of attraction, particularly suited to the expectations of industrials to accelerate and de-risk their product developments in infectious diseases.