The first verse for health

You have to continue north after Morlaix to reach Roscoff on the pink granite coast. In front of you, the said Roc'h Kroum beach where, at the end of the 1990s, a marine worm, well known to Britons, was collected. A true champion of apnea, as comfortable in the water as at low tide, all that was needed for a doctor in marine biology and former researcher at CRNS to take a close interest in it and make a major discovery. For fifteen years, in his laboratory, he has been exploiting the only hemoglobin molecule capable of fixing a large quantity of oxygen, while being compatible with any blood group. A powerful piece of information that redefines the frontiers of pharmaceutical research and breathes new life into medicine.

Long before this stroll on the beach, a first encounter was fundamental: that of Franck Zal, the founder of Hemarina, and Commander Cousteau. At the beginning of his studies, he had the chance to attend an Explorer's conference. At the end of the session, the budding biologist gathered his courage in both hands, and asked Jacques-Yves Cousteau “What can I do to have a career like yours” he told him. Franck Zal says, “He could have laughed at me, but instead, he advised me to get into oceanology, giving me the path to follow to achieve my goals.”

Launched head on this path, he specializes in the study of marine invertebrates evolving in extreme environments: hydrothermal springs, deep waters, or even intertidal zones, these environments submerged at high tide, and discovered during low seas. It was in this context that he got a job at the Roscoff biological station. In this seaside laboratory, he studies numerous invertebrates, until the day of the famous walk, when a fundamental question crossed his mind: “I questioned the breathing of the buzuc by observing them on the beach that runs along the laboratory. After some analysis, I discovered something incredible.”

In fact, the famous creature only breathes at high tide, and survives without oxygen when the sea recedes. A capacity due to its hemoglobin. A blood molecule that stores and carries oxygen. The hemoglobin of this marine worm is similar to the one that flows through our veins, but is capable of fixing 40 times more oxygen, enough to last for 6 hours between two tides. This superpower is accompanied by another particularity: the hemoglobin in question is free in the worm's blood, unlike human hemoglobin, which is stored in red blood cells, the cells responsible for blood typing.

In Franck Zal's head, everything is accelerating: If this hemoglobin is extra-cellular, it is not concerned by the question of blood group, and can theoretically be put in contact with other organisms without risk of rejection, thus sharing its capacity to fix oxygen. No hemoglobin known to have had such characteristics until now. With this discovery comes the promise of developing solutions against respiratory failure, devices for oxygenating organs, or even a universal blood substitute.

Convinced that he had discovered something unique, Franck Zal quickly went to present his discovery to specialists in the field: the Red Blood Cell Club, in Paris. Describing his discovery to an audience of dumbfounded doctors and researchers, the scientific community split in two, he said: “At the end of my presentation, some members of the club came to tell me that I had found the molecule they were looking for for over 40 years [...] But many of them remained convinced that research on the subject was doomed to failure.”

Despite the skepticism of some, studies show that the marine worm hemoglobin trail is promising. For example, injection trials in rodent organisms have proved to be very encouraging, with a survival percentage of 80%. If research validates this process, theoretically all that is left is to develop treatments, and why not market them! The problem is that at the time, Franck Zal was a researcher at the CNRS, and around him, barriers were beginning to stand up: “a researcher does not commercialize his discoveries”. Tired of the tacit rules of the world of research, he left the CNRS in 2007, to launch Hemarina, and finally exploit this revolutionary molecule.

Exploiting a revolutionary discovery requires the development of innovative methods. According to Franck Zal, “As a biologist, it was out of the question for me to depopulate the beaches, so I developed an industrial process for the reproduction of these worms.” This is how the Hemarina aquaculture farm, on the island of Noirmoutier, in Vendée, was born, the first farm of this type to be solely dedicated to the pharmaceutical industry.

On 13 hectares of basin, everything is settled like music paper: The arenicola only reproduces once a year, in vitro fertilization is necessary. After laying, the eggs remain in the nursery for 3 months, before being placed in the outdoor tanks to start growing. At maturation, the worms are cleaned before hemoglobin is extracted, which will be purified before being exploited.

In parallel with the development of Hemarina's technical resources, the first medical devices were created, in particular Hemo2Life, a solution for the preservation of grafts. During a transplant, the phase between collection and transplantation is crucial. At this moment, the organs are particularly sensitive, and suffer from oxygen deficiencies that can lead to irreversible damage, which can induce the loss of the organ to be transplanted. In this context, Hemo2Life is added to the solution in which the grafts are placed after removal, allowing better oxygenation and longer preservation.

It is this technology that allowed Hemarina to obtain its first CE certification. A real victory for Franck Zal, who says that: “The pharmaceutical authorities were extremely cautious fifteen years ago. When I came up with the idea of mixing worm hemoglobin with human blood, they thought I was crazy.” Thanks to this precious sesame, Hemarina can now market Hemo2Life throughout the European Union.

Thirty years ago, no one would have known that a beach worm would Shake up the world of research. So who knows? Maybe under our feet, above our heads, or right in front of us, the solutions to tomorrow's problems are hidden.