IBEC obtains a second accreditation as Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence Blog Post

The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), based in the Barcelona Science Park, is one of the six centres in Spain to be awarded accreditation in this round of the Severo Ochoa Excellence programme. Furthermore, IBEC is the only center that receives this accreditation for the second time. The awards last for four years and bring a million euros each year to the winning centres, it also implies strengthening research capacities and boosting success rates in other competitive funding programmes.

 

The 2nd edition of Asebio Investor Day attracted around 300 participants and 60 international investors Blog Post

26 September saw the 2nd edition of the Asebio Investor Day, which was organised by Asebio with the collaboration of Barcelona Science Park (PCB), the Biotechnology Markets Platform) ICEX Spain Trade and Investment and the Alternative Spanish Equity Market. Droplite, Molomics, Ona Therapeutics and SOM Biotech, all based at PCB, were among 50 companies selected to present their projects at the financing forum, in which 57 investors from 10 countries around the world participated.

 

The sequence of the almond tree and peach tree genomes will be key tools in their genetic improvement and adaptation to climate change Blog Post

An international team led by researchers of the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) in conjunction with Tyler Alioto of the Centre Nacional d’Anàlisi Genòmica (CNAG-CRG) –based in PCB and part of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)– has sequenced the genome of the almond tree and compared it to that of its closest relative, the peach tree. The results provide some unique insights into the recent evolution of both species and will be key tools in their genetic improvement, including the eradication of bitter almonds, fruit quality and adaptation to climate change.

 

Biomarkers in blood for faster diagnosis: a new GAEM Accelerator project Blog Post

The GAEM Foundation, headquartered in Barcelona Science Park (PCB) and engaged in promoting biomedical research to cure multiple sclerosis, has added a study conducted by Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Girona (IDIBGI) to its Project Accelerator Programme. The objective of the study, led by Dr Jordi Tomàs Roig, is to discover new markers that enable us to predict a patient’s evolution from a simple blood test, while contributing to the design of epigenetic drugs to slow down the disease’s progression.

 

DD BioLab strengthens its leadership in the Spanish biotechnology sector Blog Post

The acquisition of Cultek and Teknovas by the Dutscher Group, the leading independent distributor of laboratory supplies in Europe, its Spanish subsidiary, DD BioLab, as the leading supplier in Spain of scientific instruments, consumables and laboratory equipment for research in biotechnology and health. Since it was established in Barcelona Science Park in 2014, DD BioLab has registered sustained 39% annual growth. In 2018, its turnover was around €5M and it expects to exceed €10M in 2022. 

 

Oncoheroes Biosciences and Boehringer Ingelheim sign exclusive licensing agreement for Volasertib Blog Post

Oncoheroes Biosciences –a Boston-based biotech company with its European headquarters at the Barcelona Science Park– and Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH (Boehringer Ingelheim) have signed a worldwide exclusive licensing contract for Volasertib. Under the terms of this agreement the global pharmaceutical group assigns the intellectual property of this anti-cancer compound to Oncoheroes, which is committed to further its development and commercialization for pediatric cancer indications.

 

DROPLITE opens in Barcelona Science Park Blog Post

DROPLITE, a spin-off of the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), has joined the Barcelona Science Park’s Community to boost its entrepreneurial project. The company has developed a lab-on-a-chip device that allows a rapid and accurate way to test and monitor key diseases and other health conditions in both humans and animals at the patient Point of Care (POC). 

 

Nanovectors could improve the combined administration of antimalarial drugs Blog Post

Encapsulating two drugs with different properties into nanovesicles surrounded by antibodies can greatly improve their delivery and efficacy, according to a study led by Xavier Fernández Busquets, director of the joint Nanomalaria unit at the Institute for Bionengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), in the Barcelona Science Park, and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), supported by ”la Caixa”.

 

Researchers decipher the structure and mechanism of action of a key complex involved in bacteriophage T7 infection Blog Post

Scientists from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), at the Barcelona Science Park, and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) have combined cryomicroscopy and crystallography techniques to study the bacteriophage T7. The study, published in Nature Communications, reveals the opening and closing mechanism of the portal protein during the maturation of the viral capsid, the structure that carries the genetic material of the virus. Deciphering how work the Bacteriophages –viruses that infect bacteria– helps us to understand how others pathogenic affect us and, at the same time, they are a new focus of attention for researchers given their potential as an alternative to antibiotics.