Successful Czech research: Biotechnology firm I.Q.A receives multi-million order at the BIO 2008 trade fair

24 Jun. 2008 | CzechInvest | Participation of Czech firms at the world’s most significant biotechnology trade fair was supported by CzechInvest, CzechTrade and The ministry of foreign affairs

The Czech company I.Q.A. sold the results of several years of original research at BIO 2008, an American biotechnology trade fair. Through its American subsidiary, I.Q.A signed a license agreement with a leading American pharmaceuticals company. CzechInvest, CzechTrade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs helped to ensure the participation of Czech firms in Bio 2008.

“This was not the first time that Czech researchers from I.Q.A. participated in BIO. Previously, the trade fair helped them to find interesting business partners, but this year their success was extraordinary,” says Pavel Lacina, director of CzechTrade’s foreign office in Chicago. “I.Q.A. was established in 2000 as a spin-off of six workers from the Research Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry in Prague and today it is one of the most recognised Czech biotechnology firms.”

I.Q.A.’s new American partner wishes to remain anonymous for the time being. Other Czech participants in BIO 2008 included the toxicology research firm BioTest and the molecular-biology laboratory GHC Genetics, which is engaged in predictive medicine. A contribution to the Czech Republic’s economic representation provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also aided the participation of Czech firms in the world’s most significant biotechnology trade fair.

“Biotechnology is among the most prestigious fields in the Czech Republic. Both top research centres and excellent production firms operate in our country,” says Alexandra Rudyšarová, acting CEO of CzechInvest. “Biotechnology is a typical sector of an industry in which the decisive factor is the skills of employees and not their number. Therefore, it is pleasing that they are successful here. In its history, CzechInvest alone has assisted projects worth more than CZK 8 billion that involve biotechnologies, pharmacy or medical technology.”

The CEITEC cluster, which associates Czech companies involved in bioinformatics and other fields with broad potential for innovation, was also present at BIO 2008. Others exhibiting at the trade fair included the International Clinical Research Centre, which is being established in Brno, and Masaryk University, which attended the event for the first time this year.

In total, a record 2,100 companies were present at BIO 2008 in 60 pavilions. The trade fair was attended by 20,108 visitors from 48 countries.

MORE ABOUT I.Q.A.

The Czech company I.Q.A. was established in 2000 as a spin-off of six employees of the Research Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry in Prague. From the beginning the company sought a strategic partner that would be able to finance research over the long term. The first such partner, Cash Reform Group, a venture-capital fund, came in 2001. I.Q.A.’s researchers have so far prepared, for example, a substance based of low-molecular heparin, and recently completed laboratory development of two new drug forms based on ibuprofen – a tablet with immediate effect and a syrup without an unpleasant taste for children. I.Q.A.’s results also include a new generic cancer treatment which, unlike its predecessors, has significantly fewer negative side effects on the human body. More information is available at http://www.iqa.cz.