Caen University’s Normandy Study and Research Centre on Medicinal Drugs (CERMN) has moved to new premises in the vicinity of the Faculty of Pharmacy. Both modern and functional, they offer the laboratory’s researchers the best in hi-tech. Inaugural visit.

Start-ups

Start-ups
- Created in 1995 by Max Robba, ex-director of the CERMN, Syntheval (10 employees) produces tailor-made chemical solutions for industrial firms from the pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic sectors. The company offers services ranging from the identification of synthetic routes for new substances to the optimisation of processes and their large-scale development.
- Hitherto European pioneer, Borochem is today in a highly competitive sector. Created by Alexandre Bouillon, within the context of a thesis conducted in 2005 within the CERMN and on behalf of Sanofi-Synthelabo, the company won the National Competition for Aid to Innovative Business Creation to become the leader in the production of boron-derived chemicals for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry (via the distributor Interchim).
- The latest project is Predireach, initiated in 2008 by Elodie Lescot-Fontaine, a doctor in pharmacochemistry and molecular modelling, and Ronan Bureau, a Caen University lecturer in molecular modelling and biophysics, specialising in the toxicological and eco-toxicological assessment of chemical substances. The project has benefited from support from Oséo, from the Lower Normandy Regional Council (via the support allowance for young business creators) and from Normandie Incubation.

The move dates from January 2009. “We are now totally operational”, resumes Sylvain Rault, Director of the CERMN, before the various personalities invited to the inauguration of this new building on the 14th of January. Created in 1974 by Professor Max Robba, the laboratory, located within the University Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and devoted to both teaching and research, has already relocated its test tubes on several occasions: Rue Vaubenard, campus 1, annexe Vissol, rue Calmette then return to the « Vaubenard farm » in the former Department of Medicine which, although a historic site had become obsolete and non-compliant to standards.
In 1995, the first phase of construction of the University Department was launched on Boulevard Becquerel, just behind the CHU. Fifteen years later, the second phase is now complete and the CERMN has arrived on site. “The project has required several State-Region Plan Contracts, together with the persistent mobilisation of university players, including the establishment’s successive presidents,” notes Josette Travert, Caen University’s current President.

“extremely high technicality”

Construction of the building, for which the University was the contracting authority, was entrusted to the Paris-based architects Werner Stutz, for a total cost of around €4.5M ⁽¹⁾. Work was to last one year. Of modest dimension (1,420m2), the building is however both complex and highly demanding in terms of laboratory requirements. The ground floor is devoted to office space and chemistry laboratories, whereas the upper floor houses analysis and modelling laboratories, the computer room and the combinatorial library. A total of 49 people work there, including a permanent staff of 31 and 14 doctoral students. “With this new and highly technical laboratory, all operators work in total security when handling chemical substances,” explains Sylvain Rault. The building is functional, modern and equipped with high-performance instruments. The reorientation of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences towards the north plateau (campus 5) will also enable new projects to be launched, in particular in the field of environmental sciences.” The next extension phase for the campus, dearly cherished by Jean-Marie Gazengel, director of the department, will involve “the creation of an experimental pharmacy to help train tomorrow’s dispensing chemists.”

Industry – a vital ally

The CERMN’s activity focuses on the development, synthesis, physicochemical study and biological evaluation of new molecules of therapeutic relevance, essentially in oncology and the neurosciences. The department’s original therapeutic chemistry activities were enhanced with the addition of a molecular modelling laboratory in 1998. In the environmental field, scientists are currently working on risk assessment and forecasting to serve professionals, the general public and the environment. Research work is more often than not conducted in partnership with the pharmaceutical or fine chemicals industry, the laboratory’s “vital allies”. And to prove it: two-thirds of its operating budget (€365,000 of a total €555,000) are industry-generated. “We invent the new drugs that industrial firms will, one day, develop,” explains Sylvain Rault.
Servier, PCAS, Sanofi-Synthelabo and the Institut Pasteur regularly rely on us, and Bio-Mérieux has recently entrusted us with a DNA chip project.” According to representatives from public authorities, such interaction between research, training and the economy is fundamental. “The CERMN is a genuine golden nugget for Lower Normandy,” confirms Laurent Beauvais, President of the Lower Normandy Regional Council. “Over and above research and higher education, it encourages research exploitation and promotion, technology transfer and pluridisciplinarity, and contributes towards regional development.” Over 35 years of research, the CERMN has led to the creation of three companies.

(1) Lower Normandy Regional Council: €932,000 Calvados Departmental Council: €449,000 State: €1,907,000ERDF: €1,250,000

> Sylvain Rault
Director of the CERMN and Professor at the University of Caen
Boulevard Henri Becquerel in Caen
Tel: 02 31 56 59 10
Website: www.unicaen.fr

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