Scientific Offer of the PSCC: Your access to the best expertise and training to accelerate the development of innovations in oncology.

The mission of the PSCC is to provide all necessary conditions to accelerate the development in France of innovative solutions against cancer.

Among the scientific offerings provided by the PSCC, individualized access to top-tier experts is one of the pillars.

The cutting-edge expertise tailored to the specific project's needs

The PSCC relies on its The mission of the PSCC is to provide all necessary conditions to accelerate the development in France of innovative solutions against cancer.

Among the scientific offerings provided by the PSCC, individualized access to top-tier experts is one of the pillars.

The cutting-edge expertise tailored to the specific project's needs

The PSCC relies on its renowned founders and partners, both academic and industrial – including Gustave Roussy, Paris-Saclay University, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Inserm, AP-HP, Institut Curie, Unicancer, Sanofi, Servier, Merck, Ipsen, etc. – as well as on a globally world-class network, to grant access to leading experts in oncology innovation.

Leveraging this  network of excellence,  the PSCC provides a targeted access to the best scientific and industry experts in oncology and related disciplines through personalized one-to-one interactions.  The aim is to accelerate the development of the promising projects in therapeutics, medical device or diagnostic from preclinical phase to early clinical phases, through a customized support tailored to specific needs.

One of the core missions of the cluster is to facilitate individual interactions with highly reputed researchers and clinicians within our ecosystem, spanning various domains: clinical development, biology, immunology, genetics, chemistry, translational research, data/AI, biostatistics, biomedical engineering, regulatory affairs, market access, etc.

For each of these disciplines, the PSCC will identify a leading figure in the domain to address the startup's specific challenges. Accordingly, the PSCC has identified preeminent experts to tackle specific topics such as the lead optimization, the rationale of a first-in-human clinical trial, the market access for medical device…

The range of high-level expertise is expanding from our academic founders to include industry experts.

Reinforcing training for start-ups teams across diverse disciplines

Beyond consolidating top-tier expertise from the academic-to-industry continuum, the PSCC extends access to tailored ad-hoc training to innovative projects according to their specific needs:

• Access to premium academic training: For instance, programs offered by the Paris-Saclay University, the Institut Polytechnique de Paris and the Gustave Roussy Institute.

The PSCC provides to selected projects the opportunity to participate as auditors in courses offered by our partner universities and schools (e.g., university diplomas or summer schools at the University of Paris-Saclay, the Polytechnic Institute of Paris, and the Gustave Roussy Institute) covering key areas: immuno-oncology, viruses and cancer, market access, chemistry and chemical biology, artificial intelligence, biomedical engineering, pharmacology, etc.

These courses allow teams of innovative projects to receive high-level training while also enabling opportunities for interactions with students and researchers who may potentially become future talents for the start-ups.

Access to PSCC training and workshop programs:

✔️  For early-stage projects: ‘‘OncoEntrepreneur’’ and ‘‘OncoNumerique’’ programs as part of OncoSTART

The PSCC offers comprehensive training for start-ups at early stages, scheduled one morning per week over a semester, providing the knowledge and skills needed for entrepreneurship in the field of oncology.

All aspects of business creation and the specificities of oncology are addressed.

Selected projects gain access to workshops and masterclasses covering every step of business creation.  Topics include for example shareholder agreements, intellectual property, tax incentives, pitch preparation, fundraising, business planning, regulatory aspects, biomanufacturing, pre-clinical and clinical phases, market access, etc.In total, a program comprising nearly 30 sessions designed to ensure entrepreneurs succeed in their oncology projects, build networks by connecting with high-profile speakers from various backgrounds (experts, consultants, patient associations, investors…), and eventually access to the PSCC ecosystem.

For more information: https://www.parissaclaycancercluster.org/en/oncoentrepreneurs-onconumerique

✔️   For advanced projects: specialized ad-hoc PSCC workshops.

The PSCC also provides workshops on specific subjects to empower supported start-ups with enhanced knowledge, and better prepare them to address the challenges they face.

Workshops cover topics such as regulatory affairs, developing a pre-clinical strategy, initiating clinical and market access studies, establishing industrial partnerships, medical devices, etc. with a strong focus on oncology specificities.

The Support and Orientation Office: your dedicated and daily partner

The Support and Orientation Office (SOO) is the point-of-entry to identify projects’ needs and facilitate their access to the ecosystem in order to accelerate their development. 

It serves as the point of contact for project leaders providing continuous support throughout their development process according to their specific needs.

SOO members offer assistance in:

✔️ Providing mentoring and advice to anticipate development stages.

✔️ Offering guidance and connections to world-class experts within the PSCC ecosystem.

✔️ Directing towards specialized training programs.

✔️ Facilitating connections  with potential partners.

Comprised of industry leaders, the SOO team brings together personal expertise in drug, medical device, and diagnostic development within oncology. They possess a comprehensive understanding of the challenges in industrial development and are deeply committed to mentoring and supporting innovative projects.

Lucie Mondoulet, PhD, Senior Advisor at the SOO: “If your project is selected by our independent expert committee, the role of the Support and Orientation Office (SOO) will be to coach and support your team, coordinate interactions with scientific partners, and facilitate connections with experts and potential partners. For example, we recently facilitated a connection between a major clinical expert and a diagnostic project. This expert not only provided advice on development in a specific indication but also expressed interest in a long-term collaboration to accelerate the project towards its next key milestones. Additionally, we offer ad-hoc training to strengthen teams with scientific, technological, or soft skills knowledge."

Testimonials from start-ups:

e-miRgency 

The need

Before moving forward with the development of our technology and investing more heavily,  we needed to address several questions:

✔️ Is this technology truly innovative and does it offer an advantage over existing technologies?

✔️ Is there interest in the scientific community and a need for patients?

✔️ How can we make this technology useful and relevant in daily practice?

Connecting with Experts

To address these questions, the PSCC facilitated our connection with high-level experts, including Dr. Pierre-Francois Cartron , PhD, researcher at Inserm , Nantes Université and Pr Italiano Antoine , MD, PhD, Head of Precision Medicine Program at Gustave Roussy .

The direct discussions with these experts, who challenged us with honesty, interest, and kindness, allowed us to confirm the relevance of our innovation and to consider a working partnership with these same experts in developing our technology.

The Experts’ point of view 

Accelerating Next Steps

Once again, the PSCC serves as a facilitator in establishing such partnerships.

Ultimately, the support provided by the PSCC in connecting with high-level experts is a tremendous development accelerator for a startup like ours, and likely for many others.

Prostperia

The Need

The clinical utility of an ovarian cancer screening test needed to be demonstrated.

Connecting with an Expert 

The PSCC team facilitated discussions with a specialist in gynecologic cancers, Dr. Alexandra Leary, MD, PhD, medical oncologist at Gustave Roussy.

The Expert's point of view

Accelerating Next Steps

Dr. Leary’s expertise helps us better focus our R&D efforts.

The support provided by the PSCC, especially in connecting us with experts, will contribute to accelerating the development of our solution.