IMD Annual International Alumni Event 2019

Our planet has reached a critical moment. Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, many species are disappearing and along with them, human livelihoods are at risk. Given the significant repercussions that ecologies and economies face, climate scientists, politicians, NGOs, activists and business leaders are joining forces to discuss the need for an immediate and radical change in the way societies organize themselves.

At IMD, we believe there is much to be hopeful about in an increasingly divided world.

By exploring our own role in the world and harnessing our considerable resources and skills, we can find opportunities to collaborate and provide positive responses to the challenges we face.

Business can play a crucial role in providing and propagating solutions for the future. We can harness innovation, creativity, production, and marketing expertise, in order to meet planetary challenges. We can continue to become more accountable for the social and environmental costs of our actions.

To do this, we must engage in authentic, open dialogue with all stakeholders to establish frameworks for partnership and a positive transition to a clean, lean, equitable and circular economy.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can anchor our efforts and lead to establishing greater purpose within our organizations. They can inspire pioneering solutions, create opportunities and maximize social and economic wellbeing.

We can also learn from countries that are making the necessary changes through policy-driven economic transformation.
 
As well as being the world’s largest polluter, China is actively driving transition by leveraging regulation, establishing partnerships between government, innovators and entrepreneurs, and developing its education and research system to focus on sustainability. It offers valuable examples of what could be achieved by a determined coalition of partners.

With   such    purpose-led    collaboration,  the global economy could shift to a new iteration – one in which equity and efficiency is the cornerstone. We believe that finding a renewed sense of purpose will be central to transforming and stabilizing business in the emerging model.

Embracing transparency, applying robust analytics to measure progress and signaling commitment to transformation through resourcing and messaging can set businesses apart.

Investors are increasingly calling for growth that benefits a broader range of stakeholders than solely shareholders. Boardrooms are repurposing themselves towards the benefit of individuals, societies, communities and nations.

IMD develops business leaders that transform organizations and contribute to society. Our faculty  offers  real-world  learning   backed by academic research as we accompany business leaders though industry disruption and innovation, critical self-reflection, and organizational transformations on the path to doing well by doing good.

We invite you to join with us as we challenge what is and inspire what could be.

Univercells and consortium partner Batavia Biosciences have been awarded a $4 million grant extension by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to scale up their low-cost polio vaccine manufacturing technology.

Nivelles, BELGIUM – January 11, 2019 – Univercells, a business-to-business provider focused on increasing the availability of affordable biologics to address global health challenges, announced today the commercial launch of its proprietary NevoLine™ bioproduction system for vaccines. The system was initially developed as part of a $12M Grand Challenges grant awarded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to deliver affordable inactivated polio vaccine (sIPV). Leading the consortium, Univercells was responsible for the NevoLine system, Batavia Biosciences for the polio manufacturing process and Merck for the purification membrane. After attaining its goals of delivering a very low Cost of Goods for an sIPV below $0.30 per trivalent dose, the consortium has now received a $4M grant extension to scale-up the manufacturing system and process in preparation for clinical and commercial application. The first NevoLine system will be installed in Batavia Biosciences’ polio dedicated Biosafety level 3 Facility in Leiden, the Netherlands. 

Based on a novel process architecture, Univercells designed the automated NevoLine bioproduction system that facilitates safer, faster and closed bioprocessing in a much smaller footprint. Through intensification and chaining of unit steps into a continuous process, users achieve high yields with less time and money invested. The sIPV production process using the NevoLine system is capable of producing trivalent sIPV at less than $0.30/dose, representing a five-fold reduction compared to current manufacturing technologies. 

“This challenging two-year project aimed at delivering a new manufacturing system to drastically decrease cost, footprint and time to market for vaccine manufacturers, and we are pleased to have met these goals,” Hugues Bultot, CEO and co-founder of Univercells said. “The NevoLine system is self-contained into a 6m² series of isolators. A facility designed with four NevoLine units would deliver up to 50 million sIPV doses per year for an estimated capital cost of $20M. These breakthrough achievements further strengthen our dedication to innovating flexible, scalable and accessible vaccines and biotherapeutics manufacturing solutions.”

Dr. Pierre A. MORGON, Non-Executive Director and Advisor to the CEO, added: “Since my first stint in the vaccine industry in 1986, I have seen few technological breakthroughs bringing a genuine opportunity to change the fundamentals of vaccine manufacturing. The technology developed by Univercells heralds a new era in vaccine production. The massive reduction of the upfront capital investment and of the manufacturing footprint required for bulk vaccine and biotherapeutics production will shake the markets to their foundations and enable greater competition by lowering barriers to entry. Public health stands to gain handsomely from these new market dynamics, with biotherapeutics and vaccines being available in large enough volumes and at affordable prices”. 
Univercells remains more than ever dedicated to developing turnkey solutions for a series of vaccines and biotherapeutics, to be delivered at an affordable price.

"Opinion de Pierre Morgon, fondateur et CEO de MRGN Advisors et partner pour la Suisse chez Mérieux Développement."
BIOTECHFINANCES • Lundi 29 janvier 2018
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Dr. Morgon, a 30-year pharma industry veteran, will bring vast experience and business expertise to Alma as it progresses towards the clinical trial of a therapeutic drug to cure autoimmune diseases.

Lyon, France, September 26, 2017 – Alma Bio Therapeutics SAS (Alma), a pioneer of a new class of curative therapies that harnesses the patient’s own immune system to treat autoimmune diseases, announces today that Dr. Pierre A. Morgon will join its board of directors. He will take an active role in Alma’s Series A financing, which will commence
shortly.

​Alma has developed a therapeutic entity aimed at treating the underlying cause of uncontrolled inflammation in autoimmune diseases. While its therapeutic entity, a DNA plasmid, has shown strong potential for treating many autoimmune diseases, the company is targeting Crohn’s disease, one of the two major types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), as its first clinical application. There are no available curative treatments for IBD, a chronic debilitating disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract.

AJ Pharma makes its first acquisition in Denmark, creating an independent entity from the state-owned SSI vaccine production business through its subsidiary, AJ Biologics.
This will open new avenues for growth and employment for the Danish business and expand at a global level

Schlieren, Switzerland (25.01.2017) – Virometix today announced the appointment of Dr. Pierre A.
Morgon, PharmD, LL.M., MBA as Chairman and Dr. Isaac Kobrin as independent member to its Board of Directors. In addition, the company announced the nomination of Emmanuel Savioz, MBA as new Chief Financial Officer. With these appointments Virometix is taking further steps to enhance professional expertise within the Board of Directors and senior management of the company. Furthermore, the Scientific Advisory Board has been strengthened with the addition of emeritus Prof. Paul-Henri Lambert, MD.

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This chapter focuses on the evolution of the priorities and processes of the life science industry driven by an increasing orientation on the patient. The author describes the megatrends which affect the scorecard of the life science industry and underscores the impact of the societal trends on R&D and on the management of innovation. The author next describes the combined role of societal expectations and of new players which drive new approaches from all stakeholders. The author concludes with the consequences in terms of governance and capabilities for the industry and offers some conclusions for a path to sustainable development for the life science industry.
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For Read More →
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9783527693405.ch14/summary