Désiré Collen, Biotech Pioneer relates the fascinating story of scientific discovery in a time when biotechnology was not yet a science. Although the cultivation and cross fertilization of plants were, strictly speaking, biotechnological techniques, modern biotechnology dates from the early 1970s, when pioneers such as biochemist Herbert Boyer from the university of California managed to transfer genetic material into a bacterium. Together with venture capitalist Robert Swanson, Boyer set up Genentech, one of the first genetic engineering companies.

Just a few years later, on the other side of the Atlantic, in Leuven, Désiré Collen discovered t-PA, the enzyme responsible for fibrinolysis, or the dissolving of blood clots. Clogged arteries were then still one of the major causes of death. The ensuing cooperation between Collen and Genentech was the beginning of a long-lasting success story, from which not only Collen but also scientific research and the University of Leuven benefitted greatly for many years. According to a Reuters ranking, KU Leuven has been, from 2016 onwards, the most innovative university in Europe. Flanders and Belgium served as the cradle of several highly successful biotech companies.

t-PA was a relatively expensive medicine, and Collen went on to develop a much cheaper clot-dissolving remedy to benefit patients in less affluent countries. He failed, however, to find the necessary finances for Phase 3 trials. Meanwhile, he had set up ThromboGenics, a company which later specialized in ophthalmology. Collen continued to stimulate and finance research in other fields, such as the cardiovascular research of Peter Carmeliet. In 2013 he left ThromboGenics, following a difference in views on the company’s focus, and in 2015 he set up Fund+, a biotech-oriented investment firm. Fund+ has meanwhile acquired a prominent place among European biotech investment funds and has scored some astonishing early successes. In June 2020, Fund+ had 13 companies in its portfolio, with several more waiting to come on board.