A company active in the development of cancer treatments, ATB Therapeutics, will be the first beneficiary of an incubator for biotech start-ups opened at the Novalis Science Park in Marche-en-Famenne, Luxembourg Province.
The Novalis Boost Up Centre was opened on Tuesday. Financed to the tune of €2.7 million by the Walloon Region for a total investment of around €5.8 million, the new facility will accommodate up to four companies.
These companies will benefit from a suitable environment for their first production runs, with a minimum of financial risk, so that they can “concentrate primarily on developing tomorrow’s biotechnology solutions and thus ensure their growth” the intermunicipal economic development organization, Idelux, emphasised.
In addition to the possibility of using prefabricated cleanrooms, the 1,900m² infrastructure includes a production area adapted to biotechnology activities, offices and well-equipped laboratories. ATB Therapeutics will be the first company to set up operations here.
Founded in 2018 and based in the Novalis Business Center, this biotech start-up develops targeted cancer therapies using plant-based technology.
“Setting up in the Novalis Business Center has enabled us to avoid investing heavily in equipment and focus on developing our therapeutic approach,” ATB Therapeutics’ Chief Operations Officer Max Houry explained. “From now on, the Boost Up Centre will enable us to develop pilot-scale production of the latter in order to fuel the first clinical studies,”
ATB Therapeutics Co-founder Bertrand Magy said the company planned to produce 150kg of plants per week, “which will enable us to set up production batches for Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials.”
