Miquel Vila Perelló (Barcelona, 1977) has a PhD in Chemistry (UB) and is a co-founder of SpliceBio, a biotech company that develops gene therapies for rare disorders for which there is no cure yet. The Bioèxit 2022 award is in recognition of the Series A €50M finance round, led jointly by UCB Ventures (Belgium) and Ysios Capital, with the participation of a powerful international syndicate. A spinoff of Princeton University, it was set up and established in Barcelona in 2012. 

INTERVIEW WITH MIQUEL VILA I PERELLÓ 

Your Series A is the largest raised by a biotech company in Catalonia and in Spain. What is the key to this success? 

"Having a powerful, credible team with proven capacity in overcoming challenges and technology that permits a clear medical need to be addressed in a unique way. But we should remember that not everything is under our control: resilience and perseverance are essential to overcome difficulties."

What does this milestone mean for SpliceBio and for the sector? 

"It will allow us to provide patients with therapies to treat diseases that currently have no cure. For the sector, it is proof that we can equal investments in other large biotech hubs."

What lessons have you learned from private investment that you could share with the entrepreneur community? 

"The importance of rigour and tenacity, and that there are many elements that affect the decision of a fund, and that not all of them are under your control. It is a marathon in which you have to persevere until you find the right investor for your project, based on their strategy and experience."

How important is obtaining international investment funds for the company? 

"It’s essential, as it opens the door to consolidating the company’s growth in the long term, with future investments that guarantee the resources to carry on and reach patients."

What is the benefit for the sector? How do you think the entry of foreign capital should be promoted? 

"Contributing to the growth of a sector with high value added with considerable capacity to transform the economic fabric. It should be promoted by disseminating the existing investmopportunities, facilitating tax compliance and reducing red tape in transactions of this type."

And all of this is done from Barcelona. 

"When we first started up the company in Barcelona in 2012, I lived in the US and the company was a spin-off of Princeton University, and everyone asked why. 10 years later, we have demonstrated that a biotech can be consolidated from here, but self-criticism is also important: in the US, these rounds are quite normal and here, there is still much to be done."

What obstacles must be overcome and what opportunities must the entrepreneur community take advantage of in our country? 

"Entrepreneurial capacity is limited by the fear of failure. There are countless opportunities, including research centres and hospitals that are references across the world, as well as well-known specialised funds such as Ysios Capital which has been leading the sector for 15 years, and new ones like Asabys Partners, in 2019, which have just closed its second fund." 

How important is the creation of spin-offs in the development of health sciences? 

"They cover stages of development with a high technological risk that cannot be assumed by pharmaceutical companies, and high costs that cannot be covered by public research systems. They play a role that is not covered by other players and they do this thanks to teams who specialise in operating in this area, and investors who are capable of estimating and assuming these risks."

What advice would you give now if you could go back to the time when you first founded the company? 

"Be brave and carry on! In the company of a good team. In our case, Sílvia, co-founder and CTO, and Gerard, CBO, have both played a very important role in all of this."

Where do you see SpliceBio in ten years’ time? 

"I see it as a gene therapy company with clinical programmes for disorders that are currently incurable. And with the first drug developed by us on the market."