Luxembourg BioHealth Initiatives
Dr. Jean-Claude Schmit, MD, PhD
CEO, Centre de Recherche Public de la Santé (CRP-Santé)
President, Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL)
Prague, RDI Day, 19 October 2009
www.crp-sante.lu
Luxembourg Public Research Landscape
in BioHealth
First wave (before 1990)
Second wave
(2003)
IBBL
(5→70)
Biobanking
Cryopreservation
EVA (Lippmann)
Environment
Hospitals
CRP-Santé
(250)
Laboratory research
Public health
Clinical research
Third wave (now)
Life sciences
(uni.lu)
(80)
PPM Lung cancer
LNS/NHL
Santec (Tudor)
(25)
IT & health
LCSB
(2→250)
www.crp-sante.lu
How did we get there? Why the third wave ?
• Biotech SWOT analysis 2005/2006
• Health expenditures average 9% of GDP in OECD
countries
•
 Health technologies action plan (2007):
- leverage existing core competences (research and
industrial)
- capitalize on Luxembourg’s competitive advantages
(central location, international setting,
rewarding fiscal environment, dense research
network in greater region)
•
 Particular focus on medical devices
www.crp-sante.lu
Challenges
• Companies need to cooperate with research
institutions in order to fuel the innovation cycle
• Start-ups or companies that relocate need access to
specific incubation spaces
• Access to financing via dedicated VC funds is crucial:
Need to strengthen both volume and quality of
research efforts, and link these to economic
development
Need to concentrate in some core areas of excellence
(OECD review of Luxembourg’s innovation system,
2006)
www.crp-sante.lu
Process agreed upon by Government
• Targeted search for potential strategic partnerships in the United
States in the focus area of molecular diagnostics
• Vision:
– To establish a research enterprise in the health sciences and
technologies and make it grow
– To attract talents
– To connect research with healthcare
– To improve the quality and the efficiency of the health care
system
– To spin off and retain for-profit companies
– And therewith to also create employment and foster economic
diversification
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Underlying change of paradigm: the shift
from traditional to « personalised medicine »
• Today: trial-and-error method!
• Tomorrow: The right drug, for the right person, at the
right moment, at a right dosis
• Personalized medicine is based on molecular
diagnostics and requires access to high-quality
biological samples (tissue, blood, sputum, etc.)
www.crp-sante.lu
Three complementary projects
• Creation of a Luxembourg Biobank (with TGen,
Phoenix Arizona), as an engine to attract and fuel
research initiatives
• Strategic research partnership between the
University of Luxembourg and the Institute for
Systems Biology (Seattle)
• Lung cancer research project of
CRP-Santé with the « Partnership for Personalized
Medicine - PPM» (Phoenix)
www.crp-sante.lu
IBBL a key infrastructure
Hospitals
CRP Santé &
Local research capabilities
Commercial ventures
Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg
Patient
 Sample (patient / non-patient) collection and
processing
 Sample tracking and distribution
 Information collection and analysis
CROs
Luxembourg research teams
European / international research
teams
ISB (L. Hood)
Discovery Project
Commercial ventures
PPM (L. Hartwell)
Demonstration
Project
Sample collection
And analysis
R&D
New
commerc
ialization
Health Care
application
s
www.crp-sante.lu
Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg
I NTEGRATED B IO B ANK
OF L UXEMBOURG (IBBL)
O FFICE FOR
R EGULATORY C OMPLIANCE
AND A DMINISTRATION
Patient
Samples
Luxembourg
Healthcare System
International
Healthcare Providers
ISB Project 1
with University and CRPs
Santé and H. Tudor
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Compliance
Consent
Archived Resources
Prospective Cohorts
Standards of
Procedure / QC
6. Outreach & Education
ISB Project 2
with University and CRPs G.
Lippmann and H. Tudor
B IOREPOSITORY
· Biospecimen Reciept
Biospecimens
· Biospecimen Storage
· Biospecimen Redistribution
PPM Project
with Dr. Hartwell, Dr.
Berchem and CRP Santé
International Research
& Collaborations
BIOREFINERY
(Sample Processing: DNA, RNA, Proteins)
· Analyte Production
· Tissue Microarray
· Protein Extraction
IBBL / TGEN TECHNOLOGY
CENTER (ITTC)
(Mature Technologies)
Clinical Information
DNA
· DNA Sequencing
· Copy Number
· SNP Profiling
RNA
· Gene Expression
· Microarray
INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT CENTER
Biospecimens
Distributed Technology
Resource in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Research Centers
DNA,
RNA,
Protein
DNA
· Copy Number
· SNP Profiling
· Sequencing
RNA
· Gene Expression
· Epigenomics
· siRNA
Luxembourg
University
LNS: Pathology
Protein
· Proteomics
· TMAs
Data
Data
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IBBL’s unique features
– Is a nation-wide project, supported by Luxembourg research
institutions, hospitals and foreign scientists
– Is an independent entity financed by government (60 Mio Euros
over 5 years)
– Will be built in partnership with international recognised
scientists and cover specific research targets
– Will support basic-/clinical research and facilitate links to
downstream commercial applications
• access to samples/data by public and private research (as
consented by donor)
• clear IP regulations to facilitate cooperation
 IBBL is not a “stand-alone” project. It will integrate specific
requests of present and future research projects.
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Leading scientist shaping the Biobank project
• Dr. Jeffrey M. Trent, PhD
• President and Scientific Director of T-Gen
(Translational Genomics Research Institute)
• Dr. Trent has worked during 10 years within the
National Institutes of Health where he has founded
and managed the laboratory charged to coordinate and
finalize the Human Genome Project
• Before his tenure at the NIH, Dr. Trent has been
professor at the University of Michigan, where he was
the head of the “comprehensive cancer center”
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Possible collaborations ?
• IBBL has European / international ambitions
• IBBL is looking for partners for sample collection (+ is open for
customised collections based on specific needs)
• IBBL is looking for partners for biopreservation research
(sample collection/storage, biorefinery, next generation
analysis technology)
• IBBL is a sample provider for public and private research
institutions, this includes pharma and biotech companies
(selection criteria = scientific value of proposal)
www.crp-sante.lu
www.crp-sante.lu
Luxembourg/ISB Strategic Partnership
Seattle
III.
Integrated Diagnostic Inc.
I.
Personalized Genome
Project
Luxembourg
II.
Blood Organ Fingerprint
Project
II.
III.
I.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
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Systems Biology: 21st century science
Systems biology is the study of an organism, viewed as an integrated and
interacting network (bioinformatics) of genes (genomics), proteins
(proteomics) and biochemical reactions (metabolomics) which give rise to
life. Instead of analyzing individual components or aspects of the organism,
such as sugar metabolism or a cell nucleus, systems biologists focus on all
the components and the interactions among them, all as part of one system.
These interactions are ultimately responsible for an organism´s form and
functions.
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ISB-University projects: Objectives
– Providing a focus and a vision for biological research
in Luxembourg
– Ambitious research projects to drive innovation
– Intensive training programs and knowledge transfer
– Developing a systems biology framework for
personalized medicine
– Creating the framework for new economic activity
by setting up the environment for biotechnological
research
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Luxembourg Center for Systems BioMedicine
(LCSB)
• Interdisciplinary Center (IC) of University
– Overarching topic: systems biology of inflammation
– Thematic focus: neurodegenerative diseases (others to come)
– Bioinformatics and advanced mouse models (pre-clinical) to be developed
at LCSB
• National collaborations
– Genomics (Microarray – CRP-Santé / Next generation sequencing - IBBL)
– Clinical Proteomics & Metabolomics (Joint unit CRP-Santé and University)
– Clinical investigation center (CRP-Santé)
• International collaborations (ESFRI structures)
– BBMRI (via IBBL), ECRIN (via CRP-Santé), EATRIS & ELIXIR (via LCSB)
www.crp-sante.lu
Dr Lee Hood - Biography
• Work
– National Cancer Institute National Institutes of Health 67-70 (Senior Investigator)
– Caltech-Biology 70-92 (Professor 70-92 and Chairman--80-90)
– Molecular Biotechnology-UW-92-2000 (Founder and Chairman)-first crossdisciplinary biology department
– Institute for Systems Biology--2000-present (Co-founder and President)-first systems
biology institute
• Founder and director
– Founder and director Caltech Microchemical Facility 82-92
– Founder and director NSF Science and Technology Center 89-2000
– Founder and director Megabase DNA Sequencing Center 96-2003
– Co-founder and co-director NanoSystems Biology Alliance (Caltech and UCLA) 2003
to present
– Co-founder and director Systems Biology Center 2006-present
• Founder or co-founder-start up companies
– Founded or co-founded 14 companies, including Amgen, Applied Biosystems Darwin,
Rosetta and the Accelerator
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Possible collaborations ?
• To be defined
• Diagnostic companies wishing to develop research results
(mainly neurodegenerative diseases)
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Partnership for Personalized Medicine (PPM)
Lung Cancer project
Rational behind PPM projects:
Define new diagnostics for a specific disease in a timeframe of 3-5
years with the goal of improving treatment and reduce costs
Define the disease conjointly with partners (demonstration projects)
Test locally the new diagnostic and prove its capacity to diagnose
the disease
Supervise the patient’s evolution in order to prove the healthenhancing and costs reductions of the treatment
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Choice of Disease Focus
Lung Cancer Project:
– Approximately 180 deaths per year in Luxembourg
– Approximately 200 newly diagnosed cases per year
 40% exhibit metastasis that have a median survival time of 8 months
 30% exhibit ganglial metastasis that have a median survival time of 18
months
 30% are operable with an median survival time of 3 years
 Only 8%-15% of all lung cancer patients survive 5 years or more
– Lung Cancer is at present an almost incurable disease
– Without a method for improved screening and early
detection, it will be difficult to improve lung cancer
survival rates
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The PPM process
www.crp-sante.lu
Project Lung Cancer: Partnership
• US Institutions:
•Luxembourg Institutions:
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center, Seattle
•The Biodesign Institute at
Arizona State University,
Phoenix
•The Translational
Genomics Research
Institute , Phoenix
• CRP-Santé
• The National Health
Laboratory
• Social Security
• Central Service for
Statistics and Economic
Studies (STATEC)
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Dr. Lee Hartwell - Biography
• President and director, Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center, Seattle (2700 researchers)
• Professor of genome sciences and adjunct professor of
medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine
• American Cancer Society Research Professor of
Genetics
• Nobel Prize in 2001 in Medicine for his discoveries of
the mechanisms of cells division.
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www.crp-sante.lu
Possible collaborations ?
• Luxembourg aims at setting up, as a complement to the PPM
Lung Cancer project, an international network of clinical trial
sites for Lung Cancer (TGen has done a similar effort for
Pancreatic Cancer)
www.crp-sante.lu
Expected ROIs for Luxembourg
Research
 Ability to attract top scientists and ramp
up existing research programs
 Leverage existing competencies
 Strong contributions to the education
and health care systems.
Economy
 Research and Education are key assets to
attract foreing companies
 Existing sectors (IT, logistics) can
immediately benefit from the
development of research activities
 Business failures are less of an issue if the
research environment can continuously
generate spin-offs and “recycle” both
personnel and IP
Education
 Provide a well-educated workforce to
support both economic and research
activities
 Create new training / education
programs to support research and
health care.
Health care
 Health care and research are mutually
reinforcing.
 Contain health-care costs upstream
through personalized therapies and
preventive medicine (diagnostics)
 A cutting-edge research enterprise
facilitates the recruitment of world-class
physicians.
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Why now and why Luxembourg?
• Personalized medicine is not a new concept, but the
technological breakthroughs which make the vision
possible are very recent:
First mover advantage for Luxembourg
• Luxembourg’s research institutions are relatively
young. They still lack critical mass and international
visibility but in the meantime structures are less
sclerotic:
Opportunity to implement innovative approaches
(interdisciplinarity)
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Contacts
• CRP-Santé:
jc.schmit@crp-sante.lu
• IBBL:
robert.hewitt@ibbl.lu
• LCSB:
rudi.balling@uni.lu
www.crp-sante.lu