On November 13, 2017, Servier, Tours University and Groupe IMT signed the Centre Val Loire Biotech (CVLB) consortium agreement supporting biopharmaceutical development projects over six years.
An agreement through which the partners hope to increase the biopharmaceutical innovation capacities of France’s Centre-Val de Loire region, by bringing together academic research laboratories (Tours University), initial and professional training structures (Groupe IMT) and a major pharma company (Servier).
By joining forces in this way, the partners aim to:
- Further knowledge on antibodies to offer new therapeutic solutions for a variety of pathologies,
- Create an environment conducive to academic and industrial collaboration,
- Encourage and develop skills through the training of operators, technicians, engineers and scientists.
To achieve these goals, this consortium – the only one of its kind in Europe – will use the Bio3 Institute biotech technical training platform in Tours, the training provided by IMT and its unique network of four training platforms, and Servier’s future BIO-S industrial biotech unit, located at its Gidy site. This unit, to be operational from summer 2019, will provide researchers with the starting materials and future biopharmaceuticals needed for research and development (Phases I, II and III).