Roche and BioMed X collaborate to develop nanomaterial-based biosensors for near-patient testing
Germany, February 24, 2015 – Roche and BioMed X announced today that they have entered into a collaboration agreement to establish a research group focusing on the development of a novel sensor technology platform based on new nanomaterials such as graphene.
Outstanding early career scientists from leading academic institutions world-wide are invited to submit original project proposals in the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology and engineering. Roche and BioMed X will jointly select the best ideas and research talents to form a new research group within BioMed X’s open innovation lab in Heidelberg. BioMed X has developed a unique innovation model offering a project plan competition, an attractive funding package, entrepreneurial education and guidance by experienced mentors from academia and industry. BioMed X’s open innovation lab is part of the multi-disciplinary life science campus of the University of Heidelberg which provides an inspiring, interdisciplinary environment for project teams. The unique supportive setting of BioMed X provides an exciting opportunity for the winners of the project plan competition to combine state-of-the-art nanomaterials research with biomedical know-how in order to develop a new sensor technology platform for near-patient testing.
BioMed X’s recruitment process allows the partners to select the best research team from among the candidates. BioMed X will be responsible for the operation of the innovation center facility, providing entrepreneurial education and enabling access to the Heidelberg scientific community and research facilities.
“We have been looking into open innovation opportunities before and are excited to work with BioMed X’s novel and inspiring concept. What we can do in this incubator complements our internal research activities very well”, said Matthias Essenpreis, Chief Technology Officer of Roche Diagnostics. “We are particularly excited about our collaboration with Roche since it extends our successful innovation model into the new fields of diagnostics and nanotechnology”, said Christian Tidona, founder and Managing Director of BioMed X.
Further details of the agreement and financial terms are not disclosed.
About BioMed X Innovation Center
The BioMed X Innovation Center is an exciting new collaboration model at the interface between academia and industry. At our center, distinguished early career scientists recruited from all over the world are working jointly on novel pre-clinical research projects in the fields of biomedicine, molecular biology, cell biology, diagnostics and bioinformatics. These interdisciplinary project teams are conducting groundbreaking biomedical research in an open innovation lab facility on the campus of the University of Heidelberg, under the guidance of experienced mentors from academia and industry while expanding their scientific network and receiving an intensive entrepreneurship and leadership training. Each team is typically sponsored by a corporate pharma or biotech partner of BioMed X. After a fully funded project term, successful projects are either internalized into the development pipeline of the respective pharma or biotech sponsor or spun off into an independent startup company.
For more information please visit www.bio.mx.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and neuroscience. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management. Roche’s personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostics that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. Founded in 1896, Roche has been making important contributions to global health for more than a century. Twenty-four medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and chemotherapy. In 2014, the Roche Group employed 88,500 people worldwide, invested 8.9 billion Swiss francs in R&D and posted sales of 47.5 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan.
For more information please visit www.roche.com.