| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Biotechnology |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Headquarters | Seraing, Liège, Belgium |
| Key people | Prof. J. Martial & A. Renard, Founders J-P Delwart, CEO |
| Products | Proteins, plasmids, vaccines, Oligonucleotides, qPCR Reagents, Antibodies, Peptides and Fluorophores Dyes & Quenchers |
| Employees | > 390 (2011) |
| Website | www.eurogentec.com |
Eurogentec is an international biotechnology supplier, based in Belgium, who specialize in genomics and proteomics kits and reagents. The company was founded in 1985 as a spin-off from the University of Liège.[1] Eurogentec is also a contract manufacturing organization, licensed by the Belgian ministry of health to manufacture biologics. It operates two manufacturing facilities in Belgium that provide custom biologics and oligonucleotide-based components for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.[2]
Contents |
1985: The company was founded in Liège by two young researchers from the University of Liège, Prof. Joseph Martial and Prof. André Renard. Prof. Joseph Martial crossed the Atlantic at the end of the 70’s to work at UCSF in an American laboratory and returned a few years later, as a trained genetic engineer, at a time when these technologies were still largely confined to north America. Above all, he came back with a certain concept of the economic role potentially assumed by a university researcher in creating his own enterprise. At that time, there was no ad hoc structure at the ULg to support the launching of a spin-off. Prof. J. Martial recruited a young researcher (Prof. A. Renard). The laboratory was then welcomed by Ulg authorities in their facilities. The company’s first goal was to perfect a vaccine for fish breeding through genetic engineering.[1]
1987: Eurogentec started to distribute Olignonucleotides for Research laboratories. The company’s first years were difficult but in the very early 1990s, Jean-Pierre Delwart,[3] economist from Brussels University, boarded the ship and put Eurogentec in a favorable current.[1]
1995: The company came close to insolvency.[1]
1996: Eurogentec became a - CRO (Contract Research Organization) for the biopharmaceutical sector and entered into collaboration with SmithKline Beecham biologicals (Rixensart, Belgium) for the production of recombinant proteins for phase I, II and III clinical trials. In addition to its pharmaceutical manufacturing activities, Eurogentec became a service company for the biotechnical research industry and university laboratories.[1]
1999: Eurogentec acquired Oswel Research Product Ltd.[4] a biotechnology company based in Southampton, Great Britain and specialized in the synthesis of chemically modified and complex oligonucleotides and their analogues (DNA, RNA, PNA).
2001: The company moved into Japan,[5] creating a joint venture, Nippon EGT,[6] to produce oligonucleotides aimed at the Japanese market.
2002: Eurogentec acquired Wita Proteomics,[7] a company specialized in proteomics services, based in Berlin (Germany). A few month later, Eurogentec installed its US office in San Diego for the production of oligonucleotides (Eurogentec NA).[8]
2003: Eurogentec set up in Singapore to create a joint venture with AIT Biotech Pte Ltd (previously Research Biolabs).[9]
2004: Eurogentec opened its new production laboratories (Oligonucleotides and peptides synthesis) in the Liege Science PARK (Belgium).[10] This intelligent building is also ecological: the building is equipped with a home automation system (lighting without switch) and the heating is produced from a condensation boiler allowing energy savings.[11]
From 2000 to 2008 Eurogentec intensified its services and signed agreements with several companies like Cepheid,[12] Epoch Biosciences,[13] Exiqon,[14] Delphi,[15] In Cell Art.[16]
2007: In order to fully meet the Oligonucleotide in vitro diagnostics stringent manufacturing requirements, Eurogentec expanded its current GMP facility in Liège.[17][18] Three years latter Nippon EGT[19] and Eurogentec NA[20] also received ISO 13485 certification for the Oligonucleotide diagnostics manufacturing.
2009 October, Eurogentec announced the acquisition of AnaSpec, a privately owned proteomics company based in Fremont, USA.[21] Anaspec is a provider of proteomics for life science research; they specialize in peptides synthesis, labelled peptides and antibodies, fluorescent dyes and enzyme activity assays.
2010: Kaneka acquired a majority stake in Eurogentec S.A.[22] Kaneka's products include synthetic resins, resin products, chemicals, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, electrical raw materials and synthetic fibres.
Eurogentec has developed three interrelated business units, Life Science Research Products and Services, Molecular Diagnostics Manufacturing Solutions, and GMP BioManufacturing.[2] The life science business unit specializes in Genomics (e.g. Oligonucleotides, DNA polymerases, Real-time qPCR Probes and High-throughput Dispensing) and Proteomics (e.g. monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, peptides, assay kits and fluorescent dyes).[1] The diagnostics business unit provides products for DNA- and RNA-based molecular diagnostics assay; manufacturing processes take place in clean rooms.[2] The biomanufacturing business unit is a GMP Biomanufacturer[2] specialized in the technology transfer, process development, scale-up and manufacturing of proteins, plasmids and vaccines. In 2009, Eurogentec Biologics developed a vaccine against bilharziosis in partnership with INSERM and researchers from the Pasteur Institute.[23][24][25]