Milan, 19 April 2018 – Zcube, Research Venture of Zambon pharmaceutical group has presented the third edition of the international Open Accelerator programme in the field of Life Sciences.

There are few important changes compared to the 2017 edition. In fact, this year the programme – in line with the Zambon strategy – will have a specific focus on the therapeutic areas of the Central Nervous System and the Respiratory System, including rare diseases in these two areas. The Call for Projects 2018 targets researchers, scientists and aspiring Italian and international entrepreneurs that upon completion of acceleration program will have the chance to receive a seed investment of up to a maximum of 100,000 euros, among other awards, and most importantly, to develop their projects in collaboration with Zambon.

“Our Group recognizes an increasing importance of innovative technologies and digitalization in health care“, said Roberto Tascione, Chairman of Zcube and CEO of Zambon Spa, “and wants to develop modern health solutions, beyond pills, to make patients’ lives better. With 2018 Open Accelerator edition, we focus on Zambon’ s therapeutic areas in which we have built robust competences and qualified experiences, that we want to share with startups in both, the evaluation and acceleration phase.

Moreover, at the end of the program we will be glad to start strategical partnerships to co-develop the most promising projects”.

The Call for Projects is running until the 10th of June 2018 and targets four macro areas of interest: Drug delivery systems (technologies that provide more selective, accurate and specific drug delivery, to allow less frequent dosages or controlled release of drugs within the body); Medical devices, biomarkers and diagnostics (instruments and devices that allow safe care, treatment, rehabilitation, prevention and diagnosis of diseases; biomarkers for better identification, diagnosis and management of diseases); Wearables and digital health (wearable devices, technology platforms or applications that offer new solutions to improve diagnosis, patient management and support program); Big data (projects related to the analysis of data and solutions to improve medical care, develop personalised medicine, identify new markers for early diagnosis and reduce healthcare costs).

“Open Accelerator“, says Elena Zambon, the President of Zambon, “is a fundamental ‘school’ teaching young researchers how to communicate with the business world and venture capitalists and to take their ideas out of the laboratories and let them become effective opportunities to improve patients’ lives. The program runs in OpenZone, the Campus dedicated to Life Sciences that we set up years ago to reinforce our way to conceive research, believing in an Open Source approach. It is an entrepreneurial ecosystem where science meets industry, where scientific competences are linked to managerial ones and where research breathes life into business, to improve therapies and people’s quality of life”.

Applications for the acceleration program are accepted through the website www.openaccelerator.it. The most innovative projects, both Italian and international, will be selected and will participate in the acceleration program conducted in partnership with Deloitte’s Officine Innovazione and with the support of collaborators and partners- Italian Angels for Biotech, Innogest, Premio Marzotto, Unicredit StartLab and Bird & Bird.

“The focus on the therapeutic areas of Zambon – affirms Giovanni Rizzo, Head of Open Accelerator – ensures the quality of the program, not only for the presence of Zambon’ s experts, but also for the contribution of partners, collaborators, national and international mentors that come from different sectors (venture capital, business angels, universities and companies). This allows the creation of a vibrant community with a multidisciplinary approach, which is essential for the successful development of the projects. The 2018 program has been created to provide personalized and “ad hoc” sessions to support the development of the different projects”.

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About Zcube

Zcube, Zambon Research Venture, is the division that actively deals with innovation, scouting for modern health solutions in the field of Life Sciences, such as drug delivery systems, medical devices, biomarkers, diagnostic, digital health and big data solutions. Recognizing the ever-growing importance of innovative technologies and the digitalization of healthcare – thanks to Zcube activities – Zambon complements the offering of medicines with modern health solutions, in order to provide comprehensive high quality solutions to patients.

Zcube is made of three units: ZCare, Open Accelerator and OpenZone.

– ZCare develops HI-tech & HI-touch integrated solutions to transform the disease management into a caring experience.

– Open Accelerator is the international fast track acceleration program dedicated to projects in life sciences, with a specific focus on Central Nervous System (CNS) and Respiratory diseases.

– OpenZone is the Life Sciences Campus on the outskirts of Milan created by Zambon as a fundamental part of its Open Innovation philosophy. OpenZone currently is home to over 22 organizations working in the Life Sciences field, and a visionary development plan will double its spaces by 2020.