Health and care incubator BioVille strengthens its position as a frontrunner with additional 2,000 sq m wing

"The perfect place to work on tomorrow's healthcare"

BioVille - the health and care incubator on the university campus in Diepenbeek - officially opens its third wing today. With this 2,000 m² extension, BioVille reinforces its position as a frontrunner in BioTech, MedTech and Digital Health. The new wing focuses specifically on scale-ups and is a logical next step in turning BioVille into a dynamic business district, and this within the broader context of the Health Campus. It involves a total investment of 4,319,500 euros, coming from the ERDF, the Province of Limburg and BioVille with its shareholders LRM, UHasselt and POM Limburg. InvoX Pharma, the medtech company flying the international flag since 2021, will move in in a few weeks. Belgian Rejuvenate Biomed will also move into the brand-new wing this spring. Shareholders LRM, POM Limburg and UHasselt, together with Jo Brouns, Flemish Minister of Economy and Innovation, already excited about this new milestone.

With the opening of its new wing, BioVille is further facilitating the acceleration of innovative care and additional developments in BioTech, MedTech and Digital Health. The health and care incubator thus attracts growth companies in need of extra office space, lab space and meeting facilities, while at the same time strengthening its market leadership position. An extra asset that gives BioVille wind in its sails is the connection with imec and the academic world such as UHasselt. Moreover, the location within the Euregion and the network lead to many other opportunities for cooperation and cross-fertilisation.

Tom Vanham, LRM general manager: "In the future, there will be further expansions at BioVille to bring larger health and care companies to the Diepenbeek site in addition to start-ups and scale-ups. This ambition is already being tasted. The medtech company invoX Pharma, owned by an international pharmaceutical giant, will be the first to move into the new wing of BioVille. The independent Belgian biomedical company Rejuvenate Biomed, which focuses on the link between fundamental ageing mechanisms and chronic diseases, is also moving to our new wing. In short, BioVille is the place of choice for companies with that focus on BioTech, MedTech and Digital Health, working on the healthcare of tomorrow."

Co-shareholder UHasselt is also delighted with the new wing. Prof. Dr Piet Stinissen, Director Limburg Clinical Research Center: "As a university, we attach great importance to a strong connection with the business and healthcare sectors. BioVille facilitates this fantastically, both with the existing infrastructure and the new wing. Embedding BioVille in the Diepenbeek Health Campus creates additional opportunities for collaboration with our research and education."

Flemish minister of Economy and Innovation Jo Brouns: "At BioVille, people are working on the healthcare of the future. With 1.3 million ERDF funds, I am happy to support the further growth of this place where companies and researchers turn their innovative ideas into products and services that can be used by everyone. Together, we are thus ensuring better healthcare for our citizens. With this project, where many partners find each other, Limburg is once again an example for Flanders."

"An innovative campus flourishes thanks to an incubator. BioVille, the nestor of incubators in Limburg, therefore plays a key role in the further expansion of the Health Campus. Thanks to previous investments, BioVille is already a vibrant centre for innovation and digitalisation today, but the addition of a third wing will provide even more start-ups and growing companies with new growth opportunities. With support from Europe (1.3 million euros) and the province of Limburg (500,000 euros), BioVille expands the Health Campus ecosystem. Limburg thus reaffirms its pioneering role in improving the quality of healthcare." states Tom Vandeput, deputy for economy and chairman of POM Limburg.

The total investment of this new wing amounts to 4,319,503.59 euros and is part of the ERDF project of further expansion of BioVille. Besides European support, the project is being realised with funds from BioVille (with its shareholders LRM, UHasselt and POM Limburg) and the Province of Limburg.