IRB Barcelona group leaderand ICREA Professor Eduard Batlle has been recognized with the Lilly Foundation’s 2016 Biomedical Preclinical Research Award for his contributions to the understanding of colon cancer. His work has led to the understanding of the origin of colon cancer and may have important applications in regenerative medicine and in the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer.
Three entities located in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) –Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG), Biocat and CataloniaBio– are organizing jointly the Association of Biotechnologists of Catalonia and Association of Biotechnologists of Catalonia, the sixth edition of the course ‘Keys to bioentrepreneurship‘, with support from Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation. This course, that comprised of four sessions which will be held on 3,10,17 and 24 May, gives the participants first-hand access to the personal experience of the top bioentrepreneurs in the BioRegion of Catalonia, they are the extraordinary people who are rising innovative and international companies.
Esteve strengthens its Gene Therapy Platform with two new therapies for Sanfilippo B (EGT-201) and Hunter (EGT-301) syndromes, both developed in collaboration with the Center for Animal Biotechnology and Gene Therapy (CBATEG) of the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB). These two new projects join the leading program for the treatment of Sanfilippo A (EGT-101), whose clinical trial will start in late 2016. On Setember 2012, Esteve has moved its Centre for Drug Research and Development to the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) in an attempt to shorten development time and speed up the arrival to market of innovative new drugs.
Jordi Naval takes over the management of Fundació Bosch i Gimpera (FBG) with a clear objective: building a climate of trust and interaction among researchers, investors and the productive fabric. A very ambitious challenge that Naval faces with the skill and resolution that his double ‘expertise’ as both, a scientist and entrepreneur, has given him.
The young scientist Benjamí Oller, who recently defended his PhD thesis, done in Prof. Ernest Giralt’s lab at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), has been awarded one of the five ‘Premis Pioner 2015‘ (Pioneer Prizes 2015), which are presented by the CERCA Institute –an organisation belonging to the Government of Catalonia– in order to recognize to recent doctorates that orient his research to obtain industrial or commercial results.
Intelligent Pharma, specializing in computational chemistry services for the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries, recently opened a new office in Munich (Germany). It is the fifth international office that the company has set up in the same number of years. The company also recently received a capital injection of 550,000 euros from the Avanza 2 program from the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, and the Torres Quevedo call from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
The Spanish Bioindustry Association (Asebio) has renewed its board of directors as part of the celebration of the general assembly, held on December 1. Jordi Martí -Vice President and CEO of Celgene Spain- takes over Regina Revilla -Director of External Relations and Communication of MSD- the head of this institution that was created in 1999 as a meeting platform for those organizations interested in stimulating the national biotechnology scene, of which PCB is a founding member.
A study published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications –led by the Centro Nacional de Analisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG), located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)– revealed a high degree of heterogeneity in how cancer genome sequencing is done at different institutions across the globe. The results of this work –carried out within the framework of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC)– lay the foundation for the coming era of cancer genomics by creating guidelines and providing new tools for achieving higher quality data, for better diagnosis and precision medicine.
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The Ordesa Foundation has given the Ordesa 2015 grants, endowed with a total of 300,000 euros. A large part of this amount will be allocated to six projects aimed to address the most disadvantaged childhood and motherhood population in the world. As a novelty, this edition has added a new category aimed at twenty initiatives aimed at children at social risk in Spain which will receive a grant of 5,000 euros each. This´s year call will also donate 10 tons of baby food to social institutions that cater to families without resources. Since 2007 Ordesa has a R+D+I Center at PCB from which it takes an active role in clinical studies and national and international programs to improve the health and quality of citizens, especially during the maternal-child stage.
Bringing science and business together to help create a bioentrepreneurial ecosystem: this is the aim of Health & Bio Team Dating, an event that took place on 3 December that allowed scientists and managers to meet in brief partnering meetings to create teams that will allow them to start up a successfully new company. The initiative is organized by Banc Sabadell jointly three entities located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) –Biocat, CataloniaBio and the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG).
