Cynbiose and VirNext strenghten their partnership to accelerate the development of innovative prophylactic and therapeutic treatments in the field of respiratory infections.
Marcy l’Etoile, Lyon, France – June 13th, 2022
The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the need to pool and leverage scientific and technical expertise in order to be more reactive to the (re)-emergence of infectious diseases.
On the basis of a public-private partnership initiated in 2017, Cynbiose and VirNext teams collaborate closely on various aspects of Research and Development in the field of respiratory infectious diseases. The two organizations based in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, the historical birthplace of vaccines and diagnostics, have already developed several in vitro and in vivo models of infections by respiratory viruses such as influenza, pneumovirus (hRSV, hMPV) and coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
As of 2020, Cynbiose and VirNext have also joined forces to offer a complete preclinical package of services for the evaluation of drugs, vaccines and antibobies candidates for SARS-CoV-2, from in vitro screening to in vivo efficacy models of infections on large animals (supported by exceptional funding from the AURA region). Thus, they have contribute to the evaluation of hundreds of candidates for SARS-CoV-2 using cell lines, reconstructed human respiratory epithelium cultivated at air-liquid interface and rodent models, but also to the implementation of 6 clinical trials evaluating antivirals, nebullized antibodies and vaccine candidates.
This regional collaboration with a global reach enables the creation of scientific, technological and economic values. Beyond the capacity of innovation and research of VirNext and Cynbiose, this partnership combines the strengths of each of them in their respective fields of expertise and unique know-how including logistics (BSL-2/BSL3 and A2/A3 facilities), but also great flexibility, agility and customer relationship and support.
Based on this strong and operational collaboration, Cynbiose and VirNext are pleased to announce the strengthening of their public-private partnership in order to offer a continuum of expertise and services to accelerate entrance to the clinic of drug candidates (immunotherapies, vaccines, antibodies, antivirals) in the field of respiratory infectious diseases. The objective of this partnership is to reinforce and develop a unique and innovative service offering in the field of respiratory infectious diseases:
– A unique and large-scale library of respiratory viruses,
– A complete range of services from in vitro and ex vivo screening to relevant preclinical in vivo models (rodents and non-rodents) for respiratory infectious diseases,
– The enrichment of Cynbiose’s offer dedicated to the evaluation of aerosol therapies with a screening offer on an ex-vivo model on human airway epithelium.
« Thanks to our long-standing private-public collaboration, we are in the front line in meeting the ambitions of the French Health 2030 innovation plan and actively contributing to strengthening the positioning of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and France in the fight against (re)-emerging infectious diseases. We are proud to be able to support academic teams and the biopharmaceutical industry with a very high value-added scientific and technical offer and thus contribute to global health, » says Hugues Contamin, Cynbiose CEO and Manuel Rosa-Calatrava, INSERM Research Director, Co-Director of VirPath Laboratory, Co-founder and Director of VirNext Platform.
