OctoPlus N.V. announced that a formulation development and manufacturing contract has been signed with Ferring Pharmaceuticals A/S, a leading innovative pharmaceutical company.

Aeon Astron Europe B.V., has been awarded a governmental grant up to EURO 500,000 from AgentschapNL for its BioLens projects. This is an international collaboration project among Aeon Astron Europe B.V. (AAE), Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), the Netherlands and Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan, R.O.C. The grant will be used to begin development of a multipurpose collagen-based ophthalmic lens for use in refractive correction, corneal repair, and drug delivery.

In a collaborative effort FlexGen BV, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and BGI will validate a set of variants in a large set of trio samples from the Genome of the Netherlands (GoNL) project. The experiment will take place at the BGI facilities in China in Q1 2012.

Almirall, S.A. announced that has formed a research alliance with BioFocus, an affiliate from Galapagos NV.The three-year alliance is aimed at delivering drug development candidates directed to a key respiratory target of interest to Almirall.

Prosensa, the Dutch biopharmaceutical company focusing on RNA-modulating therapeutics for rare diseases with high unmet needs, announced that it has raised €23 million in new equity financing.

TNO and CHDR will bring together their experience and expertise in clinical research and form a new partnership for food related clinical trials. This unique partnership builds on the partners’ highly complementary strengths and is focused on better serving the food industry in its food innovation activities.

Biotech company Pharming Group NV announced that recombinant human C1 inhibitor (rhC1INH; RUCONEST®) was not observed to have a prothrombotic effect when used to treat acute Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) attacks in a study published by Relan et al in the peer-reviewed journal Biodrugs.

The Knowledge Plant Compounds (Kenniscentrum Plantenstoffen) invites industrial users of plant compounds and horticultural entrepreneurs to submit promising ideas for new uses of plant compounds. The Knowledge Centre, which has recently been launched, opened this first tender on January 12th.
> Read more in Dutch

Unilever Ventures and Management are delighted to announce the launch of Catexel Limited, created to commercialise technology acquired from Rahu Catalytics ahead of its sale to the OM Group, Inc. of Cleveland, USA.

On April 2 and 3, 2012, another basic GMP course will be held which has been developed in collaboration with Life Science companies that are established at the Leiden Bio Science Park and Centre Bioscience and Diagnostics, Professional University Hogeschool Leiden. The basic GMP course is part of a comprehensive program.
> Read more in Dutch

OctoPlus N.V. announced that it has signed a feasibility agreement with a leading US-based pharmaceutical company, aimed at developing a controlled release formulation of the client’s therapeutic compound for local delivery into joints. 

Commercialization of the quality research taking place in Leiden is a key priority of both Leiden University and Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). Not only is the research activity itself strengthened, but also the output can be effectively utilized by society for economic and clinical benefit. The role of LURIS is to facilitate this commercialization process for the University and the LUMC.

OctoPlus announced that it has won an expansion of its drug delivery technology evaluation contract with an existing client, a top-5 global pharmaceutical company.  

ProFibrix B.V., a leader in the development of innovative products for hemostasis, announced that its U.S. multicenter Phase II clinical trial with Fibrocaps in spinal, peripheral vascular and general surgery resulted in a highly statistically significant reduction in mean time to hemostasis (TTH) and incidence of hemostasis at 3, 5 and 10 minutes, as compared to active control.

BIO-Europe Spring® is the springtime counterpart to EBD Group’s flagship conference, BIO-Europe®, and continues the tradition of providing life science companies with high caliber partnering opportunities.

To help innovative entrepreneurs to find financing faster, January 1st the “InnovatiefondsMKB +” started. In the years to come (up to and including 2015) the fund will make a total of € 500 million available.
> Read more in Dutch

On January 24, 2012 the annual internship fair will take place for students of secondary and higher laboratory education. During this fair organisations can present their internship opportunities to the students by using a laptop presentation, brochures, poster and / or interviews with students.

Galapagos announced that it has initiated clinical Phase I development of the first inhibitor of GPR43, a novel target for inflammatory diseases.
This target was identified through Galapagos' proprietary target discovery platform. 

Grandcafé "De Stal" will be closed between Christmas and New Year, from December 24th up to and including January 1st 2012.