Global virtual partnering event uniting the life sciences industry in the fight against COVID-19

Global virtual partnering event uniting the life sciences industry in the fight against COVID-19

• A unique virtual partnering event dedicated to the fight against COVID-19 brought together partners from across the life sciences industry, in record time, to help scale-up R&D, supply and manufacturing capabilities
• The event garnered overwhelming support from 60 biotech clusters, pharma companies and trade associations worldwide
• Over 2600 one-on-one meetings took place and 300 assets, 560 products, and 1600 services were discussed/reviewed

07 May 2020, Lyon – The COVID-19 public health crisis has brought to the fore the urgency and the sheer need of partnering across the life sciences industry to strengthen the collective response to the pandemic. At a time where the possibility of physical meetings is put on hold, #PartneringAgainstCOVID19 moved to a safe online environment to ensure no time is wasted in finding solutions.
The initiative was driven by Inova, Lyonbiopole, and Evaluate Ltd, with support from EIT Health and endorsed by over 60 biotech clusters, pharmaceutical companies, and associations from around the world, each activating their network in a very short time. The new format was met with enthusiasm, bringing together over 3200 participants from 82 countries in just 3 weeks, demonstrating the agility and international reach of virtual partnering. 2600 one-on-one business meetings were held over three days, to build alliances to speed up testing, treatment, vaccine, and manufacturing solutions against COVID-19.
“Over the last 10 years, Inova has been leveraging new technologies to reimagine the way biopharma companies connect and collaborate. With 2600 one-on-one meetings scheduled during #PartneringAgainstCOVID19, we are grateful to all participants that have proven that despite travel bans, there is a way for the industry to continue to innovate through partnerships”, said Gilles Toulemonde, CEO at Inova.
Historic progress has been made on the R&D front in just a few months since the beginning of the pandemic. But the road ahead will require endurance and an easy way to connect with others that can help scale-up. #PartneringAgainstCOVID19 helped lay the foundations of this, as the conversation will continue between partners.
“Biopharma companies have made tremendous individual efforts to tackle COVID-19; but from our experience working with innovators across the industry, we know that partnering plays a critical role in advancing scientific achievements. These collaborations are now more urgent than ever, and we’re delighted that Evaluate’s strong relationships and broad network of biopharma companies helped to enable these vital connections”, commented Deborah Kobewka, CEO, Evaluate Ltd.
“The fact that a virtual event of this unprecedented scale has been able to emerge in just a few weeks clearly shows that people are able to work hand in hand when it comes to fighting a pandemic. Unity and solidarity are just a few words that have been making headlines since the beginning. This partnering event demonstrates how to turn words into action to tackle COVID-19, by joining forces with Inova and Evaluate Ltd, with our strong and innovative regional life sciences ecosystem, and with our extensive networks of national and international partners ” said Florence Agostino-Etchetto, CEO of Lyonbiopole.
“We are delighted to have supported the COVID-19 Partnering Event organised by Inova, Evaluate and EIT Health partner Lyonbiopôle. We trust that, firstly, this virtual event allowed our partners to get to know all the initiatives put into place by other key players from the health sector and, secondly, it helped them in preparing the submission of a new Expression of Interest in the framework of the EIT Health Pandemic Stream Call" stated Jean-Marc Bourez, Managing Director of EIT Health France, who supported the event.
“As our industry joins heads of governments and leading international organisations together with the WHO in a new global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to new COVID-19 tools, we stand by our commitment to leave no one behind. This starts with building the right partnerships across the industry ecosystem”, said Nathalie Moll, Director-General of EFPIA, who endorsed the event.
***

Media contacts:

Sabrina Buquoy, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at Inova
sabrina.buquoy@inova.io
Note to the editors

About Lyonbiopole

As a French cluster based in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Lyonbiopole is one of France’s major life sciences players. It aims at supporting ambitious projects and innovative companies in the healthcare & life sciences’ sector. It encourages innovators to develop new technologies, products and services toward a more personalized medicine and better treatments for patients.
The cluster’s strategic missions are focused around promoting the emergence of innovative R&D collaborative projects, supporting SME in areas such as strategy, partnerships and financing, fostering SME Internationalization as well as the cluster’s position at the European and International levels, and offering access to high-level facilities dedicated to life sciences companies.
Lyonbiopole currently has more than 240 members, including its 6 founders (Sanofi Pasteur, bioMérieux, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Becton Dickinson, CEA, Fondation Mérieux), 12 subsidiaries of major groups and ETI, 207 SMEs and 18 competence centers (CHU, Universities, Foundations, etc.). Lyonbiopole received the European cluster excellence “Gold Label” by ECEI for 2nd time in 2017. The cluster is part of different European initiatives such as bioXclusters, MAGIA, S3martMed and EIT Health.
For more information visit: https://lyonbiopole.com/en/

About Evaluate Ltd

Evaluate provides trusted commercial intelligence for the pharmaceutical industry and their advisors. Our Evaluate platform offers unique and dynamic insights into asset risk and value alongside a seamless, comprehensive view of the pharmaceutical portfolio landscape.
Evaluate Vantage – our award-winning, independent editorial team – provides thought-provoking news and insights into current and future industry developments. Evaluate has been a partner to industry-leading organizations for over 20 years. For more information on how we give our clients the time and understanding to drive better decisions, visit www.evaluate.com.
Follow us on Twitter: @EvaluatePharma, @Evaluatevantage

About Inova

Inova accelerates partnering for the future of medicine. Over 130 life science companies, including 50% of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies already use Inova’s cloud platform. They secure licensing and collaboration opportunities, accelerate deal making and successfully manage their alliances. Inova also provides One-on-One Partnering, the market leading partnering & matchmaking platform that facilitates thousands of face-to-face meetings at dozens of biopharma conferences worldwide including the BIO International Convention and BIO Asia. For instance, in the weeks before the BIO International Convention, 4,000 biopharma companies connect online, list their technologies and capabilities, and request meetings with potential partners. By the time the Convention opens thousands of relevant meetings are scheduled – almost 50,000 at BIO Convention 2019 alone.
For more information visit: https://inova.io/.
Follow us on Twitter @Inova_Software

About EIT Health

EIT Health is a network of best-in-class health innovators backed by the EU. We collaborate across borders to deliver new solutions that can enable European citizens to live longer, healthier lives. As Europeans tackle the challenge of increasing chronic diseases and multi- morbidity and seek to realise the opportunities that technology offers to move beyond conventional approaches to treatment, prevention and healthy lifestyles, we need thought leaders, innovators and efficient ways to bring innovative healthcare solutions to market. EIT Health addresses these needs. We connect all relevant healthcare players across European borders – making sure to include all sides of the “knowledge
triangle”, so that innovation can happen at the intersection of research, education and business for the benefit of citizens.
For more information visit: www.eithealth.eu.
Other key endorsers of the event include: EuropaBio, BioMerieux, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim, Inserm. Full list at https://virtual-partnering.com/supporters/.