The new BioPartner building ‘Accelerator’ is progressing quickly. Even after the cold winter of 2010 the planning of the opening is still on schedule. In the beginning of 2010 the highest point was reached. At the moment they work hard to finish the façade of the building. The opening of the Accelerator is planned Q4 2010.

With the advent of TLC Biopharmaceuticals to BioPartner business complex, the number of Taiwanese companies in Leiden Bio Science Park is growing. 

Demand for labour varies with time in the biotech and pharma industry. Companies cope with this for example by using contractors. This is an expensive solution and it is not the best way to maintain the knowledge and expertise.

Rivierduinen, the regional mental health organization, expands their existing Rhijnveste building at the Leiden Bio Science Park. Thursday the 27th of May the first pile of the new buildings will be driven by the major of the city of Leiden, mr  Henri Lenferink. 

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In March in the municipal elections new councilors were elected and recently the new aldermen responsible for the Leiden Bio Science Park were inaugurated.

Leiden Bio Science Park, Leiden University, Hogeschool Leiden and ROC Leiden take a firm stance and plea in favour of the RijnGouwelijn.The parties that signed the letter explained their view to the local political parties and to the city council.

In 2000, the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Leiden University launched the BioScience Initiative (BSI). Its aim was to bring together those engaged in research in various disciplines, in order to stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration.

At the national competition VakKanjer, a prestigious competition for instrumentalists, student Kees van Oosten of the Leiden Instrumentmaker’s School (LIS) won the first prize in the individual competition and in the team games.
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April 22nd Junior Science Lab organized a special program for secondary school girls to show them that biochemics are fun.

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Space Shuttle Atlantis, ready for liftoff on Friday May 14th, will deliver ESA's spare hardware for the European Robotic Arm (ERA) to the International Space Station. The ERA hardware, including the spare elbow joint of the arm, will be launched as payload on the Russian-built Mini Research Module MRM-1. Bringing the ERA spare to ISS is a significant step towards the launch of the actual flight model of the robotic arm, scheduled in 2012, providing a robotic servicing system that will be used in the operation of external payloads on the Russian segment of the ISS.

Crucell N.V.  announced the award from UNICEF of an additional $110 million to supply its paediatric vaccine Quinvaxem® to the developing world. 

Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) and CHDI Foundation, Inc., a non-profit virtual biotech pursuing therapies for Huntington's disease, announced  a new five-year collaboration focused on discovering novel drugs for Huntington's disease.

OctoPlus N.V. announced that its licensee Biolex Therapeutics gave a presentation during the 45th International Liver Congress (EASL) in Austria, to present interim clinical results from its Phase IIb clinical study with Locteron® named the "480 STUDY".

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (STO: BVT) and Pharming Group NV (NYSE Euronext: PHARM) today announced an exclusive 10 year distribution agreement, under which Swedish Orphan Biovitrum will distribute Rhucin® in 24 EU countries, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.

BAC BV, the leading provider of antibody-based affinity purification technology, has announced that it has extended its license agreement with LFB Biotechnologies (Les Ulis, France), to cover the use of BAC’s anti-Factor VIIa CaptureSelect® affinity ligand in the large-scale purification of recombinant human Factor VIIa (rhFVIIa).

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, a division of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, has extended its collaboration with ZoBio to include fragment discovery services on two new targets.

Millipore Corporation, a leading provider of technologies, tools and services for the global life science industry, announced the launch of its new Milliflex Quantum rapid microbial detection system. The system enables drug and vaccine manufacturers to respond to microorganism contamination earlier in the production process.

ProFibrix B.V. announced the conclusion of the first Phase II trial testing its unique new hemostat FibrocapsTM.

April 19th the Visitor and Information centre of the Care Academy Leiden at Stationsplein 1b in Leiden will officially be opened. Care Academy Leiden is a collaboration between Hogeschool Leiden, ROC Leiden and Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) in the field of (professional) education in health care.

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If you want to find new relations in China, the time is now! At the World Expo in Shanghai, the Dutch pavillon will host the Dutch Life Sciences Week in June (14-18) and there will be ample opportunities to meet with the chinese biotech and pharma industry.

Date: 20-05-2010
Location: Amsterdam

More information you can find on the website of BCF Event.

Date: 03-06-2010
Location: Baarn

Microdosing: tracing the tracerIn the process of bringing drug candidates and new food

Ingredients to the market, companies are urgently looking for ways to improve the efficiency of their development process. Microdosing, a technique that involves testing small amounts of products in humans at a very early stage in the development process, may be part of the answer. However, the technique has yet to be applied on a large scale.

Date: 05-06-2010
Location: Voetbalclub ARC, Alphen aan den Rijn

De beste voorbeschouwing op het WK…..
Een nieuw uniek evenement in de Regio Rijnland!
De Rijnland Business 7x7 Cup

Date: 08-06-2010
Location: Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum, Albinusdreef 2, Leiden

Wat is de toegevoegde waarde van medische technologie voor de life science?

Date: 10-06-2010
Location: Almere

More information you can find on the website of BioBusiness Event.

Date: 14-06-2010 / 18-06-2010
Location: Milaan / Siena

Bent u actief in de medische biotechnologie? Neem dan deel aan de handelsreis naar Italië van 14 tot en met 18 juni.

Date: 14-06-2010 / 18-06-2010
Location: Shanghai

In the week of June 14-18, 2010, the Dutch life sciences sector will present itself in the Dutch pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai.

Date: 16-06-2010
Location: Jaarbeurs, Utrecht

CTMM and TI Pharma would like to invite you to the workshop ‘Brain diseases in the picture’.

In this workshop experts from academia and industry will shed light on different aspects of major CNS diseases. They will demonstrate how advanced methods such as imaging, bioinformatics, mass spectrometry and microdialysis can help designing better diagnostic tools that will allow targeted clinical interventions at an earlier stage in selected groups of patients.

Date: 06-07-2010
Location: Hotels van Oranje, Kon. Wilhelminaboulevard 20-31, Noordwijk

Leadership development course: The way to become an authentic leader
Many organisations are managed by leaders with strong ego’s. However the role of the leader can not be separated from the unconscious self. The decisions of the leader are not only derived from rational thinking, but also by his past, by significant events, the development of his norms and values, his surroundings and relationships. There is an inner tension between his personality (ego) and his unconscious self, that directly influences the behaviour of the leader.

Information soon available on www.lifesciencescapitals.nl

Date: 20-05-2010
Location: De Stal, Leiden

During this Life Sciences Café, Batavia Bioservices BV, a limited liability spin-out company from the TNO organization that is fully operational since January first of this year, will give a detailed overview of the services provided.

In this issue:

Meet with I-An Chen, International Account Manager TLC Biopharmaceuticals B.V.