Unique Czech biotech web site just launched

The South Moravian Innovation Centre in cooperation with the Czech investment and business development agency CzechInvest has just launched a brand-new Czech biotech web site www.gate2biotech.com which is to become the main guide-post and information umbrella covering all activities in the biotechnology sector in the Czech Republic. The web site is a perfect place for companies and/or institutions both to find Czech contract partners for manufacturing or research and development, and skilled labour or just to get to know the latest news from the sector. At the moment the web site contains over 4000 records. “The tradition of biotechnology expertise and life sciences infrastructure, combined with progressive patent protection and official investment incentives have already attracted some of the sector’s world players to the Czech Republic. However, the country’s potential is much larger and still not fully used,” commented Gate2Biotech project manager Sona Benova, and added: “The Gate2biotech project aims to concentrate on all accessible information on the qualities, organizations and possibilities of the biotech sector in the Czech Republic, and to create a central address, thus far lacking, that facilitates the process of searching for and communicating with Czech and foreign organizations.” “Many foreign science companies, such as Lonza Biotec, IVAX Pharmaceuticals, Baxter International, Valeant Pharmaceuticals Int. and Arrow International CR, have found the Czech Republic to have surprisingly strong capabilities and have launched full-fledged manufacturing facilities here. Others see the country as an opportunity for contract R&D and manufacturing based upon the level of research professionalism, cost efficiencies, a relatively non-restrictive genetic engineering R&D climate and 20-year patent protection. These are the very people Gate2biotech is mainly geared towards,” commented Rene Samek, director of the Investment and Applied Research Support Division at CzechInvest. Membership in the European Union guarantees that licences issued in the Czech Republic are valid in all EU countries. This creates an environment where contract R&D and contract manufacturers can find competent researchers and compliant laboratories and facilities to expand their capabilities without starting from scratch. In fact, enterprising Czechs have developed entire business models to support the contract needs of foreign companies. Czechs are actively participating in genome projects, developing leading edge bioinformatics and are gaining recognition for the study of biochemistry of virostatics and cytostatics. Discoveries of chemical compounds by Dr. Antonin Holy have lead to worldwide treatments for B-hepatitis and AIDS. The Czech School of Immunology, founded by Dr. Milan Hasek, co-discoverer of the immunological tolerance phenomenon, is a leading centre of immunology research in Europe. Further, researchers in the country have gained international recognition by successfully isolating a new line of embryonic stem cells or ESLs from a microscopic embryo in its first few days of development. Targeted chemotherapy, a revolutionary anti-cancer treatment that avoids many of the toxic side effects of conventional chemotherapy; development of the ELISA diagnostic kit, the first in the world that raises the likelihood of successful artificial insemination from 25 – 29% to 60 – 70%; and a unique technology for the industrial production of nanofibrous nonwoven materials, are just a few examples of progressive life science-related activities in the Czech Republic. The Gate2biotech web site is just an easy way to learn about them. MORE ABOUT ... The South Moravian Centre for Innovation (JIC) was founded in 2003 as a collective of legal entities with related interests. Its founders are the South Moravian regional authority, the Brno University of Technology (BUT), Masaryk University in Brno and the Borough of Brno. This year two new members joined – the Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry and the Veterinary and Pharmaceutical University in Brno. The aim of the organisation is to create an environment for innovative companies and support their establishment and development in the South Moravian region. Established in 1992 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, CzechInvest is the investment and business development agency of the Czech Republic whose services and development programmes contribute to attracting foreign investment and to developing Czech companies. Its mission is to support investment activities to the highest level of competence not only through information services and consultancy but also by linkage with structural funds of the EU. CONTACTS: South Moravian Centre for Innovation Sona Benova Gate2Biotech project manager Phone: +420 541 143 015 E-mail: benova@jic.cz CzechInvest Tana Perglova Investment Development Manager/Life Sciences Phone: +420 296 342 604 E-mail: tana.perglova@czechinvest.org

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