Carmen Plasencia receives a 2017 ‘femtalent’ award for her Professional Career Blog Post

Carme Plasencia, CEO and cofounder of biotech Aromics, based at the Barcelona Science Park, has won the femtalent award for her Professional Career. Greenaltech and Seed&Click, also located at PCB, received special mention in the categories of ‘Innovation and Organization” with We talent values,  respectively. The presentation of awards took place last Frisay at the Activa Barcelona Technology Park as part of the 2017 edition of the femtalent fòrum, which brought together over 200 attendees and 10 lecturers from the field of entrepreneurship, finances and social innovation.

 

Researchers discover a protein that protects against fatty liver Blog Post

A team co-headed by scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and the IDIBAPS Biomedical Research Institute (part of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona) has revealed the capacity of the CPEB4 protein to prevent fatty liver disease.This condition generally leads to chronic inflammation (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), which can trigger fibrosis, cirrhosis and ultimately liver cancer. This study on the basic biology of the liver paves the way to examine therapeutic strategies to fight and prevent fatty liver disease. The results have appeared in Nature Cell Biology this week.

 

Scientists reveal how to computationally design artificial proteins for novel applications Blog Post

An international team of scientists led by the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle has deciphered key rules that govern how proteins form pocket-like structures that are essential for many key protein functions. The discovery makes it possible for researchers to custom-design proteins that can mimic the actions of naturally occurring proteins as well as to design new proteins, unlike any found in nature, capable of performing entirely new functions. IRB Barcelona researcher, Enrique Marcos, is the first author of the study published today in Science.

 

Sequentia launches AIR, a platform revolutionizing transcriptomics Blog Post

Sequentia Biotech, based at the Barcelona Science Park, has launched a cloud computing platform called A.I.R. (Artificial Intelligence RNAseq), the first predictive bioinformatics tool that automatically analyzes mass transcriptomic data (ie data linked to the RNA) from the genome of any species, generated by the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, providing a complete report in less than 24 hours. 

 

€7m project awarded to IBEC to develop therapeutic approaches for cancer and other diseases Blog Post

Mechanocontrol, coordinated at IBEC by Pere Roca-Cusachs, is one of only 12 projects selected out of 210 proposals submitted in the Horizon 2020’s FET Proactive program,  which helps new research communities to be developed by encouraging researchers from different disciplines to work together. With its grant of €7m over five years, it is over three-fold larger than the prestigious European Research Council grants. In the international consortium that will develop Mechanocontrol also participates the company Mind the Byte located on the PCB.

 

Minoryx Therapeutics receives European Orphan Drug Designation for its lead candidate MIN-102 Blog Post

Minoryx Therapeutics – a drug development company specialized in the discovery and development of new drugs for orphan diseases, which has R& D laboratories at the Barcelona Science Park–  today announces that its lead compound MIN-102 has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). This designation is granted to medicines that are aimed at a condition that is life-threatening or chronically debilitating and have a prevalence rate in the EU of no more than five in 10,000 and brings a number of benefits to Minoryx including ten years market exclusivity.

 

Natàlia Pérez wins the 2n edition of the ‘A day at PCB’ photography contest Blog Post

Shadows de Natàlia Pérez, researcher at biotech Minoryx Therapeutics, has been the winner of the 2nd edition of the photography contest ‘Un dia al PCB’ (A day at the PCB). The aim of this event organized by the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB) which brings together over the 2000 people that make up the PCB Community- is to create a collective mosaic with the best snapshots of life at the park. Scientist from IRB Barcelona Amparo Prades, from the Asymmetry Synthesis Research Unit (URSA), has received an accesit award with her photograph Mirada fotogràfica. Awards were presented to the winners today, 22nd of December, at the Dolor Aleu Hall.

 

The project ¨Training and social awareness for increasing organ donation in the European Union and neighbouring countries¨ (EUDONORGAN) has been launched Blog Post

The main objective of the European project EUDONORGAN, acronym for ‘Training and social awareness for increasing organ donation in the European Union and neighbouring countries’ is to provide training and increase social awareness in the EU and neighbouring countries with the ultimate aim to increase the number of donors. The project  –led by the University of BarcelonaBosch i Gimpera Foundation (UB-FBG) together with the DTI Foundation located at the Barcelona Science Park– is based on two (WPs), Social Awareness and Train the Trainers, the latter coordinated by DTI, which has trained over the last 25 years approximately 13,000 health professionals from more than 100 countries through its International Program TPM.

 

EIT Health Spain awards the best innovation and entrepreneurship projects Blog Post

EIT Health Spain, the Spanish node of EIT Health –the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC), dedicated to healthy living and active aging and promoted by the European Institute of Technology and Innovation (EIT)– closed yesterday its first year of activity with an event at the Barcelona Science Park. With headquarters at PCB, EIT Health Spain presently brings together18 leading public and private organizations in the three areas of the innovation triangle in health: research, education and business creation.

 

Arian Internacional succesfully starts a consultancy división for European projects Blog Post

Backed up by 14 years experience and more tan 200 companies  advised on international projects, Arian Internacional–an associate company at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) – has successfully started the European Projects Advisory/Consultancy service with the preparation of the ZeClinics– that has won funding from the SME Instrument Phase 2, within the framework of  Horizon 2020, under the category  ‘Supporting innovative SMEs in the healthcare biotechnology sector’. This € 1.87 million grant is intended for small and medium-sized European companies investing in innovative projects with a major economic and social impact.