On January 15, 2019, the constitution of the VectorB2B– Drug Developing– Association for the Research in Biotechnology was signed. Vector B2B was a result of a shared initiative between seven entities and coordinated by Biotecnologia TechnoPhage. The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon is one of the founding members of this Collaborative Laboratory, and the only medical school to collaborate in such a project. The remaining participating entities are the companies Medinfar and BEVAG, the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Lisbon and the University of Coimbra through CNC.IBILI.

The Collaborative Laboratory VectorB2B was approved by an International Evaluation Committee of Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and it will be a “one-stop shop” for other companies and academic institutions involved in the discovery and development of biological drugs, providing highly qualified services from the workbench to the patient (B2B). Vector B2B intends to gather: (i) highly qualified human resources in Portugal with knowledge and experience in the discovery and development of biological drugs, (ii) instrumental power in methodological analyses and trials in pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and (iii) transversal services such as systematic reviews, project planning and statistical decision evaluation. It will provide specialised services such as antibody screening in vitro and in vivo efficacy trials in areas such as ophthalmology, oncology and the central nervous system, among others, and process and production development services in GMP.

The Collaborative Laboratories are a new type of R&D institutions created in 2017 by FCT, and “their main goal is to create, directly and indirectly, qualified employment and scientific employment in Portugal through the implementation of research and innovation agendas for the creation of economic and social value.” And “they must respond to the challenge of national territory densification (…) through a growing consolidation of ways of collaborating between science, technology and higher education institutions and the economic and social fabric, namely companies, hospital and health systems, cultural institutions and social organisations.”