Bio Spin-off Day
How to start my own spin-off ?
Date: Wednesday April 29, 2009 , 13:00 h – 19:00
Place:
Thermotechnisch Instituut, Auditorium van de Tweede Hoofdwet
Kasteelpark Arenberg 41, 3001 Leuven
Program:
13:00 Welcome Coffee and sandwiches
14:00 Opening Remarks
Bart De Moor, co-ordinator BioSCENTer and chairman IOF Board
14:10 VIB’s approach to life science start-ups
Chris De Jonghe, Business Development Manager VIB, www.vib.be
14:35 Spinning out in Leuven
Paul Van Dun, General Manager LRD, www.kuleuven.be/lrd
15:00 Starting & growing university spin-offs: real life experiences
Rudi Cuyvers, Innovation Manager, Cell Spin-offs and Innovation, www.kuleuven.be/lrd
15:30 Opportunities for funding of spin-off initiatives by IWT
Maarten Sileghem, Director Strategic and European Research IWT, www.iwt.be
15:55 Coffee Break
16:15 Short Introduction
Jan Beirlant, Dean of the Faculty of Science, on behalf of Jos Peeters, President of
Science@Leuven
16:20 The financing of start-ups in challenging times
Patrick Van Beneden, Executive Vice-President Life Sciences GIMV, www.gimv.be
16:45 Students and Synthetic Biology: future entrepreneurs?
K.U.Leuven, iGEM 2008 Team (represented by Jonas Demeulemeester, Hanne Tytgat and
Jan Mertens) www.kuleuven.be/bioscenter/igem)
17:10 Biopharmaceutical drug development between academia and industry: a case study
Desiré Collen, Founder and Chairman ThromboGenics, www.thrombogenics.com
17:40 Closing Remarks
Bart De Moor, coordinator BioSCENTer and chairman IOF Board
17:45 Drink
Organisation :
-
BioSCENTer, Leuven Bio-Science, Bio-Engineering & Bio-Technology Center
www.kuleuven.be/BioSCENTer
Arenberg Doctoral School
http://set.kuleuven.be/phd/
Leuven Research en Development
www.kuleuven.be/lrd
Leuven Industrieel Onderzoeksfonds
www.kuleuven.be/iof
Science@Leuven
http://wet.kuleuven.be/alumni/
Leuven Innovation Networking Circle
www.leuveninc.com
Abstracts
VIB’s approach to life science start-ups
Chris De Jonghe, business development manager VIB
Amongst VIB's most visible tech transfer outcomes are the novel life science enterprises it establishes. In close
collaboration with the researchers, VIB follows an up-to-the-elbow approach to build platforms that can form
the basis of a new company, to develop a business plan, to identify experienced managers to run the company
and to attract national or international investors willing to invest in the start-up. VIB’s approach will be
exemplified with real-life cases.
Spinning out in Leuven
Paul Van Dun, Directeur K.U.Leuven, Research and Development
Spinoffs don’t come out of the blue. Many years of research are ahead of a start up and when at the end there
finally is a concept on the table the question rises in which context a spin-off is (not) recommended? In
addition, at the final start up all kinds of issues are emerging.
How does this starting process come along in Leuven and what kind of instruments can be used?
Which financial support can be provided to researchers and to whom can they address their questions?
Overview of the birth of a spin-off.
Starting & growing university spin-offs: real life experiences
Rudi Cuyvers, Innovation Manager, Cell Spin-offs and Innovation
The basic ingredients & challenges to start-up & grow university spin-offs are clarified by means of five case
studies in the bioinformatics & biotechnology field: Algonomics, Cartagenia, Fugeia, Remynd, Silicos. Despite
the large diversity in technologies & applications, the five spin-offs show that a common set of key success
factors can be identified and have to be taken into account by the different parties participating in a spin-off
project.
Opportunities for funding of spin-off initiatives by IWT.
Maarten Sileghem, Directeur Strategisch en Europees Onderzoek IWT
IWT is a Flemish agency that provides financial support to R&D proposals with an economic output. IWT offers
opportunities for spin-off initiatives at different levels. Start-up companies can receive direct financial support
for R&D projects. In this funding scheme, the company always needs to finance a proportion of the project. For
start-ups with restricted financial means, support will be committed on a conditional basis beyond the financial
capacity of the company at the moment of evaluation. In this situation, the support follows the growth of a
young company. Project support can even be committed prior to the foundation of a company. Start-ups can
also receive support for feasibility studies, including funding for the preparatory phase of writing business
plans. Finally, low-interest loans can be provided on top the subsidy without the need for an additional
proposal.
University groups with the aim to work towards a spin-off can receive support for the basic strategic research
that lays the foundations for a later spin-off. Since 2004, this possibility is integrated in the SBO programme in
which 100% subsidy is provided to universities and research institutes. Up to 20% of the budget (around
5 million euro per annum) can be allocated to projects with a major focus on the creation of a spin-off. In
addition, individual researchers can be supported through a research fellowship with a specific focus on the
creation of a spin-off.
The financing of start-ups in challenging times
Patrick Van Beneden, Executive Vice-President Life Sciences GIMV

How to get financing in this difficult environment?

Investment criteria

What are VCs looking for? What not?

What has changed/is changing?

How to get an exit for investors/shareholders?

Some cases: Devgen, Ablynx, ActoGeniX,…
Students and synthetic Biology : future entrepreneurs?
Students of the 2008 iGEM team
Imagine a bacterium that produces a drug when and where it is needed in the human body. It would have
several advantages over classical drugs and could have many medical applications. In this framework, the
K.U.Leuven participated in 2008 to the international Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition with
Dr. Coli, the bacterial drug delivery system. Dr. Coli senses the disease signal and produces the appropriate
amount of drugs to meet the individual patient’s needs. And when the patient is cured, Dr. Coli self-destructs.
To do this, his molecular timer registers the time since the last disease signal sensed. But when the disease
flares up again, this timer is reset and drug production is resumed. Dr. Coli is an example of synthetic biology, a
new discipline that combines biology with engineering principles to design and construct new biological
systems with useful properties. Within the time frame of the iGEM competition, the team developed a proof of
concept of Dr. Coli. The most important assets are massive reuse of standard BioBricks, different control
mechanisms and extensive modeling. The K.U.Leuven 2008 iGEM team won a golden medal for their design of
Dr. Coli in the first participation of a Belgian team in iGEM ever.
Biopharmaceutical drug development between academia and industry: a case study
Désiré Collen, Life Sciences Research Partners, VZW and ThromboGenics, NV, Belgium
Both society and funding agencies expect academia to contribute pro-actively to value generating applications
by performing not only discovery research but also translational research towards new services and products. A
case study of such an interaction between the university of Leuven (KU Leuven), the Flanders Institute for
Biotechnology (VIB) and the biopharmaceutical spin-off ThromboGenics NV (THR) will be presented, focusing
on the relative roles of intellectual property, licensing arrangements, contract research and translational
research in selected areas of biopharmaceutical medicine.
Curriculum vitae Désiré Collen
Désiré Collen holds a M.D. degree (1968) and Ph.D. degree in Chemistry (1974)
from the University of Leuven, Belgium, and was formerly Director of the Center
for Molecular and Vascular Biology of K.U. Leuven, and of the Vesalius Research
Center of VIB. His team with Genentech Inc developed t-PA for thrombolytic
therapy of AMI. He has co-authored over 650 research papers and has received
the Francqui Prize (Belgium) in 1984, the Prix Louis Jeantet de Médecine
(Switzerland) in 1986, the Bristol-Myers-Squibb award for Cardiovascular Research
(USA) (jointly with M. Verstraete) in 1995, and the Health Prize of the InterbrewBaillet Latour Fund (Belgium) (jointly with P. Carmeliet) in 2005. Dr. Collen is
presently Chairman of ThromboGenics, NV, a biopharmaceutical drug
development company listed on Euronext Brussels.
Curriculum vitae Rudi Cuyvers
Rudi Cuyvers holds a Ph.D. in Electronics (K.U.Leuven) and an MBA degree
(Flanders Business School).
As innovation manager at K.U.Leuven R & D he is head of the Spin-offs &
Innovation unit, which supports spin-off creation & growth and stimulates the
university-industry interaction. He has been involved in the start-up of more than
30 spin-offs, is member of the board of directors in several companies and is an
active partner in several network organizations & projects that promote
innovation and high-tech entrepreneurship
Curriculum vitae Chris De Jonghe
Education:
1990-1994: Licentiate in Biochemistry from University of Antwerp
1994-1999: PhD in Neurogenetics (functional analysis of gene defects causing
Alzheimer’s disease, promoter: Christine Van Broeckhoven)
2004- 2007: Bachelor in laws
Professional Career:
1999-2001: post-doctoral fellow FWO (labs of Christine Van Broeckhoven – UA and
Bart De Strooper – KUL)
2001-2007: licensing manager at VIB
2007-present: business development manager at VIB
Curriculum vitae Bart De Moor
Bart De Moor studeerde in 1983 af als burgerlijk elektro-werktuigkundig ingenieur
aan de Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, specialisatie regeltechniek. Hij behaalde er
het doctoraat in de Toegepaste Wetenschappen in 1988. Daarna was hij
gedurende 2 jaar, van 1988 tot 1990, ‘Research Associate’ aan de Stanford
University in Californië, in het ‘Information Systems Lab’ (Prof. Kailath) en het
foto: © <http://www.bartvanleuven.com>.
departement Computerwetenschappen (Prof. Golub). Vandaag is hij Gewoon
Hoogleraar aan het departement ESAT van de K.U.Leuven.
Bart De Moor stond mede aan de wieg van 6 ‘spin-off’ bedrijven van de
K.U.Leuven (IPCOS, Data4s (acquired by Norkom Technologies) TMLeuven, Silicos,
Dsquare, Cartagenia).
Van 1991-1992 was Bart De Moor de kabinetschef van de federale minister van
Wetenschapsbeleid (Wivina Demeester) en van 1994-1999 was hij de adviseur
Wetenschapsbeleid van de minister-president van Vlaanderen (Luc Van den
Brande). In die functie lag hij mee aan de basis van het Vlaams Interuniversitair
Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), het Vlaams Instituut van de Zee (VLIZ), het
Vlaams Centrum voor Bewaring van Tuinbouwproducten (VCBT) en Technopolis. In
2005-2007 was hij als kabinetschef socio-economisch beleid van de Vlaamse
minister-president (Yves Leterme) de coördinator van ‘Vlaanderen-in-actie’.
Hij was lid van de Academische Raad en de Raad Onderzoeksbeleid van de
K.U.Leuven en de raad van bestuur van het StudieCentrum voor Kernenergie (SCK).
Hij is voorzitter van de Raad van Bestuur van Hercules (het Vlaams agentschap
voor de financiering van zware onderzoeksapparatuur), voorzitter van het
Industrieel OnderzoeksFonds (IOF) van de K.U.Leuven, lid van de Raad van Bestuur
van het Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), het Interdisciplinair instituut
voor BreedBandTechnologie (IBBT), het Vlaams Centrum voor Bewaring van
Tuinbouwproducten (VCBT) en verschillende binnen- en buitenlandse
wetenschappelijke en culturele verenigingen.
Curriculum vitae Maarten Sileghem
Maarten Sileghem was trained as a biotechnologist and obtained the degree of
PhD in Sciences with specialisation in cellular immunology at the Free University
Brussels in1988. His research was on suppression of the immune system with a
focus on cytokines and macrophages using a tropical disease as a model system. In
1989 he became a postdoctoral research fellow at ILRAD, an international research
institute within the CGIAR, a consortium affiliated with the World Bank and the
UN. As an employee of the UN, he became project leader in de same institute in
1992 shifting towards management of a research team on strategic biotech
research with a long-term economic output. For seven years he was based in
Nairobi, Kenya, as an expatriate.
In 1996 he joined IWT, an agency with a mandate to stimulate innovation in
Flanders, Belgium. As a scientific advisor he became responsible for evaluation of
R&D proposals in the field of biotechnology. He was mainly involved in industrial
R&D and strategic research, with a major focus on biotech start up companies and
on R&D projects with valorisation on a global scale. In 2002 he became team
leader, coaching a team of several advisors active in de field of Life Sciences. In
2007 he became Director Strategic Research and European Programmes at IWT.
He has an overall responsibility for strategic research programmes and
international collaborations.
Curriculum vitae Paul Van Dun
As of december 2000 Paul is active within K.U.Leuven Research & Development,
the technology transfer unit of K.U.Leuven, where he is general manager and
coordinates the activities in contract research, patenting, licensing, spinoff
creation and regional development. He is also managing director of the venture
funds Gemma Frisius Fund I & II, board member of the Fondation Fournier-Majoie
pour l’Innovation and Capricorn Venture Fund II, and board member or president
of several spinoff companies. As of 2006, he has been elected vice-president of
ASTP (Association of European Science & Technology Transfer Professionals).
Curriculum vitae Patrick Van Beneden
Patrick Van Beneden (1962) has worked at Gimv since 1985 and joined the
Executive Committee in February 2001. He heads up the Life Sciences business unit.
He is a board member of various listed and non-listed investments, including
Acertys, ActoGeniX, Astex, DeVGen, Pamgene, TorreyPines Therapeutics and the
Biotech Fonds Vlaanderen. Former board seats include Innogenetics, Crucell,
Avalon, Hypnion (acquired by Eli Lilly) and Crop Design (acquired by BASF).
Patrick Van Beneden has a degree in Financial Sciences from VLEKHO in Brussels.