Metropolis of Lyon Covid: Covalab invests EUR1m to produce antibodies for diagnostics

Covalab, based in Bron is a company that specializes in the production and development of monoclonal and multiclonal antibodies.

Metropolis of Lyon Covid: Covalab invests EUR1m to produce antibodies for diagnostics

Covalab, based in Bron is a company that specializes in the production and development of monoclonal and multiclonal antibodies.

It has received funding from the State of EUR491,152 for its BioDiaThera project. This will help to increase national production capacity as part of the fight against Covid-19.

Covalab will also invest over EUR566,000 equity in this project. This project relies on Covalab's bioproduction platform which allows the production of recombinant protein and antibodies at the gram level.

Once they have been produced, they are integrated in Covid-19 diagnostic tests. These tests were developed and produced in France by a French partner.

Covalab will increase its production capacity tenfold with the investment. Currently, only 3% of the needs related to Covid-19 diagnosis are covered by national production.

Covalab recently received ISO9001 certification. As part of this project, Covalab plans to manufacture the equipment required for the production of many million tests per month.

Covalab was founded in 1995 by Dr. Said El Alaoui. It currently employs approximately twenty people and plans to add around ten more.