History

Eclosion is the joint creation of:

• Geneva cantonal council, which wanted to provide a better environment for high-tech startups 
• Leading local academic institutions seeking to maximise the medical, social and economic impact of their discoveries 
• Pharmaceutical companies wanting to help new local companies establish a market niche 
• Investors willing to take a long-term view of the growth of manufacturing companies 
• Entrepreneurs able to invest time and resources in a project that creates long-term value

2001-2002

THE GESTATION OF AN IDEA

Markus Schriber, the president of DuPont de Nemours International, and Carlo Lamprecht, a cantonal councillor for Geneva, commission Jesús Martin-Garcia, the founder of several startups including LeShop.ch, to outline a vision of a life sciences incubator.

The Eclosion project is approved by Geneva’s cantonal council in the autumn of 2002.

2003

BIOTECH INCUBATOR LAUNCHED

The biotech company Serono makes an essential contribution to the incubator’s creation by subletting laboratories at its research centre in Plan-les-Ouates, and the Fondation pour Recherches Médicales plays a major part in equipping these.

On 19 December, Geneva’s cantonal council passes a law funding the incubator from 2004 to 2008.

2004

ECLOSION IS BORN

Benoît Dubois, dean of the life sciences faculty at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, joins Eclosion, bringing valuable knowledge of the industry and the regional academic framework.

The incubator is inaugurated on 3 December 2004, and the first projects begin at the Plan-les-Ouates laboratories.

2005

BUILDING NETWORKS

Eclosion takes on a growing number of projects, and begins expanding its network to serve projects in areas as varied as endogenous retroviruses and NOXes.

It also obtains its first finance for startup investment, with leading investors including Caisse de Prévoyance CIA, Rentes Genevoises and FER.

2006

THE DYNAMICS OF SUCCESS

The first incubated projects become startups. These include GenKyoTex and GeNeuro, both launched in the spring and financed using private funds raised by Eclosion to attract the talent they require to grow.

2007

FROM INCUBATOR TO NURSERY

As existing projects expand and new ones come on stream, the Merck Serono research centre is relocated, increasing the incubator's area and its range of technology platforms.

2008

COMPANIES BEGIN TAKING FLIGHT

Christophe Guichard, the CFO of a leading French company, joins the team to share his international finance expertise with incubated businesses. The first of these leaves Eclosion, with Epithelix moving in to new premises and getting off to a flying start with a healthy order book. Others obtain strong preclinical proofs of concept, attracting the first external investors and entering the preclinical regulatory stage.

2009

EN ROUTE TO CLINICAL TRIALS

The cantonal council unanimously extends the law financing Eclosion for the period 2009-2012. The first Eclosion companies obtain regulatory approval for clinical trials, and GMP production begins, demanding large-scale investment in a difficult financial context. All Eclosion companies obtain finance.  

2010

A NEW ERA

A change in federal law on venture capital companies forces Eclosion to separate its incubation and investment activities. The latter are taken on by Eclosion2 & Cie SCPC, which begins raising more funds to support the growth of companies from the incubator and launch further projects.

The new organisation comes into being on 31 December 2010.