Ferrer, IBEC and Mind the Byte join forces to study new molecules against cancer metastasis Blog Post

The pharmaceutical company Ferrer has created a consortium with the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the bioinformatics company Mind the Byte, located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), to study the development of new therapeutic molecules against cancer metastasis. The work will follow the research on cadherin interaction and its role in cells that cause metastasis conducted by Dr. Xavier Trepat, ICREA professor at IBEC and one of the few scientists to have won three grants from the European Research Council (ERC).  

 

Minoryx Therapeutics Initiates Phase 1 clinical trial of MIN-102 Blog Post

Minoryx Therapeutics, a drug development company specialized in the discovery and development of new drugs for orphan diseases, today announces the initiation of its first-in-man Phase 1clinical trial for its lead compound MIN-102. The company –located at TecnoCampus Mataró-Maresme, with laboratories at Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– will harness its unique mechanism of action for potential use in X-linked Adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD), a genetic disease characterized by progressive neurologic deterioration with no available pharmacological treatment. 

 

Avizorex Pharma submits Clinical Trial Application for its lead compound AVX-012 for Dry Eye Syndrome Blog Post

Avizorex Pharma –an ophthalmology biotech company with offices at Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– announces the submission of a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) to the Spanish Competent Authority, requesting clearance to initiate a Phase I/II clinical trial investigating the use of AVX-012 Ophthalmic Solution, a small molecule with a novel mechanism of action to treat patients suffering from mild to moderate Dry Eye Syndrome (DES). 

 

Using 3D printing to produce crucial biomedical research tools Blog Post

IBEC Director Josep Samitier and the Technology Transfer unit introduced IBEC’s 3D bioprinting capabilities at the first IN(3D)USTRY: From Needs to Solutions event, which was held at Fira Barcelona last week. IBEC’s 3D bioprinter is the only one offering the level of precision and characteristics requred for regenerative medicine purposes in southern Europe, and one of very few on the continent. It promises to put IBEC –based at Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– at the forefront of a new revolution in regenerative medicine by allowing researchers to add biological properties to implanted tissues such as bone, and may eventually be able to manufacture entire organs for transplantation.

 

Biocat and Leitat will coordinate two of the five RIS3CAT Communities Blog Post

The RIS3CAT Community for Digital applications in biotechnology and health therapies –coordinated by Biocat from its headquarters at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– is one of the first RIS3CAT Communities to which Government of Catalonia, through ACCIÓ, has allocated 19.1 million Euros from the ERDF fund (European Regional Development Fund). Leitat –whose BioMed Division is based at PCB– will also coordinate a further RIS3CAT Community for New diagnostic devices and big data applied to health, in which Intelligent Pharma, located at PCB, leads one of the four projects: ‘Diabetes as an accelerator of cognitive derioration in Alzheimer´s disease: Integral approach and treatment adherence’.

 

EIT Health launches two funding calls for innovative health projects Blog Post

EIT Health has lunched two funding initiatives: the grants Headstart and Proof of Concept and the Business Plan Aggregator program. As part of the EIT Health accelerator, both ideas are geared to innovative business ideas, SMEs, spin-offs and start-up committed to the social challenges defined by EIT´s principles: promoting a healthy lifestyle, supporting active ageing and improving quality of life through better healthcare. EIT Health Spain is based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) and at presently brings together 18 leading public and private organizations in the three areas of the innovation triangle: research, education and business creation.

 

The turnonver of the 734 companies of the BioRegion amounts to 7% of Catalonia´s GDP Blog Post

The life sciences and healthcare sector of Catalonia gathers 734 companies with a turnover of 14.360 million euros, 7% of Catalonia’s GDP and employs 42,133 workers. These are some of the data yielded by the 2015 Biocat Report, presented last Thursday at the Palau de la Generalitat, which brought more than 200 politicians, business people and figures from academia and science. The event was presided over by the President of the Government of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, with the participation of Albert Barberà, CEO at Biocat, the organization that coordinates and promotes the health and life sciences sector in Catalonia, and Ella Korets-Smith, executive director of TO Health!, the Toronto´s life science cluster. 

 

Researchers froms IBEC and UB have collaborated in the definition of a new kind of indicators for bacterial virulence Blog Post

Researchers and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the University of Barcelona (UB) together with their collaborators from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene (University of Lübeck) and German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) have determined a new kind of indicators for bacterial virulence which can help detect and preventing infection outbreaks caused by Escherichia coli.

 

Intelligent Pharma wins the award CaràcterEmpresa to Innovation in Catalonia Blog Post

Intelligent Pharma, a company based at the Barcelona Science Park  (PCB), has won the Premi CaràcterEmpresa award in the category of Innovation among 14 companies from around Catalonia and has been selected to take part in the nation-wide final phase, that will take place this coming June. The CaràcterEmpresa awards are promoted by CaixaBank and by the Spanish Confederatiion of Business Organizations (CEOE) in the Catalan edition, also promoted by Foment del Treball, the institution representing the interests of Catalan industry and business.

Cebiotex opens a second crowdfunding round for the development of nanofiber tissues against cancer Blog Post

After having succesfully closed a first crowfunding round of 300,000 euros in just 11 days, Cebiotex, a spin-off of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and the Sant Joan de Déu-Barcelona Children’s Hospital, located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), has launched a second round of  300,000 euros, managed, once more, by European biotech crowdfunding platform CapitalCell. The company will allocate the resources obtained to expedite the development of an innovative system to administer antitumor drugs – a biodegradable nanofiber tissue for the local treatment of cancer- while ensuring that these new drugs are made available not only for adult patients but also for pediatric oncological patients