Nantes Affilogic to be produced in France thanks to recovery plan – Biotechnology: Bretons vs. covid

Founded ten years in Nantes, Affilogic is a pure product of the competitive Grand Ouest. After his first career in a pharmaceutical group in Paris, founding president Olivier Kitten, 51, bounced back in Nantes “a little by chance”. There he discovered the local ecosystem and Atlanpole Biotherapies, which he would coordinate until 2009. A mediation job that would lead him to start a company. One day, researchers came to me talking about nanophytes as an alternative to antibodies

. They had their technology (extracting the protein of interest to them, and which, attached to a molecule, makes it possible to detect, capture, or block the activity of the failed cell) and they wanted to find the incubator. I had a short experience with a startup. The company didn’t scare me. “

“We only sold the recipe”

For six years, Affilogic has deepened technology. Then we ramped up industrial contracts for five years, producing samples for future therapeutic uses. We were like pastry chefs selling only their own pasta recipes. ”The Covid crisis has speeded up the movement.“ Since March 2020, we have received as many order forms as has been the case over the past ten years, ”explains Olivier Kitten. Move up. “The simplest solution was the increase in subcontracting that we had in Portugal.”

Expansion into Nantes in November 2021

Olivier Kitten preferred the second option: “Exchange with local authorities and BPI France”. That was in July 2020. Since then, the relocation project has been kept in the government’s stimulus plan. Support that makes it possible to invest 5 million euros in establishing offices and production plants in Nantes.

“Everything is nicely lined up. We have been renting empty trays, in the heart of Nantes, since February 1st. Affilogic will settle there in November 2021, ”explains the president. The key: job creation, and in the Great West nonetheless. The company aims to increase its staff from 30 to 50 employees by 2023.

* Particles derived from bacteria discovered in the 1970s in a hot spring in Yellowstone Park, USA.

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