Researchers from IBEC and IRB Barcelona awarded by “la Caixa” for their pioneering research projects Blog Post

On 16 September, ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation presented the 79 grants for national and international research and innovation projects of excellence. Among the beneficiaries of funding from ”la Caixa” are researchers Eduard Batlle, Raúl Méndez, Meritxell Teixidó and Enrique Marcos, from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), and José Antonio del Río, Pau Gorostiza and Samuel Sánchez, from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).

 

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.

 

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.

 

 

The UdG proves the effect of an Esteve drug that prevents spinal cord injury pain Blog Post

A team of scientists from the University of Girona (UdG) has shown the effect of an Esteve drug to prevent the development of the pathological pain resulting from a spinal cord injury. The study is of great importance because there are currently no medicines that are really effective against this pathological pain caused by spinal cord injury. With this research, the pharmaceutical group, which has its Drug Discovery and Preclinical Development Units at the Barcelona Science Park, is again committed to collaborative innovation to provide solutions to medical needs not covered in diseases of high social impact.

 

A nanodrone able to detect toxic gases in emergencies Blog Post

Detecting dangerous gases in collapsed buildings due earthquakes or explosions and identifying the presence of victims in places which are hard to access are some action scenarios of SNAV (Smelling Nano Aerial Vehicle), a nanodrone designed and created by the researchers Santiago Marco and Javier Burgués, from the Faculty of Physics of the University of Barcelona and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), based in the Barcelona Science Park.

 

p38 protein regulates the formation of new blood vessels in tumours Blog Post

Researchers from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) at the Barcelona Science Park publish a study in the journal Nature Communications addressing the role of the p38 protein in angiogenesis—the formation of new blood vessels—a critical process that fuels tumour cells and allows them to grow and eventually develop metastases.

 

EIT Health Spain awards Headstart Programme support to Senolytic Therapeutics and Moirai Biodesign Blog Post

EIT Health Spain has announced today the 15 Spanish start-ups selected for 2019 Headstart Programe, which includes funding, mentoring and networking opportunities. Among those selected are Senolytic Therapeutics and Moirai Biodesign based in the Barcelona Science Park. Since 2016 the Spanish node of EIT Health, located in the Park, has supported more than 100 Spanish start-ups through a variety of acceleration programmes designed to support healthcare entrepreneurs at every stage of their business journey.

 

A research team develops a mini-factory of human cardiac tissue Blog Post

Researchers from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) at the Barcelona Science Park, in collaboration with scientists from the Centre of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona (CMR[B]), the University of Barcelona (UB), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and the CIBER-BBN have developed a system which is capable of producing tissues in a laboratory that simulate the behaviour of the human heart. The new platform, named CardioSlice, could be used to pre-evaluate the toxicity of drugs in the heart without using animal models. The results of this innovation work have announced in an article recently published in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

 

CataloniaBioHT participates in the Annual Advisory Committee of the Catalonia’s Cluster Programme Blog Post

Last Thursday, the president of CataloniaBio & HealthTech (CataloniaBioHT), Jaume Amat, participated in the Annual Advisory Committee of the Catalonia’s Cluster Programme, promoted by ACCIÓ, alongside the other presidents of the 30 accredited clusters. The association, founded in 2017 as a result of the merger of CataloniaBio and HeathTech Cluster and headquartered in the Barcelona Science Park, has over 160 companies and agents in the field of biomedicine and health.