Connecting the R&D ecosystem: 150-days into the integration of Inova, IN-PART and Labiotech

The acquisition of IN-PART and Labiotech by Inova in January signalled an intent and ambition to combine the efforts of three companies focused on creating impact from scientific research and R&D. Over a hundred and fifty days have passed since the announcement of the acquisition and teams across each company have been in constant communication, forging alliances aimed at connecting the global R&D ecosystem and accelerating the bench to bedside journey. 

In this brief update designed for our networks to keep pace with developments, we hear from leads at Inova, IN-PART and Labiotech about the progress made so far with the integration and what’s set to emerge from combining expertise and capacity across the three companies.

Interested in learning more about tools and platforms that help teams in academia and industry grow their networks and manage partnerships? Press for an email with more information from our team. 

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Patrick Speedie, Co-founder and Co-CEO of IN-PART

How has the integration gone so far? 

We have been lucky that both Inova and IN–PART’s business cultures and philosophies were already very aligned, and this has made the initial phase easier than it could have been. We have been working on multiple projects to benefit our organizations as a whole. For example, a plan to grow our matchmaking platform, Connect, significantly over the coming years, which will benefit all of our key stakeholders across industry and academia. That’s in addition to exploring more technical integrations to allow, for example, innovation and R&D teams in companies using Discover to benefit from some of Inova’s market-leading software tools. 

Overall it is a group of positive, smart, hard-working people pulling together in the same direction and the experience so far has already been game-changing for our business. 

What impact can your network expect to see in the coming months? 

They can expect to see significant growth in our network, which will benefit both our TTO customers on our Connect platform and our Discover clients from industry, bringing greater diversity and strength to the R&D ecosystem. They can also expect to begin to hear about some new tools such as Inova’s next-generation partnering platform, which is aimed at helping teams collaborate within companies and create and store corporate memory on cutting-edge innovations.   

What are the next priorities for the integration?

We will be continuing to work on integrating the teams in key areas such as marketing, technology and business development, as well as working towards some key technical milestones. Overall, the goal is to grow our Connect network faster while ensuring we always maintain quality to work towards better partner matching, and to integrate some exciting software tools for industry and academia – exciting times ahead!

Caroline Toulemonde, Chief Strategy Officer at Inova

How has the acquisition and integration gone so far?

These past months have been very exciting as the teams started working together, figuring out the best path to create synergies by integrating our products and services. As we move forward, the vision for the future becomes clearer and very promising. By leveraging and combining the capacities of the three companies, we will be helping our customers navigate and manage their external network of potential dealmakers, while being able to collaborate and organize their work internally.   

Has anything emerged that you weren’t expecting?

I was not expecting projects to move forwards so smoothly. The difficulties faced by integrations is well known, but our aligned cultures and values, as well as an excellent strategic fit between the companies has made things easier. Also, everyone is working hard and approaching it with a positive attitude.

What are the priorities for the rest of the year?

We aim at delivering a couple of integrated products by the end of the year so that our customers can experience the benefits of these tools firsthand. These first products will position us for a strong start to 2023. 

Joachim Eeckhout, Founder & Managing Director of Labiotech

How has the integration played out for Labiotech?

The first few months with Inova have been going very well. Thanks to the support of the group, we recently hired a new Editor in Chief and new staff are joined the team in June. It’s also been great to contribute to the overall strategy of the company and be able to include Labiotech as a key piece of the puzzle. We’re still early in the process of integration but we have many ideas we can’t wait to share with our community. 

What changes can your audience expect to start seeing in the coming months? 

The most significant impact our audience can expect in the coming months is related to our decision to scale up our content to a global coverage. Starting this month, we’ll ramp up the production of biotech news from everywhere in the world. We’re also launching a podcast and we’re very excited to share it with our audience as this is a new way for us to connect with them.

What are the priorities with the integration for the rest of the year?

This year, we really want to prioritise our content expansion. This means that the team growth is one of our priorities as we need new talented journalists to achieve our ambition. In the second half of the year, we’ll be working on a full redesign of our website so that we can integrate better with the rest of the Inova ecosystem. This will be a big project that will bring Labiotech closer to the solutions offered by our sister companies IN-PART and Inova. 

Interested in learning more about tools and platforms that help teams in academia and industry grow their networks and manage partnerships? Press for an email with more information from our team. 

Not already registered to IN-PART? Create a free account and start making new connections.