GIR no 58 - March 2012

Grenoble
Isère Report
T HE G RENOBLE-I SÈRE
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY’S INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER -
F RANCE
> No.
58
<
MARCH 2012
> INT E RV IE W <
> SPOTL IG H T <
> Grenoble-Isère to receive
more than €1 billion for
education and research
> Grenoble-Isère, the
«Medtech Valley», hosts
EuroMedTech™ 2012
> FEATURE <
> Technological
convergence drives new
advances in healthcare
Trixell leads the way
in digital X-ray imaging
X-ray imaging is gradually being replaced by digital imaging, following
in the evolutionary footsteps of once-ubiquitous film-based cameras.
And Grenoble-Isère-based Trixell is at the forefront of this high-tech
Trixell CEO Paul de Groot
trend. The company makes digital sensors for X-ray imaging, and was
created in 1997 as a joint venture between Thales (the leading provider of tube-based image sensors
for conventional X-ray imaging) and two of Europe’s medical imaging heavyweights: Philips and
Siemens. Trixell quickly became a leading sensor provider in this multi-billion dollar market, and
remains on top despite fierce competition from Asian suppliers. Paul de Groot, Trixell’s CEO, talked to
us about the reasons behind his company’s success.
Before telling us about Trixell, can you briefly
explain the advantages of digital X-rays?
The biggest advantage in static radiographic
imaging (like a single snapshot) is that you don’t
have to wait for the film to be developed; the
results can be viewed on a computer screen just
seconds after the X-ray is taken. Plus you get
a high-resolution, 9 million-pixel image. The
image quality is also superior to conventional
film X-rays because digital sensors have a wide
dynamic range and are very sensitive. So there
are fewer bad shots that need to be retaken, and
therefore less patient exposure to radiation. The
way digital images are processed means that you
can see details more clearly and, consequently,
deliver a better diagnosis. For dynamic X-rays
(like videos), which are used during surgical
procedures— especially cardiovascular—the
reduced X-ray exposure is particularly important
as the procedures can last up to 30 minutes.
This market is still largely dominated by the
image intensifiers made by our parent company
Thales; their machines offer high sensitivity and
also generate images with little X-ray exposure.
But even these machines will eventually be
replaced by digital X-ray sensors.
Trixell is firmly anchored as a leading supplier
of digital sensors for X-ray equipment—to
what do attribute your success?
> TI ME OFF <
> Grenoble Museum of Art
acquires a Picasso
> Isère, home of winter
sports and the birthplace of
champions
Even though we are a relatively young company,
we are backed by Thales’ fifteen years of
research and industry expertise—a considerable
advantage. Plus we were able to quickly develop
enhancements to the scintillating cesium iodide
layer that absorbs X-rays perfectly—that is,
without any lateral light diffusion—therefore
providing excellent image resolution. Our
strengths lie in our superior cesium iodide
deposition process and our ability to assemble
and connect the sensors. The English NHS
Institute has recognized our technology as
being superior to that of our competitors.
We are also able to leverage the extensive
experience of all three of our investors to
anticipate radiologists’ needs and adapt our
products and services accordingly. We invest
over 10% of our revenue back into R&D each
year, and have spent a total of more than €150
million over the past ten years—a large chunk
of which went towards building an ultramodern production line here in Grenoble-Isère.
We also invested nearly $100 million in a US
plant in which we have a majority stake; this
plant makes one of the key components of our
sensors: a multimillion-pixel amorphous silicon
array on glass substrate. Finally, we benefit from
our ideal location, which lets us work closely
with CEA-Leti and the Minalogic competitive
cluster, and gives us a pool of talented scientists
and engineers to recruit from. As a result we
have a highly-qualified staff of 430 people who
are excited about their work and help ensure
Trixell remains an industry leader.
What do you have in store for 2012?
In early March we unveiled a lighter version of
our wireless sensor, which was the first of its
kind in the market back when we introduced it
in 2008. The advantage of a wireless sensor is
that it is portable and can be brought right to
bedridden patients’ bedsides. Our new version
is thinner and weighs only 2.8 kg—25% less
than the original version and the lightest in
its category—and offers new features to meet
radiologists’ needs for a mobile solution both
at hospitals and at their practices. We are also
working to develop new technologies that
promise to be even more competitive and
more effective than existing ones.
T HE G RENOBLE-I SÈRE
Grenoble Isère Report
F RANCE
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY’S INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER -
> No.
58
<
MARCH 2012
> UPDATES <
Fluoptics catches even the
tiniest tumors
Fluoptics’ groundbreaking fluorescence
imaging system stands to revolutionize
the treatment of numerous diseases,
including cancer. The company’s
innovative technology couples a realtime optical imaging system with an
injectable fluorescent probe that
specifically targets tumor cells. Once
injected into the body, the probe
concentrates in the tumor cells and
emits an infrared signal that doctors
can view on a screen. This allows
for unparalleled precision in the
removal of metastatic cells as tiny as
300 microns—well below what can
be seen by the naked eye—while
leaving healthy tissue intact. Fluoptics
plans to raise €2.5 million of fresh
capital from investors to fund clinical
trials, following a successful round of
preclinical trials.
ImmunID looks inside the
immune system
Grenoble-based ImmunID has developed
a novel immune system testing method.
By looking at the diversity of T and B
lymphocytes—crucial to an immune
system’s response—doctors can obtain
information vital in cancer treatment
cases. Thanks to ImmunID, patients
whose immune systems have been
excessively weakened by an aggressive
treatment (like chemotherapy) can be
identified and directed towards other
therapies. ImmunID’s technology is
also useful for detecting the first signs
of aging-related immunodeficiency.
The system consists of evaluating the
patient’s Divpenia® score. The degree of
Divpenia® (severe, moderate, or absent)
is expressed as a Lymphocyte Count and
Diversity score calculated on a milliliter
of blood in less than one day. ImmunID
hopes that its technology will provide
doctors with a simple, effective system
they can include in day-to-day patient
care.
Persistent Systems arrives in
Grenoble
Persistent Systems, based in Pune,
India, is a software development and
technology innovation firm founded in
1990. The company has offices in North
America, Asia, and Europe—including
a French subsidiary (Persistent Systems
France)—and in 2011 acquired Agilent
Technologies’ Grenoble-based software
development and marketing business.
This 30-person unit is specialized in the
development of scientific software, and
provides a springboard for Persistent
Systems to expand into new rapidlygrowing fields like cloud computing,
mobile applications, and bioinformatics.
> SP OT LI G HT <
Grenoble-Isère to receive more than
€1 billion for education and research
In a recent article in Nature1 magazine,
Katharine Sanderson summed up the trend
that is shaping today’s economy in GrenobleIsère: “Once known mostly for its natural
beauty, Grenoble-Isère is becoming a centre
of innovation for academia and industry.”
The area is slated to receive more than €1
billion in public funding under the French
government’s economic stimulus program,
which aims to support research and higher
education in the country and fuel innovative
high-tech projects. Although Grenoble-Isère
already boasts numerous internationalcaliber research labs and large instruments,
this funding—which confirms the area’s
status as a premier center for science and
technology—will provide a solid foundation
for building on existing strengths.
Grenoble’s university district will be
fully renovated and equipped with
modern new buildings, including
new facilities to be built on the
GIANT innovation campus. The
funding will also enable universities
to invest in state-of-the-art lab
equipment for research in the promising
fields of nanotechnology, biology, ICTs,
and the environment—fields central to the
government’s stimulus program. Businesses in
the area will also reap knock-on benefits from
the funding, since they will be able to use the
new equipment and technology stemming
from the investment. This should be a boon
to SMEs in particular, and should encourage
the creation of public-private partnerships.
Positive ROI guaranteed!
Nature, 478 (2011) 547–548. Published online on October
26, 2011.
1
Grenoble University ©Barbieri-AEPI
Grenoble-Isère, the «Medtech Valley»,
hosts EuroMedTech™ 2012
Grenoble-Isère will host the fourth annual
EuroMedTech™ conference from May 31 to
June 1, 2012. This two-day event is designed
to foster partnerships among players across
the entire medtech value chain and provide
an opportunity for burgeoning companies to
secure financing and penetrate new markets.
The event will include numerous one-to-one
meetings (741 were held in 2011) where
CEOs can network with medtech decisionmakers and investors. Also on the agenda for
the 2012 event are presentations and panel
discussions on major issues such as:
•
“From the ground up: Keys to emerging
company commercialization”
• “Choosing the right distribution model”
•
“Shifting sands: Regulatory developments
in uncertain times”
•
“The missing piece of the puzzle: How
diagnostic companies can transform healthcare
delivery”
All are designed to give companies the
tools they need to thrive in this fast-moving
industry. The 2011 conference was held
in Turin, Italy, and brought together 261
people from 205 different companies and
27 different countries. Professionals from
Canada, Italy, Sweden, and Denmark’s
Medicon Valley have already signed up
for EuroMedTech™ 2012; register today at
www.ebdgroup.com/emt/index.php
T HE G RENOBLE-I SÈRE
Grenoble Isère Report
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY’S INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER -
F RANCE
> No.
58
<
MARCH 2012
> FEATURE <
Like other industrialized nations with aging populations, France must find new ways to meet rising
demand for healthcare and rein in spiraling healthcare costs. Advances in medical technology
(medtech) should open the door to new solutions to these public health challenges. In GrenobleIsère, businesses and institutions in the public and private sectors are working together on medtech
applications ranging from diagnostics and therapeutics to remote healthcare—and their cooperation
is paying off.
Medtech encompasses disciplines as diverse
as software, mechanical engineering,
electronics,
robotics,
materials,
and
biotechnology.
And
Grenoble-Isère
has played a key role in many of the
technologies currently converging in the
field of healthcare. Of the world’s top
ten medtech firms, four have operations
in Grenoble-Isère. These well-established
firms leverage the area’s leading-edge
technology and research, while a strong
local tradition of innovation continues to
spur new business start-ups. The medtech
industry is coalescing around the I-Care
cluster, which aims to create synergies
between medicine, IT, physics, and micro
and nanotechnology to get healthcare
solutions to market faster. The ultimate
goal is to improve patient care from
prevention through to post-treatment
monitoring.
Improving treatment through earlier, more
accurate diagnoses
Grenoble-based research lab CEA-Leti
fosters collaboration between academic
research and a number of industries
including healthcare—a plus when you
consider the host of new possibilities
that
microtechnology,
and
now
nanotechnology, will create in the field
of medical diagnostics; labs-on-chip and
DNA chips are just two of the most recent
examples. The goal is to diagnose illnesses
earlier and more accurately to better
determine the optimal treatment for each
patient. Many companies are taking a keen
interest in these innovative, growth-driving
technologies: bioMérieux, a developer of
miniaturized testing kits, recently chose
Grenoble for its new biomolecular research
center; and Roche Diagnostics also elected
to locate its headquarters here. Advances
in imaging now make it possible to obtain
high-resolution images in just seconds,
opening up new possibilities for both
diagnostics and treatment (see articles on
Trixell, page 1, and Fluoptics, opposite).
Finding new solutions to today’s challenges
Clinatec®, one of Grenoble-Isère’s most
recent medtech initiatives, is a biomedical
research center focused on healthcare
applications for micro and nanotechnology.
The Grenoble-based Institute for Structural
Biology takes a multidisciplinary approach
bringing together biology, physics, and
chemistry. Local SMEs like Cytoo and
SynapCell are developing innovative tools
for research, while others like ImmunID are
testing new methods in diagnostics and
therapeutics. The sheer variety of research
and development work is evidence of just
how vibrant the medtech industry is here in
Grenoble-Isère. And, with complementary
expertise in promising fields like cellular
engineering, medical and surgical robotics,
proteomics, systemic biology, and in vivo
and in vitro diagnostics, the outlook is
bright.
© bioMérieux-AEPI
Providing better patient care, for less
Grenoble-Isère is also home to broadranging expertise in the field of
therapeutics. For example, it was here that
Professor Alim-Louis Benabid developed
deep brain stimulation to treat Parkinson’s
disease. And the Grenoble Neurosciences
Institute—one of the world’s best—looks
at central nervous system processes, both
normal and pathological, and comes up
with innovative techniques to explore
them. GMCAO, a lab specializing in
computer-assisted surgery, has contributed
to a number of international clinical
breakthroughs. GMCAO’s work has led to
the development of several new products
and spurred the creation of start-ups like
Praxim and Surgiqual Institute, which
design systems for minimally-invasive
surgery. Their systems can both shorten
hospitalization time and speed recovery—
thereby reducing healthcare costs. Market
leaders like Becton Dickinson are working
to develop new drug delivery systems that
carry medicine directly to the affected
tissue, while start-up Eveon has come up
with a secure, fully-automated injection
and blood sampling system that will enable
more patients to administer their own
© CEA-Leti-AEPI
Technological convergence drives
new advances in healthcare
treatments. And Grenoble-Isère software
developers are also active in the medtech
field,
creating
remote
applications
that monitor patients’ biological and
physiological data so they can go home
from the hospital sooner and receive
better—and increasingly paper-free—
follow-up care.
Numerous well-established Grenoble-Isère
companies, like ARaymond, Siemens, and
STMicroelectronics, are also entering the
medtech market, and other major medtech
players continue to invest massively in the
area, anchoring medtech firmly in the
local ecosystem and paving the way for
tomorrow’s healthcare.
© Gaboriaud C.
IBS-AEPI
Minalogic and Lyonbiopole lead
the way
Two of the region’s global competitive
clusters—Minalogic and Lyonbiopole—
are active in medtech. Minalogic develops
smart miniaturized solutions for industry
and has acquired solid expertise in micro
and nanoelectronics and embedded
systems. The cluster has coordinated
projects aimed at developing systems
like the Heartbeat Scavenger, which
uses the mechanical energy of a beating
heart to power a pacemaker, and Délice,
a fluid injection system used to carry
drugs directly to brain tissue. Meanwhile,
Lyonbiopole focuses on treatments for
cancer and infectious human and animal
diseases, with research spanning diagnostics,
prevention, and treatment. Several of
Lyonbiopole’s research projects have resulted
in innovative drug administration systems.
One such example is Microvax, a new
intradermal vaccine injection system whose
effectiveness has already been proven at flu
vaccination centers. Another Lyonbiopole
project, TBDermatest, will develop a
new skin testing system to screen for
latent tuberculosis in hospitals and
clinics. Minalogic and Lyonbiopole also
work hand-in-hand on a variety of other
projects.
T HE G RENOBLE-I SÈRE
Grenoble Isère Report
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY’S INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER -
F RANCE
> No.
58
<
MARCH 2012
> TIME OFF <
Grenoble Museum of Art acquires a Picasso
The Grenoble Museum of Art recently
acquired a rare cubist collage by Pablo
Picasso. The purchase was one of
two made possible by the museum’s
Benefactors’ Circle, with Chair Alain
Mérieux leading the efforts to bring
the work to Grenoble. The 1914 collage,
entitled Glass, is one of very few made
by Picasso; he completed around
130 between 1912 and 1914. French
museums own 27 of the other collages.
Glass is considered by some to be a
Pablo Picasso - Glass, 1914
masterpiece of cubism. The work has
Pasted and pinned paper,
an almost monumental presence, due
gouache, and charcoal on bond
paper ©Musée de Grenoble
to an unusual composition of pasted
and pinned paper, gouache, and charcoal, a monochromatic color
palette of white and beige, and extremely pared-down charcoaldrawn lines. The museum also acquired Jacob’s Dream (Gioacchino
Assereto, 1640, oil on canvas), another fine example of the Genoa
school to round out the museum’s existing collection. Up next for the
Benefactors’ Circle: an exclusive exhibit devoted to the first German
avant-garde movement—the Die Brücke (The Bridge) group of
expressionist artists—which will run from March 30 to June 17, 2012.
Gioacchino
Assereto Jacob’s Dream,
17th century - Oil
on canvas.
©Musée de
Grenoble
Grenoble-Isère, home of winter sports and
the birthplace of champions
Grenoble-Isère has certainly left its mark on skiing history. It all
started in 1896 at Chamrousse (which would later host the 1968
Winter Olympics), where Henri Duhamel founded France’s first ski
club after testing a pair of Swedish-made skis he saw at the 1878
Universal Exposition in Paris. The French army, which considered skis
superior to snowshoes, further promoted the cold-weather discipline.
In 1934 a rudimentary ski lift was built in the Chartreuse, but it was
another local—Jean Pomagalski—who would soon revolutionize
winter sports. His inventions, which included the first detachable
ski lift (1944), the first double chairlift (1958), the first automatic
Carole
Montillet
Guilbaut Colas
Ophélie David
Laure
Péquegnot
gondola (1966), the first
double-decker
aerial
tramway (1984), and the
first funicular built in a
tunnel bored through a
glacier (1989), propelled
his company, Poma, to
the top of its industry.
Local
ski
manufacturer
Rossignol changed the sport Vanoise Paradiski’s Skilift ©POMA-AEPI
by introducing the first
multilayer laminated ski, while its rival Dynamic produced early steeledged skis that lured increasing numbers of skiers onto the slopes.
Isère—with 4,300 kilometers of downhill and cross-country trails—
is also home to numerous skiing champions like Carole Montillet
(downhill), Guilbaut Colas (moguls), Ophélie David (skicross), Laure
Péquegnot (slalom), and Martin Fourcade (biathlon).
Martin
Fourcade
AEPI, the Grenoble-Isère Economic Development Agency, provides businesses seeking to move to Grenoble-Isère with economic data and information on
available commercial and industrial real estate. We also set up meetings with local decision-makers, help identify grants and other sources of funding, and provide
comprehensive project support. Contact us today!
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Editor: Hervé Fradet, Director, AEPI
Coordination: Anne Giraudel
Written by AEPI and Françoise Laurent - Layout by AEPI
Translated by SFM Traduction - Printed by Numérica - ISSN 1968-7052
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