Biomedical industry in Catalonia raises €102 million in investment in 2017 Blog Post

Catalan biomedical companies attracted €102 million in investment in 2017, with €3.4 million per operation, on average. This will allow them to push forward in the development of drugs and innovative medical technology, as reflected in the Study on investment in the Biomedical industry in Catalonia: Achievements and future challenges presented by CataloniaBio & HealthTech, based in Barcelona Science Park, and EY on Tuesday at the Círculo de Economía in Barcelona. The event drew a crowd of more than 60 entrepreneurs, investors and professionals from the sector.

 

Bionure initiates a Phase 1 clinical trial of its lead compound BN201 in the United Kingdom Blog Post

Bionure, a biotech company based in the Barcelona Science Park that develops neuroprotectant agents to treat neurodegenerative diseases primarily focusing on rare ophthalmologic diseases, announces today the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial of its lead compound BN201 in the United Kingd. BN201 is a first-in-class treatment that promotes remyelination and neuroprotection, offering a game-changing solution for neurodegenerative diseases. Both actions make BN201 a promising solution for rare ophthalmologic diseases  and open a research pathway to treat other neurodegenerative diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). 

 

DTI Foundation: A decade promoting research and training in donation and transplant Blog Post

Yesterday, DTI Foundation (Donation &Transplantation Institute) celebrated its 10th anniversary at Barcelona Science Park. The Foundation —created in Barcelona in 2008— was conceived with the aim of providing consultancy, training and support to professionals from public and private organisations in creating, developing and strengthening networks, programmes and services in the area of organ, tissue and human cell donation and transplantation worldwide. Since its formation, the organization has trained over 14,000 healthcare professionals in the area of organ and tissue donation and transplantation in over 100 countries worldwide. 

 

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.