BioValley

A trinational biocluster

Nestled at the junction of France, Germany, and Switzerland, BioValley is earning a name for itself as a leading biotechnology region in Europe, and its trinational status is affording it some unique opportunities and challenges along the way. The young biocluster is building a network of members ranging from the University of Basel, the oldest university in Switzerland, to Big Pharma, to start-up companies. With a communications network in place, BioValley has its eye on establishing itself as the European heart of the biotechnology sector.

Heart of Europe

Geographically, BioValley is situated in the Upper Rhine Valley including the Alsace in France, the Northwest of Switzerland, and the region of South Baden in Germany. The relatively small area houses operations of 40% of the worldÕs pharmaceutical industry, including almost 400 biotechnology companies and more than 150 academic or public institutions. Fifteen thousand scientists populate the area along with 70,000 students, making BioValley one of the top three densest European bioregions, joining the Cambridge biocluster in eastern England and the Medicon Valley cluster in Copenhagen, Denmark, and SkŒne, Sweden.

Many biotech companies, however, had already marked the location as prime real estate decades ago. Millipore, a bioscience company that provides technology, tools, and services for the development of new drugs, had facilities in Molsheim, Germany, in the area that would become a part of BioValley as early as 1973. Corporate Vice President J. Edward Lary cites the Òcentral locationÓ and Òroom to expandÓ as reasons the area was so attractive, and these traits play in BioValleyÕs favor still.

A ÒSilicon Valley of BiotechÓ

BioValley was first conceived by Georg Endress and Hans Briner in the late 1980s. The two local entrepreneurs were well aware of the attractions of the region. ÒThe most important strength of the region with the Alsace, southern Baden, and northern Switzerland is its people,Ó Endress says. ÒThe entrepreneur finds highly qualified and highly motivated staff members in unusually large numbersÑpeople who are rooted in their native soil and reliable but at the same time innovative and future-oriented. The neighborhood of the three nations is an immense enrichment in every respect.Ó

Envisioning a ÒSilicon ValleyÓ of biotechnology, Endress and Briner began brainstorming the possibilities. In 1996, Ciba and Sandoz merged into Novartis, and the international headquarters was established in the area. The timing was right. By the end of the year, a BioValley Promotion Team was in place, and the BioValley concept was implemented in the Upper Rhine Region.

ÒBioValley was one of the first European initiatives to promote biotechnology,Ó says Sylvie Debra, general manager of Alsace BioValley. The cross-border project between the three different regions quickly gained media interest, Debra says, and economic development in the region soon benefited from the international attention.

Endress and BrinerÕs vision, though, required more than a good location. They foresaw a sustainable economic development that respects the cultural traditions of its component regions while sharing a sense of oneness, tolerance, and growth. They hoped for a means to encourage European cohesion and a stimulating environment in which to pool needs and skills.

Oneness and cohesion

One of BioValleyÕs first goals was to develop a set of networking mechanisms to help members live and work together. ÒBefore being a cluster with all the necessary economic and scientific tools, BioValley is a social network of more than 3000 people from the three countries of BioValley,Ó Debra explains. These individuals Òrepresent companies, research institutions, universities, technology, and the financial world.Ó

Mixed group. BioValley members represent four categories.

In 1998, each member country of BioValley founded a national associationÑBioValley Platform Basel, BioValley Deutschland e.V., and Association Alsace BioValleyÑthat would serve under the BioValley Central Association that was created a year later.

Individuals, students, and companies join their respective national associations as members and pay dues annually. The fees are nominal and vary from association to association. Association Alsace BioValley members pay fees ranging from 10 euro a year for students to 500 euro a year for companies with more than 100 employees. BioValley Deutschland e.V. charges flat rates of 30 euro for individuals and 150 euro for companies. BioValley Platform Basel has similar individual and corporate rates: CHF 300 for corporate memberships and CHF 75 for individuals.

Association membership includes access to the communications systems BioValley established to keep the network connected. The BioValley GuideÑa yellow pages of life sciences companies, public and private research institutions, and other organizations in the areaÑlists member organizations. The BioValley E-newsletter serves to keep members up to date on activities and developments in the area; regional, national, and international events; and conferences and fairs. Members also have access to the password-protected BioValley extranet, which includes complete member company profiles, search and export functionalities, and a partnering exchange.

In addition to the communications network, BioValley holds regional roundtable discussions, or Stammtische, to connect students, researchers, and venture capitalists. BioValley Life Sciences week occurs in five cities throughout the region once a year in October, and the annual conference is the once-yearly major event to present BioValley members and research to the global life science world. Finally, the BioValley Journal is published quarterly to report life science and applied research in the region.

Funding the endeavor

As BioValley matures as a biocluster, additional funding for growth has to be developed. We must Òestablish marketing and communications tools to make BioValley attractive for young entrepreneurs and for scientists,Ó says Susanne Daniel, coordinator for BioValley Deutschland e.V. ÒBioValley has to become and stay visible from the outside and has to be attractive for its own members.Ó

BioTech Park Freiburg, in Germany, serves as a start-up incubator. Credit: BioTech Park Freiburg

Before the BioValley concept was launched, the BioValley partners in each country agreed to seek out Interreg funding to accomplish three main goals: to speed up technology transfers to boost the creation of biotech start-ups, to become the most attractive European biotech region for new investments, and to promote new alliances with international partners.

The European Union (EU) started the Interreg initiative in 1990 to bring the border populations in and around the EU closer together and to support regional, cross-border activities, especially in the fields of business, science, culture, and tourism. From 1997 to 2001, Interreg II supported the then newly formed BioValley with 2.2 million euro. The funding helped develop many of the services available to the 3000 members of the life sciences network, and helped support 150 new companies in the area.

In 2002, at the end of Interreg II, a BioValley management team of three national coordinators was added to the existing central association. The team was established to manage Interreg III and organize the different programs. The entire BioValley organization is made up of the three-member management team, the central association, and the three national associations, all working closely together.

Local talent. Sanofi-Aventis researchers conduct high-throughput screening at the company's Strasbourg R&D center. Credit: Sanofi-Aventis

Interreg III brings a total budget of 2.4 million euro to finalize BioValleyÕs transition from a life science network to a self-financing top biotech cluster. The EU, as well as national co-financiers that are members of the BioValley Interreg Board, are financing the program.

The management team has focused this third Interreg funding phase on determining a BioValley scientific profile and identifying centers of scientific competence, developing business tools to become a top life science cluster, refining communications and marketing activities, and initiating a call for projects program. The Interreg III program is slated to end at the close of 2005. The goal, then, is to privatize BioValley.

Roll call BioValley

Although BioValley is a young organization, its membership includes some of the regionÕs oldest scientific organizations.

ÒRoche was founded in Basel, Switzerland, in 1896, roughly 100 years before BioValley was created,Ó says Darien E. Wilson, director of public affairs for Roche. The companyÕs international headquarters are still in Basel, and it has 5000 of its 65,000 employees in the area. ÒThe idea is that the BioValley initiative should become essential to the success of the whole area,Ó Wilson explains, Òespecially targeting and encouraging small business start-ups.Ó

Many small businesses are finding the cluster very encouraging. Covalys, a small start-up born in October 2003, chose BioValley as the home of its protein research consumables business Òbecause of access to highly qualified staff, proximity to customers, and the density of start-ups in the area, says Tom Gibbs, head of marketing and customer support at Covalys. BioValleyÕs network is the central theme.

The location Ògives us a pool of people interested in early use of our novel protein-labeling technologies, and allows us to have a more accurate sense of the market needs,Ó Gibbs says. He also credits the Òpresence of other start-ups and personalities experienced in creating biotech venturesÓ as a key draw to the cluster. ÒParticularly attractive is the access to experienced managers of Pharma companies, now retirees or consultants, who can help tremendously in setting up businesses in the industry,Ó Gibbs says. ÒThe network effect is highly beneficial to the area.Ó

The mix of venerable pharmaceutical giants with fresh start-ups is part of what gives BioValley its charm. The cluster currently sorts its members into four categories: R&D companies, service and consulting companies, supply companies, and research institutions and organizations. In addition to the expected R&D operations in the area, BioValley hosts a strong foundation of service and consulting companies to support the life science industry there. These include contract research, licensing, patenting and legal support, technology transfer organizations, marketing and business development services, informatics, communications consulting, and venture capital.

The research institutions in the area include all the private and public institutions using modern genetics and biotechnology in their research activities. These include public institutions such as universities; technical colleges, including the Max Planck Institute, Fraunhofer Institutes, and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; and private institutions, such as the Friedrich Miescher Institute and the Institute for Immunology.

Products and goods are also supplied within the region. Equipment, research tools, and reagent companies are represented, many of which are trade and sales operations without R&D in the area. As MilliporeÕs Lary points out, ÒThe growth of BioValley over the past eight years has been positive for Millipore, as it has brought into the region a number of our important customers in the biopharmaceutical and life science research markets.Ó

BioValley has also attracted international players in the biotech industry. In addition to Roche and Novartis, other pharmaceutical and life science players in the area include Eli Lilly, Sanofi-Aventis, Johnson & Johnson, Dow, DuPont, and Syngenta. Of the top ten international pharmaceutical companies, five have facilities in the region and are members of BioValley.

A high standard of living

The convergence of key business partners in the area attracts more and more new companies to BioValley, but the cluster has other strengths as well. MilliporeÕs Lary points out that the area also boasts a well-educated, technically competent, multilingual workforce and that recruitment and retention are aided by the quality of life in the area: multilingual school systems, affordable housing, higher education opportunities, and other benefits.

In fact, in BioValley there are 12 universities and institutes of higher education offering courses in biotechnology, chemistry, manufacturing, and other relevant disciplines. The density of educational institutions leads to more partnerships between universities, research institutions, and the private sector in the form of sponsored research and student internships. In the past 15 years, five Nobel Prizes in medicine and in chemistry have been awarded to researchers in BioValley.

BioValley in the future

As Interreg III reaches its halfway point, BioValley managers are addressing the organizationÕs future. ÒThe future of BioValley, organizationally and financially, is a matter of intensive discussion in the BioValley teams and will be discussed at the annual conference,Ó Daniel says. ÒDifferent models are being discussed.Ó

The BioValley management team is also conducting a BioValley profile study that it hopes to complete by the end of 2004 to help steer the organization into the future.

ÒThe main focus of this project is identification of regional fields of competence in order to enable the BioValley management team to take a more visible role by providing value-added services to their members and stakeholders,Ó Daniel says.

As a legal entity, BioValley is still evolving, and the management team and co-financiers are currently investigating the options for the organization. ÒWe have not achieved trinational regulations for companies,Ó AlsaceÕs Debra says, Òbut everything does not have to be trinational. Europe is diversity and not uniformity.Ó

Although it faces a long and winding road ahead, BioValley is pleased with the progress made so far. More than 1950 new jobs have been created in biotech start-ups since the birth of BioValley.

ÒIf we were satisfied with that, we would be stopping halfway,Ó says Philippe Poindron, president of the BioValley Central Association. ÒWe want to take the time to develop the biotechnology sector as a durable feature of our regions, and we have set ourselves the target of accompanying 800 companies by the year 2015.Ó Poindron acknowledges the loftiness of the goal. ÒItÕs quite a challenge, but one that we are fully capable of achieving.Ó