In the latest edition of Revue W+B: Today, the life sciences sector in Wallonia and Brussels is being sent out into the rest of the world. In Belgium, the sector's vital forces have decided to team up to make it even stronger, with BioWin and MEDVIA signing the first strategic collaboration between Walloon and Flemish health innovation clusters.
"We can take advantage of our strengths to enhance Belgium's position as a major life sciences hub in Europe and have a greater impact on the international stage, putting the best innovative treatments within reach of as many patients as possible", Sylvie Ponchaut, Director-General of BioWin, emphasised when signing the agreement. The agreement covers several key areas of expertise: Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs)/bioproduction, Medtech/healthtech, research and innovation, etc.
The BioWin and MEDVIA clusters started working together in 2023, co-organising several large-scale conferences, including "Science for Health", supported by the HST Group consortium (Health, Science and technology Group, which brings together Pfizer, UCB, GSK and Janssen), and the first "HealthTech Investor Summit", which is held in Bruges, where 75 entrepreneurs have the chance to meet 60 investors.
Close collaboration on the international stage
Gembloux recently became the distribution hub for GSK's vaccines throughout the world, with the company inaugurating a new storage centre for vaccines and pharmaceutical products. Emmanuel Amory, Managing Director of GSK Belgium, reiterated on this occasion his "intention to continue working together every day to strengthen our competitiveness". He pinpointed a very significant figure: "Roughly 40% of all children worldwide receive a GSK vaccine every year." Wallonia excels in the production of vaccines and research is focused on adjuvants, immunology and messenger RNA, with active production targeting various illnesses.
Research and development
Today, one of the most well-known businesses is unquestionably iTeos Therapeutics. The company recently published very encouraging clinical data on its treatment for lung cancer. Another business working in this field, OncoDNA, continues to grow. Among the latest advances, the OncoDEEP® kit's analytical process provides clinical information, by helping laboratories to carry out complete genomic profiling of solid tumours using MGI's sequencers (a company building core tools and technologies that drive innovation in life sciences) that use the cutting-edge DNBSEQ™ technology. "The partnership with MGI marks an important step in our mission to make precision oncology accessible to all", emphasises Jean-Pol Detiffe, founder of OncoDNA.
Personalised medicine is the future
Research is still a priority, as demonstrated by the work of François Fuks, a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). "The laboratory I lead is focused on cancer epigenetics. Our recent discoveries have enabled us to lift the veil on several of the mechanisms of the emergence of leukaemia. We've identified a new, unexpected mode of regulation of gene expression through epigenetics. This research is opening up innovative prospects for the diagnosis and treatment of leukaemia."
Other projects are underway, such as the NucleoGlio project, which is the result of a consortium between the coordinating company Belgian Volition SRL, in collaboration with another company, QUALIblood SA, and the UNamur-NARILIS and IREC UCLouvain institutes. Their project aims to explore the use of liquid biopsies for detecting glioblastomas through circulating nucleosomes and their epigenetic modifications, thereby improving diagnosis and treatment. Glioblastomas are highly aggressive forms of brain cancer, representing a major clinical challenge, especially in cases of recurrence following surgical resection.
Another example is the Gloria project (Global Rapid and Innovative DNA Analysis), which is the result of a consortium between the coordinating company Eonix, in partnership with two other companies, Comunicare Solutions and Kedroz, and the UCLouvain and UMons universities. This project aims to develop a secure vault in which citizens can store their digital DNA, enabling advanced analyses to be carried out for common complex diseases and certain rare diseases. The vision is to develop patient-centred solutions for the benefit of personalised medicine.
Artificial intelligence is also working at the heart of Wallonia's life sciences innovations. There are many examples of AI, including the SPUTUMAI project, which aims to develop an AI tool that can analyse microscopic slides of the sputum of patients suffering from severe asthma and record the data relating to the profile of this inflammation in a computerised patient file adapted to the reality of this pathology. Cytomine, ZORGI, ULiège and ULB, working together in a consortium, aim to enable clinicians to save time and improve accuracy when diagnosing and monitoring the condition, as well as prescribing personalised treatment for asthma patients on a routine clinical basis.
Among the latest developments to date, Gunther Vanwezer, CEO of Vésale Bioscience, highlights the development of phages in healthcare. This specialised company is intending to use phage therapy to fight resistant bacteria: "Our aim isn't to replace antibiotics. The patients we want to treat are the people for whom no other solution is available. The objective of our latest advances is to treat our first patient at the end of 2025, or the start of 2026. We're starting with patients in Belgium, France and Germany. In this context, we'll be offering hospitals in our target countries a personalised platform for phage therapy. To this end, we've developed a library of around thirty therapeutic phages. It all starts with a diagnostic test so we can find out which phage can act on which infection. Initially, we're focusing on four bacteria. These four bacteria are responsible for 70% to 80% of all infections in hospitals. Our aim is to develop collaborations in the countries mentioned with doctors and hospital pharmacists, so that, in the health care of the future, we can offer several alternatives to the health care staff and patients concerned."
Training and space to consider investment
However, all these successes may actually hide one problem: the lack of qualified workers. To solve this challenge, authorities and the industrial sector are stepping up their projects. Forem, the skills centre in Seneffe, the FUNOC and the Institut d’enseignement technique supérieur de Promotion sociale in Charleroi have launched the "Jump to pharma" project, which enables long-term jobseekers or people without a higher secondary education diploma to break into the biopharma sector. Some businesses, including GSK, Takeda and UCB are also getting involved in the process, offering trainees the chance to visit their facilities.
In addition to training, companies and authorities want to be able to welcome new businesses. Following the construction of LégiaPark at the CHC in Liège, the Noshaq investment fund intends to build a Giga Park at the University Hospital (CHU) in Liège. There are also initiatives underway in Namur, Marche and Charleroi with the BioPark and, in particular, the EU Biotech Campus. This is a valuable resource, as Dominique Demonté, CEO of the BioPark, explains: "We receive a lot of foreign delegations who come to draw inspiration from our model and increasing numbers of expressions of interest from foreign businesses who want to come and establish themselves right in the heart of our ecosystem."
International growth
This momentum comes as no surprise to Hugues Bultot, CEO of Univercells, which remains rooted in Wallonia while pursuing significant international growth, in particular through partnerships with the Serum Institute of India, Afrigen or the Institut Pasteur. "Exothera, a CDMO and subsidiary of Univercells, has already provided products for over 30 European and American projects", he explains. "As a GMP-certified CDMO, Jumet-based Exothera provides multiple production platforms to meet the needs of these clients. Optimising production processes for viral vectors in the field of gene therapy or viral vaccines is essential to ensure the quality of the product, repeatability from one batch to another and the reduction of production costs. Exothera has a standardised, robust and reproducible process for manufacturing mRNA. We've developed a specific offer for the personalised treatment of cancer using RNA messenger strategies. This approach aims to reduce the production costs in order to allow as many people as possible to benefit from the treatment, wherever they're located. This then makes it possible to produce products close to the hospitals, for example to allow direct delivery to patients."
With this in mind, Quantoom Biosciences, the Univercells subsidiary specialising in the development of mRNA production technology, led by José Castillo, took part in the economic mission led by Princess Astrid to Brazil (late November 2024). Quantoom Biosciences' platform, Ntensify®, enables the more efficient production of mRNA batches on a large scale, and at a lower cost. "We've been working on messenger RNA for three years now. With mRNA, in addition to vaccines, we've seen developments that can combat rare diseases, cancers and auto-immune diseases, among other things", Hugues Bultot adds.
"Grow your company continuously so you can stay at the cutting edge", says Paul Maes, CEO of Aquilon, who's constantly responding to this type of challenge. The Liège-based company, which has worked on the development of a new, more efficient device to treat asthma and other pulmonary conditions, is continuing its research efforts. "Currently", he continues, "we're growing our business model in line with our clients, working on B2B activities. Wallonia's technology is still at the forefront, but it's important to find the right vectors to put it to good use." While research is continuing on its products, Aquilon has received four or five proposals for ongoing contracts, two of which are being finalised.
There are numerous and varied opportunities in this region rich in researchers, entrepreneurs, qualified workers and expertise.
Article written by Vincent Liévin for Revue W+B n°166.