Carried by Aix-Marseille University (AMU), MImAbs is the first pre-industrial demonstrator of the Investments for the Future Program (PIA)
Within three months, MImAbs SAS completed a 2-million-euro financing round led by Région Sud Investissement and entrepreneurs of the region.
To generate new therapeutic antibody candidates, biopharmaceutical companies and start-ups will be able to rely on an integrated platform of preclinical services in immunotechnology that is unique in Europe.
Marseille, February 8th 2021, MImAbs SAS, Aix-Marseille University (AMU) and Région Sud Investissement (RSI) announce the start of operations of MImAbs SAS, an immunotechnology company specializing in the generation and validation of novel therapeutic antibodies against cancer and inflammatory diseases. The creation of this new company marks the success of the eponymous pre-industrial demonstrator launched in 2011 with the support of the Investments for the Future Program: in less than seven years of activity, the collaborative program will have conducted over 20 projects for the development of therapeutic antibodies, a field of excellence in the region.
Dr. Thierry JEAN, a leader in the biopharmaceutical services industry, is the Chairman and CEO of the company whose Scientific Direction is ensured by Pr. François ROMAGNÉ, until now Director of the pre-industrial demonstrator. In the difficult context of the COVID-19 pandemic, MImAbs SAS has completed in three months a €2 million financing round led by Région Sud Investissement and associating economic actors and entrepreneurs of the region.
Pr. Eric BERTON, President of Aix-Marseille University, said: “We are proud to have contributed to an innovative pre-industrial demonstrator, carried by AMU and financed by the Investments for the Future Program, creating an autonomous economic player. In Europe, MImAbs will act as a catalyst, not only for industrials but also for recently funded start-ups that increasingly rely on external R&D capabilities. Once again, AMU and its partners are reinforcing the development of the regional economic fabric, especially in a very strategic sector of excellence such as immunology”.
Pilot of the creation project and member of the Strategic Council of MImAbs SAS,Dr. Hervé BRAILLY, multi-entrepreneur of the biotech industry, co-founder of Innate Pharma and of the Marseille-Immunopôle (MI) cluster, underlined: “I am very pleased to have contributed to the transformation of the collaborative platform into a commercial company with 25 employees. The development potential ofMImAbs SAS is unquestioned: it will be a major player in terms of attractiveness and influence for the region’s therapeutic antibody sector, led by MI and supported by the Eurobiomed competitiveness cluster. I would like to thank AMU for its support and assistance in the creation of the company, Région Sud Investissement and Turenne Capital for their commitment and of course, the pre-industrial demonstrator’s team, without whom this transformation would not have been possible”.
“Advances in medicine and biotechnologies have led to a hyper-specialization of drug research and development and prompted more and more biopharmaceutical companies to outsource all or part of the process. The founders of MImAbs anticipated this fundamental trend by creating a platform capable of accelerating and securing the first R&D steps in the leading family of cancer therapies: monoclonal antibodies” said Dr. Thierry JEAN, Co-founder and Chairman and CEO of MImAbs SAS. “Today, our company offers manufacturers an integrated platform of preclinical services in immunotechnology that is unique in Europe, to which highly innovative start-ups will also have full access for their early development through strategic partnerships”.