In the subsequent period 1979 – 1981 he was appointed visiting professor at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, where he established, together with Dr. Carlos Morel, the first DNA sequencing laboratory in Latin America.
Scientist and Entrepreneur: After his return to Belgium in 1981, he was invited to set up Biogent, a Belgian subsidiary of Biogen (one of the first biotech companies worldwide), to pursue the molecular cloning of TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) and other cytokines, a new class of biomolecules which at that time had just started to be discovered, but today are revolutionizing the field of immunology and anti-cancer therapy.
At that time INNX had grown to over 700 employees, had filed numerous patents, had put more than 50 highly innovative IVD products in the market and realized a yearly turnover of over 50 million euro.
In 2001, Hugo Van Heuverswyn founded, together with 2 former INNX colleagues, BioMARIC, a new Belgian biotech company active in prevention and control of infectious diseases, where he acts as CEO until today.
For 18 years, from its inception in 1995 till 2013, he was Chairman of the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology (VIB), during which period he created, together with Rudy DeKeyser, flanders.bio (2003), the association of Flemish biotech companies where he is still serving as a board member, and in 2016 he co-founded Flanders Vaccine, a non-profit organization aiming to stimulate the translation of basic research into clinical applications in the field of vaccination and immunotherapy.