current affairs
Biohealth
SEEKING START-UPS The much touted BioBank launched last year. How else does the government plan to make Luxembourg a centre for health science? Text: Aaron Grunwald
The beginning of 2011 saw health minister Mars Di Bartolomeo touring the US West Coast, but this was no holiday trip. His visit to California and Washington State was part of a concerted effort to secure the Grand Duchy’s place as a world-class health science and biotechnology centre. For the past several years, the government has been fostering greater public-private cooperation and recently even began to help fund biohealth start-ups directly. Luxembourg’s government began focusing on innovation more than a decade ago, in an effort to diversify the economy beyond the financial sector, explains Dr. Françoise Liners, manager of Luxinnovation’s Luxembourg BioHealth Cluster. “The biotech sector was identified as one with potential for the country,” as it is expected to grow significantly in the
DATE LINE March 2011
coming years. In order to develop a competitive specialty, Liners says Luxembourg planted its flag in the field of molecular medicine, also known as personalised medicine. “The focus on providing drugs to patents has changed a lot in recent years.” Research today is no longer geared to one-size-fits-all medications, she says. “We are moving to discovering the best drug for each patient, and being able to provide each patient with the right drugs, at the right time, and at the right dose.” To jump-start the biotech effort, Luxembourg authorities forged “strategic partnerships with American institutions.” AMERICAN LINKS In fact, the Grand Duchy has long had a connection with healthcare in the US. The Mayo Clinic, one of America’s
GIRL’S SCIENCE Science course topMAR ics only interest one gender at a time, said University of Luxembourg researchers. “How a laser is used in cosmetic surgery” engages girls, while “ how to calculate the probability of a car accident” interests boys, but not vice-versa.
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best known hospital and medical research groups, was founded in the 1880s by Franciscan nuns from Luxembourg. Today the Grand Duchy is linked with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre at Arizona State University, and, also based in Arizona, the Translational Genomics Research Institute. The latter partnership “resulted in the creation of what is now the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL),” which Liners says is the effort’s “first success. It’s very important for positioning the country.” Launched last year, the IBBL collects and analyses biological specimens, such as tumour tissue and blood. While donors’ identities remain confidential, according to the IBBL “an increased understanding of how a disease
NOT OCEAN’S 5 No one was harmed MAR when 5 armed men robbed the Casino 2000 in Mondorf-les-Bains around 2am. The Police Grand-Ducale are investigating with French authorities, as the gang’s modus operandi matches recent spate of casino robberies across France.
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CANCER PLAN The health services MAR are currently developing a national plan to fight cancer, health minister Mars Di Bartolomeo told the Chamber of Deputies. Due to ongoing rises in cancer cases, “we will expand prevention programmes” and “establish new initiatives.”
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30.03.2011 10:31:51 Uhr