NovAliX Acquires Sanofi Site in Strasbourg

NovAliX, a Contract Research Organization (CRO) specializing in drug research and development, has acquired Sanofi’s 3.7 acre site, including a 86,000 sq.-ft. building designed to the highest standards for pharmaceutical research.
 
This represents the first stage in its development project that will allow it to offer clients a more complete, high-quality portfolio with enhanced biological and pharmacological services.
 
The site will be known as the Guy Ourisson Research Campus and will be shared by a number of users:
 
            •          NovAliX, with its main headquarters and scientific center for providing research services
            •          The Biophysics Institute for Biomedical Research (Institut de Biophysique pour la Recherche Biomédicale – IBRB), a center co-founded with an academic group, which focuses on medical innovation arising from advances in cryo-electron microscopy
            •          The Biotech Factory, comprised of laboratories dedicated to therapeutic innovation used by several biotechnology companies
 
“Our main goal was to find a buyer who could maintain very high standards of quality biomedical research. NovAliX ticked every box on our list,” said Jacques Volckmann, head of R&D France at Sanofi. “I’m delighted to see NovAliX further develop its activity in Strasbourg following this purchase and to see it become a key player in the local ecosystem with its international ambition. Sanofi will also benefit from the expertise of NovAliX’s teams – with a partnership announced at the end of 2021, through which we are currently working together to develop new DNA-encoded libraries.”
 
“By acquiring this site, NovAliX gets the chance to accelerate its development, make use of new biological and pharmacological capacity, and therefore strengthen its position as a CRO and become a vital and valuable partner, contributing to the success of its clients’ therapeutic research programs,” said Stephan Jenn, president and co-founder of NovAliX. “This transaction also represents an opportunity for the company founders to bring our vision of the future of research to life. This campus serves as a manifesto, it promises a new way of organizing discovery research and offers a one-stop location, bringing stakeholders together in order to foster the emergence and success of therapeutic innovation.”
 
The Biophysics Institute for Biomedical Research is a project that brings NovAliX together with a world-renowned academic group. It is not only a technological platform offering cryo-electron microscopy at the highest level, but also a location dedicated to creating new therapeutic options and technologies.
  
The construction program, led by Guillaume Delemazure from DeA architects, will commence in 2022 and transform the site at the campus; it will be appropriately kitted out for all the activity due to take place.