At a press conference held on Monday 16 February at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) Faculty of Medicine in Woluwe, in the presence of University Chancellor Bernard Coulie and Brussels Minister Benoît Cerexhe, UCL, Sopartec and the Brussels-Capital region presented their new incubator for innovative companies, the Brussels Life Sciences Incubator, or BLSI, set in the heart of UCL’s Brussels campus. Professor Pierre Gianello, Dean for Research in the Faculty of Medicine, took advantage of the occasion to highlight the importance of this new incubator for the policy of further developing the research carried out at UCL.

… to promote the creation of innovative life sciences companies...  

The mission of the BLSI companies incubator is to promote the creation of innovative companies from the results of research in the field of the life sciences. BLSI offers newly created companies appropriate flexible accommodation in the form of office space and laboratories, along with a shared logistical infrastructure (meeting rooms, secretariat etc.), allowing them to keep fixed costs down and to concentrate their efforts fully on developing their business.

The incubator also plays a fundamental role in :

• Detecting and evaluating plans to start a company sponsored by a research scientist or a professor, Assisting creators with their business model (realisation of proof of concept, ratification of model and business plan, finding of finance etc.),
• Bringing players from the worlds of industry, finance and the sciences into contact with one another,
• Training project sponsors.

The team from Sopartec, a founder partner managing the company BLSI S.A., will be responsible, in collaboration with the UCL Research Administration (ADRE), for accompanying project sponsors from the finding of development opportunities within university laboratories and research centres to the financing of innovative life sciences companies.

…BLSI at the heart of Europe and the UCL development centre for health ...

BLSI is situated in the School of Public Health building at 30, Clos Chapelle-aux-Champs, in the heart of UCL’s Woluwe campus. The top two stories of the building, with a total surface area of 2,328 m², will be completely renovated to accommodate innovative companies in a stimulating, modern environment from 2010.

The incubated companies will benefit from their proximity to the UCL Faculty of Medicine, several colleges and research centres (including the Christian de Duve Institute) and the St-Luc University Clinics. This location constitutes a very favourable environment for the development of companies in the life sciences sector in terms of scientific collaborations, R&D, engagement of qualified staff etc.

It should be remembered that the UCL site in Woluwe lies right in the heart of the Capital of Europe, within a highly efficient transport network and close to Brussels international airport.

…Signigicant potential emerging from research at UCL ... 

BLSI is open to any sponsor of a project in the life sciences sector who wishes to develop his or her research by starting up a company with the benefit of a scientific environment and high quality support.

Well situated on the UCL campus in Woluwe, the BLSI incubator also depends on identifying high potential in terms of the transfer of life science technologies emerging from UCL, whether these be in biotechnology (cell therapy, gene therapy etc.), medical devices or medical information technology (imagery, traceability etc.).

Over two-thirds of UCL’s patents portfolio is connected with the health and life sciences sectors, constituting a considerable potential source of spin-off enterprises. Several research projects financed by the Brussels-Capital region show excellent prospects for development in the near future. UCL is also participating in the "Spin-Off in Brussels" programme involving projects connected with the health sector. And finally, existing activities within the university could be externalised and developed in the best conditions with the benefit of support from the Brussels Life Sciences Incubator.

For more information on the BLSI incubator and the services offered to creators of innovative companies in the life sciences, please contact Mr Benoit Buntinx, Sr. Business Development Manager at Sopartec, b.buntinx@sopartec.com, tel. +32/(0)10/39.00.27