A trio of French organisations across pharma, government and academia have partnered with the aim of accelerating immunotherapy for oncology, inflammation, and autoimmunity research.

OSE Immunotherapeutics, Inserm Transfert and Nantes University have signed a strategic partnership which will combine academic research with industrial expertise to bring more immunotherapies to patients. The public-private alliance will unite their scientific teams and pool their expertise and know-how to transform innovative projects into programmes ready for industrial development.

As part of this new partnership, the project identification process led by Inserm Transfert and Nantes University will enable OSE Immunotherapeutics to access the most promising and relevant programmes emerging from the research units of Nantes University and Inserm. Selected projects will benefit from financial support and dedicated guidance.

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Pascale Augé, Chairwoman of the Executive Board of Inserm Transfert, said: “This partnership with OSE Immunotherapeutics perfectly illustrates our commitment to supporting excellence in research by fostering synergies between the academic community and French biotech companies. We are very pleased to strengthen long-term collaborations with innovative players firmly rooted in their region, to the benefit of patients. This is a clear example of the vitality of public–private partnerships in the healthcare sector.” 

Frédéric Jacquemin, Vice President for Innovation and Partnerships at Nantes University, added: “Collaborative research at Nantes University is at the heart of our mission. It is built on our academic and hospital strengths, as well as on strong and recognised partnerships. We look forward to further strengthening the complementarity of our expertise and resources within this partnership, in order to foster open research and drive therapeutic innovation for society.” 

Nicolas Poirier, Chief Executive Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, commented: “We are very pleased to embark on this new collaboration with outstanding teams whose expertise, technologies, and immunotherapy programs are highly complementary to our own. This partnership strengthens our long-standing ties with academic research in Nantes and extends them nationwide, further supporting our ambition to promote immunological innovation throughout France. It also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to bringing innovative immunotherapies to patients with significant unmet medical needs – a shared and central goal of this alliance.” 

Reece Armstrong, Editor, DDW