The top five candidates to compete in this year’s EuropaBio Most Innovative EU Biotech SME Award have been selected.  Entering its 4th year, the award has grown rapidly each year to reach a wider audience across members states, with applications coming from all three sectors of biotechnology - healthcare, industrial and agricultural, all providing solutions to major societal unmet needs.

This year, the award will be presented during the first ever European Biotechnology Week, at an event in Brussels which will discuss Europe’s role in the booming biotech sector, in comparison with global trends.  Key speakers will include Jean-Paul Kress, CEO of Sanofi Pasteur MSD; US venture capitalist, G. Steven Burrill, founder and CEO of Burrill & Company; Jim Philp, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry at the OECD and MEPs Kay Swinburne and Philippe de Backer.

The top five candidates are: EryDel SpA, an Italian innovative drug delivery company, specialised in the development of drugs and diagnostics delivered through human red blood cells, via a proprietary medical device with the objective of potentially limiting toxicity and reducing the risk of side effects against encapsulated medicine. E-Therapeutics, a UK biotech SME, has pioneered ‘network pharmacology,’ a new approach to drug discovery based on advances in network science and chemical biology, with which it seeks novel treatments for complex diseases, principally cancer and disorders of the nervous system. Gensight biologics from France are dedicated to the development of gene therapy based treatments for degenerative retinal diseases.  They develop innovative approaches to prevent retinal degeneration from occurring in the first instance, and to restore vision in patients suffering from very low vision or full blindness.  Nanobiotix, also hailing from France, aims to enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy treatment in meeting the needs of cancer patients by developing innovative technology that uses nanoparticles called nanoXray, designed to directly enter tumour cells through either direct injection, intravenous injection, or topical application.  Finally UK based PsiOxus Therapeutics is developing a new approach to cancer therapy by using the processes of directed evolution to develop a virus that is a potent killer of cancer cells but with minimal effects on normal healthy cells.

All candidates will receive two year’s free membership of EuropaBio, with the over-all winner also receiving €10,000. 

Commenting on this year’s award, Nathalie Moll, Secretary General of EuropaBio stated: "For the 4th year in a row, we have received exceptional applications for our Most Innovative Biotech SME Award. It has been incredibly hard for the judging committee [Note:1] to select the top 5 companies in Europe that are excelling in their innovative approaches to providing important solutions for meeting current unmet societal needs. Here in Europe we are well aware of the lifeblood that innovative SMEs provide to the economy and we hope that the EuropaBio SME Award can contribute to raising the profile of these SMEs and the essential research and innovation that they are conducting. It is worth noting however, that once again there was a low number of industrial and agriculture biotech SME applications, highlighting the need for better support from policy makers as well as workable legislation in these fields of biotechnology. Without these conditions, Europe risks being the world's largest research hub while curbing the outcome of that great research and of the innovative companies who make it happen.”

For further information, please contact:

Rosalind Travers,

Manager, Communications & SME Platform

Ph: +32 (0) 478 680 301

E: r.travers@europabio.org

Notes to editor:

[1] The judging committee consisted of: G. Steven Burrill, Founder and CEO of Burrill & Company; Tom Saylor, CEO of Arecor Ltd; Belgian MEP Philippe de Backer; Welsh MEP Kay Swinburne; and Nathalie Moll, Secretary General of EuropaBio

For more information on the European Biotechnology week, please click here 

About EuropaBio

EuropaBio is the European Association for Bioindustries, bringing together bioscience companies from all fields of research and development, testing, manufacturing and distribution of biotechnology products. Its corporate, associate and national association members are involved in research, development, testing, manufacturing and commercialisation of biotechnology products and processes, and have a wide range of activities: human and animal health care, diagnostics, bio-informatics, chemicals, crop protection, agriculture, food and environmental products and services.

About the SME Platform

EuropaBio’s SME Platform focuses its activities on highlighting challenges and financial constraints that biotech SMEs face, and developing policy recommendations to optimise EU and member state funding instruments for biotech SMEs. The SME Platform brings together CEOs, of SMEs, National Biotech Associations, Venture Capitalists and private banks, European financial institutions, representatives from the EC, and other interested stakeholders.