The Gene.iO-accelerated biotechs bYoRNA, Fungu’it & CGenetix and the Genopole campus company endogene.bio were named as laureates of the 26th edition of the i-Lab innovation competition.
Financed by the French State and operated by Bpifrance, the yearly i-Lab competition recognizes the most-promising deep-tech start-ups and contributes to their growth by providing up to €600,000 in financial assistance.
Among the 26th edition’s 74 laureates were four companies affiliated with Genopole, a biocluster dedicated to biotech innovation for health and the bioeconomy. They were bYoRNA, CGenetix, endogene.bio (health) and Fungu’it (foodtech), all bringing home i-Lab prizes attesting to the pertinence and solidity of their innovations.
“An i-Lab prize is huge for a start-up! It is a renowned label in the eyes of corporations & investors and signals a very high potential for concrete innovation, particularly for health and the environment, underlines Genopole Chief Executive Gilles Trystram. Genopole itself also takes great satisfaction in having contributed to the development of the four laureates through its Gene.iO accompaniment program and its offer of office and lab spaces specifically developed for biotech R&D.”
The four award-winning companies will have an opportunity to present their innovations to Genopole’s network of investors and industrials during the 14–17 October Partnering Week event.
Presentation of the laureate start-ups
In the field of health
- bYoRNA innovates for the biomanufacturing of therapeutic messenger RNAs
An alumnus of Genopole’s Gene.iO acceleration program and under the presidency of Pascal Viguié and the direction of Thierry Ziegler bYoRNA, aims to revolutionize the quality and efficacy of therapeutic messenger RNAs (mRNAs) by moving their production out of test tubes and in to a cell-based biomanufacturing process.
Following the success of mRNAs for the COVID-19 vaccines, the next step for them will be cancer therapies. Indeed, Moderna and BioNTech have published promising results from their clinical trials in melanoma and pancreatic cancer. For its part, bYoRNA seeks to enable safer and more efficacious therapeutic mRNAs by using yeasts able to produce mRNAs counting more than 14,000 nucleotides, thus similar to those produced by humans. The company’s technology, born of French research and protected by European and American patents, prevents the cytoplasmic breakdown of therapeutic mRNAs by encapsulating them in a protein “vault,” thus enabling their production in conventional bioreactors like other biological medicines.
- CGenetix develops an innovative solution for graft rejection detection
Also a graduate of Gene.iO, CGenetix, headed by Geoffroy Poulet, is developing a method to detect the rejection of transplanted organs via the analysis of blood and urine samples. The five-year rate of graft rejection is close to 20%. CGenetix’s technology, developed in partnership with Inserm, the CNRS and the AP-HP, calls upon computational biology, molecular biology and microfluidics. It is based on the analysis of proprietary epigenetic biomarkers of circulating DNA in various body fluids. The award-winning project is looking to market, by 2026, diagnostic kits for the detection of kidney transplant rejection, and moreover, have them progressively replace kidney biopsy, the approach currently used to detect such rejection.
- endogene.bio brings a non-invasive test for endometriosis to the market
The Genopole-campus company endogene.bio, presided by Maria Teresa Perez Zaballos was recognized for its project Medipred.
This latter is built upon the use of epigenetic biomarkers in menstrual blood cells to predict treatment response in endometriosis, a disease not only widespread, affecting close to 190 million women worldwide, but also difficult to diagnose and difficult to treat efficaciously. Medipred aims to develop an easy-to-use, non-invasive, self-administered, at-home test with the objectives of enabling treatment efficacy prediction and reducing delays to diagnosis. More largely, endogene.bio, which received Innov’up financing from Bpifrance in July, is committed to correcting the historical under-representation of female biology in medical research and contributing to the development of precision medicine in women’s health.
In the field of foodtech
- Fungu’it creates natural flavorings while valorizing plant by-products through fermentation
Yet another alumnus of Gene.iO, Fungu’it valorizes plant by-products through a solid-state fermentation process to create high added value flavorings. The start-up is presided by Anas Erridaoui and managed by Jeanne Baudevin, and its technology is able, for example, to replace 80% of flavorings added to imitation meats, reduce the amount of salt used in them by 50% and lower the cost of the final product by 15%. Notably, Fungu’it is also developing natural alternatives to cacao. The start-up is targeting a range of food sectors, including meat alternatives, snacks, baked goods, soups & broths, and many more. Its ambition is to help create a healthier, more sustainable and more accessible convenience foods.