Expertise
General
Sector
Biotech
Topic
À propos d’Ayming
BIG (Breast International Group) is the world’s leading breast cancer research network, bringing together more than 55 specialist research groups worldwide. In association with numerous hospitals and researchers, thousands of institutions are working together to develop more effective treatments for breast cancer and, ultimately, a cure.
Based in Brussels, the head office team is made up of more than 40 people, who are responsible for designing and managing new research programs and clinical trials with network groups, liaising with external partners, managing special projects, communications and fundraising.
Benoît Herpoel, CFO of BIG, gives us the background: “ BIG is an aisbl (international non-profit organization) founded in 1999 by 2 oncology physicians, Martine Piccart and Aron Goldhirsch, who wanted to extend to the rest of the world a collaborative concept already present in North America: an academic network dedicated exclusively to breast cancer research, with the aim of avoiding duplication, sharing data, contributing to the faster development of better treatments and improving patients’ chances of recovery.
Cooperation in brief:
Financing: an ever-present challenge
As a non-profit organization, BIG coordinates academic rather than commercial studies, financed by donors and foundations – so raising funds remains a daily challenge. ” We are of course helped by our eminently humanistic mission ,” comments Mr Herpoel. ” The programs we run rarely leave anyone indifferent, such as “BIG Time for Baby”, which aims to help women suffering from breast cancer to have a child by safely interrupting their decade-long hormonal therapies. Another example is our GPS program for breast cancer (AURORA study), which aims to identify “genetic faults” and map the routes taken by cancer cells to invade other organs. ”
Leave no stone unturned
As advancing research goes hand in hand with optimal financial management, BIG was immediately receptive to Ayming’s pitch during an initial meeting in 2015, when the latter detailed to Mr. Herpoel the tax incentives available to their scientific staff. ” I was new to BIG at the time, and I found Ayming’s success-fee business model interesting – you only pay part of what you save, so it’s a win-win situation. We figured we had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Benoît Herpoel sees in Ayming all the tools BIG needed in terms of expertise and experience on the subject, as well as the opportunity for its teams to acquire this knowledge: ” From the outset, our approach was based on honesty: we signed a 3-year contract at the end of which, if we so wished, we would take over management in-house. In the end, we renewed the contract because legislation is evolving and controls are sometimes more stringent, and we felt more comfortable working with experts in this field. ”
Smooth cooperation right from the start
Collaboration between the two companies was instantaneous. Ayming drew up the list of information required for optimal management of the file, and refined the criteria as BIG provided them. ” The relationship has always been very good, precisely because it’s a win-win situation. This is where Ayming’s expertise comes into its own; you can always say you know enough and can do it yourself, but keeping up to date with legislation is an ongoing exercise that takes time. Ayming has the knowledge, the network, the technical and legal expertise, and the experience of communicating with the SPF Finances, which enables us to anticipate better and react if necessary. . ”
A “trigger” partner
Optimizing the use of available aid is not just a question of money. Aside from the financial aspect, we can’t overlook the resources required in terms of time and expertise, but also the stress caused by such management and by interactions with the administration. Benoît Herpoel comments: ” We weren’t making any inquiries before we met Ayming, and thanks to them, we have! Ayming has competent people who know their stuff, which is reassuring. Ayming is also an advisor in the truest sense of the word, a guide in this administrative labyrinth where it’s so easy to get lost. ”
Results for research
” BIG is an international non-profit organization, with all proceeds reinvested in breast cancer research,” concludes Benoît Herpoel. ” Our academic studies are carried out by numerous researchers who work at our Brussels headquarters and whom we pay. Ayming has enabled us to reduce our expenses and increase our income; it’s fair to say that, as advisors to us, they contribute indirectly to research. . ”
