Lyonbiopole, a French competitiveness cluster of 110 members focused on infectious diseases and cancers, has joined the existing consortium between Alsace BioValley, a French competitiveness cluster dedicated to life sciences and health, and Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM).

A first agreement, signed in November 2010 between the two partners had already helped to initiate several research collaboration between actors in Alsace and Quebec. With these early successes and the special relationship established between Alsace BioValley and Lyonbiopole, a new bilateral agreement has been recently signed between CQDM and Lyonbiopole.

"Our partnership with Alsace BioValley has been successful with, to date, funding for three joint research projects, with high quality and high impact on the biopharmaceutical industry," said Diane Gosselin, vice president of research and business development, CQDM. "We are very pleased to expand the cooperation in the Rhone-Alpes region with Lyonbiopole whose excellence and competitiveness in several areas of research is recognized worldwide."

This new agreement aims to develop a joint program to enhance biomedical research in Quebec, Canada, and  Alsace and Rhone-Alpes, France, by the alignment of international resources. The trio will co-finance research projects aimed at developing new technologies or enablers for biopharmaceutical research, conducted in collaboration between the three regions. Promoting creativity, innovation and multidisciplinary collaboration between academic institutions and private organizations (biotech/research organizations under contract CRO), the tripartite call for project will allocate a maximum funding of $1.4 million for a three-year period.

Scientific excellence, applicability and feasibility of the project will be evaluated by external evaluators, selected jointly by the three parties. Particular attention will be paid to the ability to produce applicable results (after funding period), having an immediate impact for biopharmaceutical research. CQDM, Alsace BioValley and Lyonbiopole will evaluate aspects related to intellectual property, potential ethical issues, corporate information as well as any potential risks that could endanger the achievement of a research project.