RAC1 protein could be a new therapeutic target to fight neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease Blog Post

A new research study reveals RAC1 protein could be a new therapeutic target to study the molecular mechanisms related to the neurodegenerative processes in Parkinson’s disease. The study, published in the online edition of the journal Molecular Neurobiology, is led by Antonella Consiglio –head of the Laboratory of Stem Cells and Neuroplasticity at the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB (IBUB) in the Barcelona Science Park and researcher at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Barcelona and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL)– and Esther Dalfo, from the Univesitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya.

 

IRB Barcelona paves the way to the use of immunotherapy to treat aggressive colon tumours and their metastasis Blog Post

A team headed by ICREA researcher Eduard Batlle, from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) at the Barcelona Science Park, discovers that immune system-stimulating treatments combined with a TGF-beta inhibitor are effective against colon cancer. In a study published today in the journal Nature, scientifics explain that the hormone TGF-beta is responsible for the “blindness” of the immune system to colon cancer cells. The work paves the way for the development of the first treatment based on immunotherapy for patients with metastatic colon cancer and for those patients with poor prognosis but who have not yet developed metastasis.

 

Bioinformatics company Mind the Byte acquires Intelligent Pharma Blog Post

Mind the Byte a pioneer in the development of technologies based on artificial intelligence, cloud and big data for computational drug design, has acquired 100% of Intelligent Pharma, one of the leaders in Spain in chemoinformatics services for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Both bioinformatics companyies are headquartered in the Barcelona Science Park (Parc Científic de Barcelona, PCB) which will help the integration process under which Mind the Byte expects to reach €2 million in turnover by 2019.

 

Presenting CataloniaBio & HealthTech Blog Post

A new era for the CataloniaBio association of companies and the HealthTech Cluster. Members of the two organisations unanimously passed the motion to merge under the brand CataloniaBio & HealthTech at their respective extraordinary general meetings held in Barcelona yesterday.The headquarters will be located at the Barcelona Science Park. It will promote the convergence of biopharma, MedTech and digital health companies to boost competitiveness and address unmet medical needs 

 

Cebiotex launches a €650,000 crowdfunding campaign to ensure that its oncological treatment reaches paediatrics Blog Post

Cebiotex—with headquarters in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)—has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign of €650,000 through Capital Cell to ensure that its first drug, CEB-01, used in the local post-surgical treatment of soft tissue sarcomas, also reaches paediatric oncology. CEB-01 is the first therapeutic application of its innovative technology, which are based on nanofibres, for local drug delivery. In the future, however, the company aims to develop new applications for pancreatic and liver cancer, as well as glioblastoma.Since it was formed in 2012, Cebiotex has raised over €2 million from public and private funds. The success of the previous equity crowdfunding campaigns and the participation of impactful social investors has allowed Cebiotex to maintain a paediatric focus as one of the company’s strategic objectives.

 

Esteve closes the Board of Directors renewal process with the appointment of Joan Esteve as a Chairman Blog Post

Esteve has just announced changes to its corporate governing bodies. In line with the plan approved by the Group’s Board, Albert Esteve will replace Joan Esteve as Chairman of the Board and announces the appointment of Staffan Schüberg, executive vicepresident of the Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeckas, the group’s Chief Executive Officer. Since 2012, all discovery and preclinical development key units of Esteve are located at the Barcelona Science Park with the latest infrastructure and technology in a top-level academic and scientific environment in Spain.

 

Embryotools successfully concludes the first trials on an innovative assisted reproduction technique Blog Post

Embryotools —headquartered at Barcelona Science Park (PCB)— has successfully concluded tests on animal models to validate an innovative assisted reproduction technique known as Maternal Spindle Transfer (MST).  This new technique is a mitochondrial replacement therapy which groups of leading scientists from around the world are studying for the prevention of mitochondrial diseases, which are transmitted maternally and currently have no treatment. Embryotools has been working on this project for over three years in partnership with the PCB-PRBB Animal Facility Alliance and the company Reprogenetics UK, located at Oxford University.

 

An increase in low density lipoproteins would favour insulin resistance Blog Post

A study led by the University of Barcelona proved that low-density proteins (VLDL) can worsen insulin resistance, a disease that favours the development of type 2 diabetes. The study, published in the scientific journal Diabetologia , has been carried out by the research group led by Manuel Vázquez Carrera, researcher from the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutic Chemistry and the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB (IBUB), located at the Barcelona Science Park.