Genopole® to Attend the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) International Convention in Washington, DC, and Promote its Biotech Companies on the Global Stage

EVRY, France, June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Genopole® (France's leading biopark in the city of Evry, located just south of Paris and home to 20 academic labs, 17 shared-access technical facilities and 66 biotech companies) will be attending (as it does every year) the BIO International Convention. The 2011 event is to take place in Washington, DC, on June 27-30.

The BIO International Convention is the largest global event for the biotechnology industry and constitutes a great opportunity for Genopole® to showcase its companies to potential international partners:

- Three Genopole^® portfolio companies have recently listed on the stock market. Global Bioenergies (which is developing a process for producing biofuels from sugars or agricultural waste) has just raised 6.6 million on the Alternext by NYSE Euronext market in Paris. Novagali Pharma (a specialist in ophthalmological products) closed one of France's largest IPOs in 2010 by raising 22 million on the NYSE Euronext market. IntegraGen (working to identify genes involved in autism and cancer) completed a 6.7 million stock capital increase on Alternext. This takes the total amount of funds raised by Genopole^® portfolio companies since 1998 (when the biopark was founded) to over 279 million.

- In 2010, Genopole® portfolio companies raised 47.8 million - a 190% year-on-year increase!

- Genopole® companies generated an estimated turnover totaling 140 million in 2010 - a 14% increase on 2009's sales of 124 million.

At BIO 2011, Genopole® will share the Medicen Paris Region cluster's booth (along with its partners) and is providing organizational support to three biopark companies:

- Metabrain specializes in collaborative research on the prevention and treatment of diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer's disease (http://www.metabrainresearch.com).

- Texcell offers services in the fields of viral safety and immunomonitoring. The company's US subsidiary was incorporated in 2008 (http://www.texcell.fr).

- Nokad is developing biomarkers that predict the risk of thrombosis(http://www.nokad-technology.com).

As France's leading biopark and with assistance from its institutional partners (Invest in France Agency, The Economic Development Agency, The Essonne Economic Agency, and Essonne Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Genopole® is both underpinning its companies' international business development activities and seeking to attract non-French companies to locate to the campus. This pro-active policy recently resulted in the arrival of the French subsidiary of New England Biolabs, a global leader in the production and the commercialization of life science research reagents.

About Genopole^®

Genopole^® is the leading French science park dedicated to life sciences. Its campus - near Paris - combines academic (CEA, CNRS, INRA, INSERM and the University of Evry-Val-d'Essonne) and private research laboratories, university/higher education facilities, biotechnology companies and an incubator for biotech start-ups. Genopole^®'s priority is to promote therapy- and environment-focused biotech by providing optimal conditions for company growth and progress in research, the development of large-scale biological activities and to make France a major competitor in the world of science and industry. Additional information about Genopole^® is available at http://www.genopole.fr

Booth 2505, French Pavilion, Hall A

Press relations : nicole.chemali@genopole.fr
Genopole® c ontacts : eric.lameignere@genopole.fr, Tel.: +33-685-914-398
gabriel.mergui@genopole.fr, Tel.: +33-680-940-455

BIOpress file: http://www.paris-region.com

SOURCE Genopole