Un nouveau bâtiment financé et réalisé par Retraites Populaires a été inauguré hier sur le site du Biopôle de Lausanne. L’édifice de 9100 mètres carrés, baptisé SE-B, accueille tous types d’entreprises qui évoluent dans le domaine des sciences de la vie, de la multinationale à la start-up.
Retraites Populaires and Biopôle SA unveil the SE-B building and StartLab, the first incubator dedicated to life sciences located in the Canton of Vaud
Lausanne, Switzerland, 25 April 2018
Retraites Populaires and its partner Biopôle SA today inaugurated a new 9,100 m2building, funded and constructed by Retraites Populaires on the site of Biopôle, a leading Swiss life science park. The SE-B building already hosts several businesses active in life sciences. Moreover it is now home to the first incubator dedicated to life sciences in the Canton of Vaud – StartLab – whose mission is to foster the next generation of entrepreneurs in the region.
The new 9,100 m2 building can jointly house both young start-ups and sector-leading businesses. These new companies could generate between 300 and 500 new jobs, in addition to 1,200 people who currently work at the Biopôle site. New tenants of the SE-B building already include the medical analysis company Unilabs, the Lausanne-based scaleup Abionic, which has developed a device that enables potential cases of sepsis to be detected incredibly quickly, plus the global pharmaceutical company Glenmark, which will establish a translational research centre.
Philippe Doffey, CEO of Retraites Populaires, said: “Biopôle is a good example whereby we can demonstrateour expertise in realising, funding and leveraging commercial real estate projects while supporting the dynamism of the canton and the creation of high added value jobs. In addition, the anticipated profitability of the project will make it possible to provide long-term pension and insurance commitments.”
Nasri Nahas, CEO of Biopôle SA, commented: “This new building, along with StartLab, will make our regionmore competitive in the life sciences sector. StartLab fulfils a clear need in our region to provide a tailor-made incubator for life sciences entrepreneurs. It offers aspiring entrepreneurs the best start in an ideal environment to optimize their chances of success. They have access to a winning combination of cutting-edge facilities, a network of experts and the vibrant Biopôle community of multinationals, SMEs and research groups that will support themas they transform their ideas into reality.”
Nicolas Durand, CEO of Abionic, remarked: “Biopôle is a unique ecosystem dedicated to life sciences witha dynamism that is hugely advantageous for the development of companies such as Abionic.”
The SE-B building has been conceived in response to the growing demand for office and laboratory spacesat Biopôle’s Epalinges site. Its creation is the product of the partnership between Retraites Populaires andBiopôle SA, the latter granting the former the “right of use” over the dedicated plot. Both entities arecollaborating very closely to promote the site generally, and the SE-B building in particular.