Newswise — The SME of Besançon bought Diaclone in 2012, then participated in the creation of SynAbs Belgian start-up in 2015. Business is booming.
Philippe Dulieu, PhD in biochemistry, is forming a small group that counts in the world of the monoclonal antibodies. These molecules - descended from a single strain of lymphocytes, the same as the immune system produced naturally - were originally intended for diagnostic methods, but are increasingly used as therapeutic solutions.
Working on synergies
In 2002, Philippe Dulieu founded RD-Biotech. This service company offers services and products dedicated for the pharmaceutical and the biotechnology industries in France, Switzerland, Europe and the United States. RD Biotech targets very large industrial companies such as Sanofi, but also small players who have not yet facilities, but have already raised funds, and for which the Besançon team is building prototypes. "Our know-how is to develop molecules in the preclinical stage, then medicines" he explains. Ten years later, in 2012, RD-Biotech bought Diaclone, a spin-off from EFS Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, which was taken over a few years earlier by an American group, Gen Probe, who had not the key elements to increase the value of the latter. The holding Biotech Investissement was born that year to support both structures.
This return to French capital and a clear strategy have restored Diaclone to its full potential. Founded in 1986, Diaclone produces diagnostic tests and antibodies that have become references in the market. "The respective know-how of RD-Biotech and Diaclone are complementary, the two companies are customers and suppliers of each other," adds Philippe Dulieu, President of Biotech Investissement. The third element of the rocket was added at the end of 2015 with the Biotech Investissement stakes in Synabs, a Belgian start-up that exploits a license for other antibodies developed by the University of Louvain. "We thus have a one-stop-shop solution, a symbiosis of markets and a synergy in terms of technologies. "
Based in Besançon, the group employs 55 people. It reached € 6 million in sales in 2016, marked by RD-Biotech's 50% growth in the last two years .
With the rise of biotherapeutics, RD-Biotech has a bright future ahead. Next step : own premises.
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