fetaLife Technologies, a spin-off created in 2025 by Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and the University of Barcelona, a member of Catalonia.health, promotes the transfer to clinical practice of a disruptive technology aimed at improving survival and reducing the sequelae of extremely premature babies.
The company has taken a new step in the development of Europe's first artificial placenta after its functional liquid incubator prototype managed to maintain a healthy 21-day survival in an experimental model, as well as more than 13 months of postnatal survival with good neurodevelopmental outcomes. This breakthrough represents a significant milestone in the development of a technology that aims to transform the treatment of extremely premature babies.
The project, led by BCNatal and promoted by the "la Caixa" Foundation with an investment of 7.65 million euros, has developed a system that recreates the physiological conditions of the maternal womb by means of an artificial placenta or liquid incubator. The aim is to offer an alternative to current treatments for babies born at approximately six months of gestation, increasing their chances of survival and reducing the risk of serious sequelae associated with extreme prematurity.
After more than five years of research, the team has managed to validate key aspects of the system, such as the transition from the liquid incubator to a conventional incubator, reproducing the process that is expected to follow in a future clinical application. With these results, fetaLife is now working on adapting the technology for use in humans and preparing the first clinical trials, scheduled for 2028-2029.
This scientific progress has recently been accompanied by several recognitions in the company's history. fetaLife has been selected as Catalonia Exponential Leader 2026 by ACCIÓ, it has been a finalist in the V Business Project Competition of the VI INNOVATIA 8.3 Congress in the knowledge-based business project category and it has also been chosen as a finalist in the AIJEC Awards in the Best Business Initiative category, with the final verdict scheduled for next September.
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