15 years of Carnot: Institut Curie celebrates 10 years of research partnerships and innovations in the fight against cancer

After obtaining the Carnot label for the first time in 2011 and its renewal in 2016 and 2020, Institut Curie is celebrating ten years of successful partnerships with companies for effective and dynamic research in the fight against cancer. The Carnot label is a label of excellence awarded to academic research institutes that have demonstrated quality and involvement in partnership research. The 39 Carnot institutes are organized within a network[1] that celebrates, in 2021, its 15 years of R&D for business innovation. The 16 Carnot institutes specialized in health are gathered within the FINDMED network.

A decade of fruitful collaborations for innovation in health

The last ten years have been marked by the establishment of more than 500 ambitious research collaborations with companies, ranging from the identification of therapeutic targets to the clinical validation of a product, having generated more than €140M in revenues entirely devoted to research. Recent examples include the creation of a unique and original skin care and study area with Bioderma, a collaboration with Google using artificial intelligence to improve understanding of cancer, and partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies on key topics in oncology (Roche, Sanofi, BMS, Servier, etc.).

This partnership success is explained by the support of Carnot funding to build a unique and legible offer, adapted to the specificities of Institut Curie, ranging from basic research to clinical research, in line with the continuum between research and care imagined by Marie Curie 100 years ago.

Obtaining the Carnot label in 2011 has had a major impact on Institut Curie in terms of structuring a clear offer of our expertise, but also in terms of strengthening and professionalizing the teams in charge of contractualization within the Technology Transfer Office and the Legal Department. This has accelerated negotiations and created a growth dynamic in contracting with companies,

says Amaury Martin, PhD, head of Carnot Curie Cancer.

"The Carnot label has also been a wonderful tool for developing relationships with other Carnots, particularly in the health sector, and thus capitalizing on the strengths of each. Internal programs to support innovation projects have been created thanks to Carnot's active policy of scientific resourcing, a key investment to nourish tomorrow's partnerships," adds Amaury Martin.

Carnot Curie Cancer: towards promising horizons

After a decade of growth, Institut Curie intends to accelerate the transfer of research results to companies for the development of therapeutic and medical innovations for the benefit of patients.

The dynamic creation of start-ups, 28 to date, as well as the record funds raised in 2021 such as the €75M Series A of Mnemo Therapeutics, demonstrate that Institut Curie can transform its intentions into concrete achievements and make a major contribution to the national objective of having 20 biomedicines resulting from French research by 2030.

continues Amaury Martin.

The Carnot program will help consolidate several major areas of technology transfer development at Institut Curie by supporting the detection of innovations within the teams, reinforcing the maturation of innovations and promoting the transition to the clinical phase. "The support of the label will also be decisive in providing companies with access to data of unique quality, with the planned opening of a first-class Health Data Warehouse in the coming months. Finally, we are looking to the international market to work with the R&D departments of major pharmaceutical groups," concludes Amaury Martin.

Event: the Rendez-Vous Carnot 2021 celebrates the 15th anniversary of Carnot

Institut Curie will be present at the 14th edition of the Rendez-Vous Carnot, on November 17th and 18th in Lyon, placed this year under the sign of the 15th anniversary of Carnot. Organized by the network, this event is an ideal place for innovation to make R&D contacts and initiate industrial partnerships. On this occasion, Institut Curie will present two technologies born of previous collaborations with companies: the therapeutic solution AsiDNA™ and the anti-odour dressing Cinesteam®.

[1] The Carnot institute network represents 50% of the national activity in terms of partnership research; it currently brings together more than 13,000 researchers.