Bridge2Health - B2H Providing solutions leveraging excellence

A joint initiative of the University of Liège (ULiège), Liège University Hospital (CHU), the Walloon Region and Noshaq, B2H is a large services platform that provides support to the internal innovation of the CHU and ULiège teams and supports the development of health SMEs in the Liège region.

B2H offers tailor-made solutions by capitalizing on the skills of all its partners. Its range of services rests on 4 pillars: providing access to funding (via Noshaq and privileged access to private sectorial VCs); providing access to guidance expertise (business plan, marketing) via Eklo; providing access to adapted infrastructure; and lastly providing access to the preclinical and clinical expertise of ULiège and CHU which contain two large biomedical research centres: the CIRM (Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Medicines) and the GIGA (Interdisciplinary Cluster of Applied Genoproteomics).

The B2H team provides for personal and integrated access to a wide range of tools developed at the CHU and ULiège ranging from initial and preclinical research to personalized medicine. The combined expertise of ULiège and the CHU is supplemented by a vast network of companies active in the sectors of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and medical devices, and located in the Liège Science Park.

A dedicated project manager within B2H matches the needs of businesses to the knowhow of researchers and clinicians in the area of discoveries and preclinical and clinical development. By doing this, B2H is facilitating the interaction of SMEs among themselves and also with ULiège and the CHU. It is a matter of encouraging public-private collaborations. An evidence relies on the partnership forged between Janssen Pharmaceutica, ULiège and the CHU, aiming at honing mutual skills in multidisciplinary research projects to improve patient care and well-being.

B2H is also involved in the development of infrastructure that makes it possible to host companies at different stages of development. This objective is pursued in partnership with Accessia Pharma: the latter provides access to clean rooms for companies in the “preindustrialization” phase for the production of their clinical batches and in collaboration with ATC Pharma, a structure dedicated to the performance of “early phase” (phases 0, I, IIa) clinical trials. B2H also provides fully equipped laboratories to start-ups within a Labhotel, and access to the 8 high-technological platforms managed by the GIGA. Thus, on a single site, they can find links with the patient and with the research. A reflection is under way to increase the capacity for hosting companies before migrating them towards Accessia Pharma.

Another goal mobilizes the B2H team: to attract foreign investors. The outlook is already positive. Indeed, 8 foreign companies have established themselves in the Liège region in 2 years and 20 to 25 other companies - a third of which are Belgian - are constantly analyzing the possibilities of making the move. It has to be said that this full service (infrastructure, scientific expertise, financial player and support tools) generates an ecosystem nurturing the birth and growth of companies active in the life sciences.

A winning partnership at the service of SMEs and the health economy in Liège.

Bridge2Health - B2H Avenue de l’Hôpital, 11 (Bâtiment B34+3) B-4000 Liège Tel.: +32 (0)4 242 77 60 Email: caroline.thielen@b2h.be https://b2h.be/