Industrial collaborations

FHU ONCOAGE aims to combine scientific excellence and implementation of new practices, interventions and development of innovative and technological solutions. The consortium is fully engaged in close cooperation with its ecosystem, in order to convert research results and discoveries in benefits for the patients/citizens and for the clinicians but as well for a better organisation, efficiency and financial sustainability of for the health and social care system and the economic growth, the creation of jobs.

In order to accomplish these objectives, the FHU ONCOAGE’s work programme will be designed according to current scientific challenges but as well aligned with Industry partners’ roadmaps. All the teams (researchers and clinicians) involved in the consortium are already collaborating with the industry (see below). The members of FHU ONCOAGE have then a good knowledge of the objectives and strategies of their partners, reinforced by latest exchanges (see letters of support in appendix). Thanks to the FHU label, these relations will be reinforced and developed against new companies, at the international level (mainly Europe, USA and Asia), from the largest ones to SMEs and start-ups. Actually, the platforms included in our organisation are directly linked with incubation and accelerators programmes, in order to support entrepreneurs (coming from the research area, universities and schools or the society) in the development of their ideas, innovations and businesses. This will drive again to the creation of new business activities and jobs in the region and beyond.

Numbers of industrial collaborations have been established by the partners of the ONCOAGE consortium and these collaborations will keep going and will be reinforced through the ONCOAGE project now. As an example the bio pathology laboratory (LPCE) and the Nice bio bank have set up many collaborative projects with GENENTECH (US) for detecting new biomarkers in lung cancer patients (such as PD-L1 and c-MET) and with Hoffmann la Roche (Basel) for ALK status assessment in blood samples from lung cancer patients. Other collaborative projects have been set up with Roche Pharmaceutics, Roche Diagnostics, AstraZeneca, Rarecells, Bioacartis, Servier Oncology and Thermofischer companies. Globally these projects aim to validate some new diagnostic or predictive biomarkers in both tissue and biological fluid samples from lung cancer patients and from patients suffering from non neoplastic lung diseases. These different collaborative projects allow to get strong financial supports but also aim to get scientific collaborations and common publications with private partners. Different recent publications indicated that previous industrial collaborations have come as a result of effective works (SANOFI: Ilie et al, Cancer Medicine, 2015; GENENTECH:Ilie et al, AACR, 2015; MYRIAD GENETICS:  Rakha et al, Eur J Cancer 2015, ect). The new perspective of setting up a liquid biopsy laboratory in the Pasteur Hospital and a new bio pathology experimental platform at the B1 floor of the CLCC CAL will encourage new collaborative projects with pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies. The FHU ONCOAGE offers a unique opportunity to the industrials to validate biomarkers in well selected and annoted blood and tissue samples and the FHU ONCOAGE will be used as an expert centre for these private partners.

During the preparation of this project, the consortium has received numbers of letters of support, from large companies but as well start-ups and SMEs, from numbers of various sectors. Here some examples more detailed:

  • RareCells and Janssen will set up a range of its activities within the Liquid Biopsy Laboratory (LBL), in order to develop detection tests for circulating Biomarkers and screening tests for cancers dedicated to the ageing population, for who the invasive tests (tissues biopsies) are often difficult to do;
  • Diagnostic & pharma industry: Roche Institute, AstraZeneca, Thermodiagnostic, GSK, Imagene, Merck, Boerhinger, Frequentiel, etc. have established collaboration in order to develop several diagnostic tools within the LBL and use Bio bank’s samples.
  • Competitiveness Cluster “Solutions Sécurisées Communicantes” (SCS): this cluster, representing 300+ members within a large area in the South of France, is supporting FHU ONCOAGE, bringing numbers of companies (large and SMEs), research organisations from various fields, and innovators.
  • Silver Economy and eHealth: Legrand, Hager, Bluelinea, La Poste, Orange, Lapeyre, Nutricia, Accelis etc.… this sector is defined as gathering all products and services targeting seniors and older people. The range of sectors represented in this area is large (telecoms, sensors, building industry, transport, nutrition, electric equipment…). The national centre for the Silver Economy, “France Silver Eco”, gathering 100+ French stakeholders of the Silver Economy and connected to the French Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, is part of the FHU ONCOAGE Ecosystem.

The FHU ONCOAGE, apart of its collaboration leading companies and SMEs, will include the Nice City Council and University Hospital of Nice’s project of creation of a “bio incubator”. This future equipment will be part of the ONCOAM multi-platform, in order to host and support entrepreneurs and young start-ups in their development. The FHU ONCOAGE will facilitate their relations with research teams, large companies and all other stakeholders of the Ecosystem such as policy-makers and funders. These start-ups will participate to the process of generation of innovative solution.

Intellectual Property Policy

In order to enhance synergies with the industry and maximize its benefits, the FHU ONCOAGE has defined an Intellectual Property Policy, respectful at the same time of the research dissemination and the industry requirements. Our IP policy will aim:

  • To create an environment that encourages and expedites the dissemination of discoveries, creations and new knowledge generated by researchers for the greatest public benefit;
  • To protect of the traditional rights of scholars to control the products of their scholarly work;
  • To ensure that the commercial results, financial or other, are distributed in a fair and equitable manner that recognizes the contributions of the inventors and the institution as well those of as any other stakeholders;
  • To ensure that both intellectual property and other products of research are made available to the public through an efficient and timely process of technology transfer;
  • To promote, preserve, encourage of and assist to scientific investigation and research, taking in account business developments for industry partners, especially SMEs
  • To ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations

In order to harmonize the various conflicting interests of stakeholders and achieve broad-based objectives, FHU ONCOAGE intellectual property policy will cover at least the following issues:

  • Coverage, Ownership and Disclosure rules of intellectual property policy;
  • Rights and obligations of an inventor and the institution;
  • Marketing, commercialization and licensing of patents;
  • Distribution of income;

On an operational level, the FHU ONCOAGE will:

  • Engage members developing projects to establish Consortium Agreements: FHU ONCOAGE will encourage its members to use the DESCA 2020 Model Consortium Agreement .
  • Raise awareness on IP issues within the consortium through communication and training sessions.