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A look back at Pasteur Innov' Day 2024 : a hugely successful 2nd edition !

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2024.07.03

On June 25, 2024, the Institut Pasteur hosted the second edition of Pasteur Innov'Day. The goal was to demonstrate the potential of the Institut Pasteur's research and innovation continuum to industry players in the health sector. The event was attended by almost 150 partners (startups, SMEs, major pharmaceutical corporations, investors, and other innovation stakeholders) as well as many Institut Pasteur staff. The enthusiasm of all those who attended was palpable.

This event, an initiative of the Technology Transfer and Industrial Partnership Department (DARRI), was organized in collaboration with the Department of Technology, the Department of Education, the Career Development Service for Scientists (CARE) and the Department of Communications and Public Affairs, with the financial support of Carnot and three private sponsors: Sanofi, BioMérieux and Pfizer.

"Fundamentally Applied!"

In her introduction, Isabelle Buckle, Vice-President Technology Transfer and Industrial Partnership at the Institut Pasteur, emphasized that the challenge of innovation is in bridging the gap between science "in the lab" and science that can result in technology transfer. The aim of Pasteur Innov'Day is to promote dialog and cross-cutting collaboration between different players in the innovation ecosystem to bridge that gap and enable basic research discoveries to lead to universally accessible health products.

Collaboration between different stakeholders (academics, the public sector, startups, biotechs and major corporations) and funding for innovative projects are crucial, as is detecting and retaining talent and creating opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship. This was one of the themes of the two round tables (in French) moderated by Hervé Requillart, Editor-in-Chief of Pharmaceutiques (a partner of this year's Innov'Day), which took place in the auditorium.

The first round table, entitled "Collaborating to succeed: proof-based examples," featured speakers Franck Mouthon, CEO of the Agency for Health Research Programs, Laurent Arthaud, Managing Partner at Bpifrance Investissement and President of Argobio, Ouissale Berg, Commercial Director South of Europe, Life Science Solutions, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Catherine Martre, CEO of Meletios Therapeutics, and Damien Chopy, Senior Director Business Development, Roche Pharma Partnering.

The second round table, entitled "Supporting our young talent to prepare for the future of health innovation," featured speakers Monica Sala, Director of the Education Department, Institut Pasteur, Mariana Mesel-Lemoine, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Head of the Career Development Department – CARE, Institut Pasteur, Mathieu Prieto, Talent Acquisition Manager, L'Oréal, Renaud Jonquières, Senior Vice President – Head of Transformation Office, BioMérieux, and André Choulika, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Cellectis.

The afternoon in the auditorium was brought to a close with a remarkable lecture by Marc Giget, a Member of the French National Academy of Technologies (Technologies, Economy and Society Node) and President of the Paris Club of Innovation Directors, on societal expectations in terms of innovation in healthcare and current prospects for restoring public trust in science, especially medical technologies.

Showcasing the Institut Pasteur's extensive expertise with thematic pitches

Alongside the round tables, a series of scientific pitches (in English) were given during the afternoon to highlight the cross-disciplinary expertise of some of the Institut Pasteur's scientists on topics of interest for healthcare industry professionals.

1. Technology core facilities in support of health products

Hélène Laude, MD, PhD, Head of Clinical Investigation Plateform (ICAReB-CLIN), Institut Pasteur
Emmanuel Roux, Head of Integrated Collections for Adaptive Research in Biomedicine - ICAReB-biobank
Thierry Rose, Head of the Diagnostic Test Innovation & Development Core Facility, Institut Pasteur
Milena Hasan, Head of the Single Cell Biomarkers UTechS, Institut Pasteur et Claudia Chica, Research Engineer at Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub, Institut Pasteur

2. Women's health, mother-child dyad

Sean Kennedy, group leader in the Department of Computational Biology, Institut Pasteur
Camille Berthelot, junior group leader -Comparative Functional Genomics, Institut Pasteur
Valentine Piquard, project manager, Biological Resource Center (CRBIP), Institut Pasteur
Dr Kaoutar Jidar, Centre Médical de l'Institut Pasteur

3. Innovative biology models

Lisa Chakrabarti, group leader in the Virus and Immunity Lab, Institut Pasteur
Pauline Speder – Head of Structures and signals in the neurogenic nich Lab, Institut Pasteur
Jean-Baptiste Masson –Head of the Decision and Baysian Computation Lab, Institut Pasteur
David Bikard, Head of the Synthetic Biology Lab, Institut Pasteur

Great performances in the pitch competition!

To promote the talent of the Institut Pasteur's young scientists, a pitch competition was also held during Pasteur Innov'Day. PhD students and postdoctoral fellows had to present their research in just three minutes and convince the jury and the public of its potential for public health. Eight PhD students and seven postdoctoral fellows from various research units rose to the challenge. For each category of candidates, two prizes were awarded: one by the jury, worth €2,000, and the other by the audience, worth €1,000.

The jury was composed of Isabelle Buckle, Vice-President Technology Transfer and Industrial Partnership at the Institut Pasteur, Kadidia Siméon, Head of Scientific Outreach in the Department of Communications and Public Affairs at the Institut Pasteur, Luc Even, Associate Director, Research & Biomarker Department, Sanofi Vaccines R&D, and Pauline Rambaud, Senior Consultant, GenSearch.

The two jury prizes went to:

Mauro Castello Sanjuan (Viruses and RNA Interference Unit, led by Carla Saleh) in the PhD students category

"I really enjoyed participating in the pitch competition, it was a fun challenge. I feel really happy and honoured that the people liked my pitch! This competition inspired me to further develop my outreach skills, and participating in other competitions could also be an amusing learning experience."

Justus Ninnemann (Microenvironment and Immunity Unit, led by Gérard Eberl, and Perception and Action Unit, led by Pierre-Marie Lledo) for the postdoctoral fellows category.

"The pitch competition challenged me to describe my project in a compact, accessible way, which was unusual for me. It gave me a new perspective on my work and how to present it. Winning the competition was additionally helpful to appreciate this experience."

The audience decided to award their two prizes to:

Emelyne Bougit (Yersinia Unit, led by Javier Pizarro-Cerda) pour la catégorie doctorants

"The competition was exciting, and winning the prize was deeply gratifying. I'm glad my colleagues were so supportive throughout the process, and it has motivated me to pursue more pitching contests in the future."

Eugenia Soledad Bardossy (Viruses and RNA Interference Unit, led by Carla Saleh) for the postdoctoral fellows category

"Above all, taking part in the competition was a great learning experience about how to communicate science in a simple but attractive way. In addition, although it was challenging, I really enjoyed the training sessions, which gave me very useful tools and allowed me to meet other Pasteurians. Thank you for this opportunity !"

There can be no innovation without technology!

In the Conference Center hall, a series of stands showcased the expertise of 18 of the Institut Pasteur's technology core facilities and/or units. Industry players could arrange a meeting with these entities to talk about overcoming technological barriers and discuss opportunities for collaboration: