The French specialist in immuno-hematology diagnostic solutions aims to implement its “Diagast Origins” project to participate in the joint effort to guarantee France’s national health sovereignty. This aim, which was laid out as early as June 2021 by French President Emmanuel Macron, necessarily includes transfusion safety.
At Diagast, sovereignty in terms of transfusions rests on 4 key principles:
– Completing the range of antibodies by developing new clones
– Modernizing and developing the company’s bioproduction tools
– Contributing to the strengthening of national capabilities
– Sharing the company’s bioproduction skills by making its expertise and resources available to third parties.
The total cost of this project is €20 million. As part of the France 2030 Plan, Diagast, whose main shareholder is the Etablissement français du sang (French National Blood Service), will receive €6.5 million in the form of grants and reimbursable advances.
Over time, the company will no longer need to obtain its antibodies from other suppliers. “This will take time of course, but it is essential for research,” said Olivier Brolli, CEO of Diagast. The biotech company also intends to quadruple its bioproduction capabilities, which currently stand at 120,000 liters of supernatant a year (the equivalent of 5 swimming pools). Its global production is concentrated in the historic site of Loos, in northern France (it has three French sites in total). It will be transformed and expanded. “By becoming a CDMO provider, we will be able to offer our resources to startups and businesses working on the same fundamentals as us,” Olivier Brolli was pleased to say.
“Diagast’s mission is clearly to guarantee French health sovereignty in the field of transfusion medicine. All our employees are committed daily to ensuring total biomanufacturing autonomy and constant innovation when designing complete immuno-hematology diagnostic solutions. All this takes place in our factories, all of which are located in France,” Olivier Brolli, CEO of Diagast.
Established in 1988, Diagast has an unparalleled cell patrimony of 44 clones from the EFS. A whole range of monoclonal antibodies is produced from this clone bank, with the aim of ensuring compatibility between the recipient of a blood donation and the donation. “We are the only company in the world that both mass-produces monoclonal antibodies in immuno-hematology and manufactures diagnostic solutions,” Olivier Brolli said with pride.
In addition to reagents and automata, the biotech company has also developed a “point of care” range that determines the blood groups of both the donation and the recipient in just a few seconds.
It works with almost 1,000 clients (which are blood banks and private and hospital laboratories) in over 100 countries, and has annual sales of €50 million.
Diagast aims to develop its capacities and product offer to ensure that by 2030 it will be the leading European monoclonal antibody production site, the leader in France and one of the three global leaders in the sector.