Inbiomotion, a CataloniaBio &HealthTech member, is developing a unique single-gene-based biomarker for the personalized adjuvant treatment of early-stage (stage I-III) breast cancer patients.  They recently announced the publication of the resultsof the prospectively-planned, retrospective analysis of clinical outcome data from a new clinical study in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Cancer Spectrum.  The data show that in patients with MAF-negative tumors (determined with Inbiomotion’s proprietary MAF Test®), adjuvant treatment with clodronate was associated with a significant benefit in overall survival compared to placebo-treated control patients receiving the same standard of care.

Results confirm the company’s previous data (AZURE trial analyses ...

After postponing it due to COVID-19, the tenth edition of BIOSPAIN was held the last week of September, from 27 to 30, online all the days and in-person on 29 and 30 in Pamplona.  It has been one of the first major events in the sector during the pandemic with the participation of a thousand professionals, half of them in-person, from about 600 entities in 30 different countries.  More than 2,000 one-on-one meetings between national and international professionals and investors have been closed online and in person.

Sessions and round tables were the forum for discussion, to address issues ...

Nuage Therapeutics has announced the closing of a financing round by Sabadell Asabys, the investment vehicle managed by Asabys Partners, members of CataloniaBio & HealthTech. With this injection of capital, the spin-off will start its work discovering drugs aimed at therapeutic targets currently considered undruggable.

Based at the Barcelona Science Park, Nuage Therapeutics uses a proprietary assay to discover new drugs for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Further pre-clinical programs will be announced in the coming months. The scientists behind Nuage Therapeutics have spent years investigating target proteins currently considered undruggable  due to their unique structural properties.

The financing ...

The health sector is a rising sector. Investment in health start-ups in Catalonia doubles in just two years, to over €200 million in 2020, and Barcelona has climbed to fifth place in Europe in rounds of investment in digital health. This is shown by the data collected in the BioRegion  of Catalonia Life Sciences and Healthcare Outlook 2020, by CataloniaBio & HealthTech and Biocat, which has motivated a series of special articles to give visibility to some of the projects that are representative of the strengths of the Catalan sector.

One of the keys to success is the previous innovative ...

GoodGut, a CataloniaBio  & HealthTech member, dedicated to early diagnoses to improve digestive health, will now also form part of HIPRA’s  strategy to continue delivering innovative solutions to patients. One of the most innovative products in its portfolio is the RAID-CRC  test, which enables the quick, early and precise detection of colorectal cancer.

The GoodGut company, located at the Science and Technological Park of the University of Girona, was founded by Mariona Serra Pagès, Xavier Aldeguer, Jesús Garcia-Gil and Jaume Amat in 2014 as a spin-off of the University of Girona and the Dr. Josep Trueta Biomedical Research Institute ...

CataloniaBio & HealthTech, aiming to promote the interests of the business network of the sector, has joined Barcelona Global in the initiative to review and  provide feedback on the Spanish draft law that will affect and regulate start-ups. The document was submitted within the public participation period, which closed at the end of July.

The draft law presented by the Spanish government is welcomed as a first step towards the creation of a legal and fiscal framework to promote entrepreneurship in Spain. The document lists some measures that the sector has long been calling for, but much remains to meet ...

Banco Sabadell is launching the fourth edition of BStartup Health call for proposals to support three early stage start-ups in the healthcare sector with an investment of €100,000 and strategic mentoring. The deadline for applications is 30 September 2021.

The projects will be evaluated based on their potential for growth and scalable, innovative business models.

The scientific committee is made up of Clara Campàs, founding partner at Asabys; Carlos Gallardo, CEO of CG Health and Almirall board member; Damià Tormo, partner of Columbus Venture Partners and CEO of Artax Biofarma; and Montserrat Vendrell, partner at Alta Life Science and ...

Devicare, member of CataloniaBio &  HealthTech and one of the leading biotechnology companies in urology in the state, continues its growth plan by entering the Pharmacy for the first time. Through an agreement with Difefac Pharma, which will distribute its Nodorin® 30 ml  and Urogelus® 125 ml products, intended for urological hygiene.

The biotech company, which recently closed a round of financing with Advanced MedTech Holdings, has reached an agreement with Difefac Pharma, a leading company in the exclusive distribution and marketing of Pharmacy and Parapharmacy products, with the aim of ensuring the presence of these products in all pharmacies ...

Onalabs, CataloniaBio & HealthTech  member, launches a round of investment of 1.2 million euros to develop two digital devices for home hospitalization of chronic patients and sports medicine based on sensory bioengineering. The devices act as microlaboratories turning the skin into a data platform. The company, which has already raised an equal amount on competitive funds, has launched three different private investment  channels: Onalabs Investment, direct investors and the international  crowdfunding platform Crowdcube.

The injection of this capital should allow to accelerate the market launch of two of the three devices under development by Onalabs in the first half ...

Oncoheroes Biosciences, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, announces the investment of Kier’s Kidz, a childhood cancer non-profit from New Jersey.  This the first time Kier’s Kidz invested in a biotech company, that since 2012, has been helping children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer by funding cancer treatments and research. This investment adds to those received at Oncoheroes Biosciences from the non-profit organizations Catalytic Impact Foundation and the Gregory  Foundation for Cancer Research earlier  this year.

The news of the investment coincides with the start of the Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. “What a fantastic way to celebrate Childhood ...

CataloniaBio & HealthTech is launching the seventh edition of its Biosuccess Award, an initiative that will recognise the best business milestone of 2020 in the health and life sciences sector in Catalonia. The deadline for submitting candidacies is 19 September, using this form.

The winner will receive an honorific award at the 2021 UnConference, the annual day of debates and discussions on the future of solutions for healthcare, with over 50 entrepreneurs and C-Level executives. The UnConference will be held on November in a blended format.

The panel of judges will be made up of members of the CataloniaBioHT Board ...

IMIDomics, a Vall d'Hebron spin-off, has completed a 14 million euros Series A financing round led by DNS Capital with additional investment from Bristol Myers Squibb, The Pritzker Organization, TAO Capital and others. 

It is one of the largest investment operations in the biomedicine and health sector in Catalonia to date.

IMIDomics was founded in Barcelona in 2015 by Sara Marsal, head of the Rheumatology Department at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and head of the Rheumatology Research Group at the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), and Richard M. Myers, president and Scientific Director at the HudsonAlpha Institute for ...

The journal Arthritis Research & Therapy has published the study Application of systems biology-based in silico tools to optimise treatment strategy identification in Still's disease carried out by Anaxomics Biotech, Novartis and the Münster University Children's Hospital using technology based on systems biology and artificial intelligence. 

Four biologic drugs (Anakinra, Canakinumab, Sarilumab and Tocilizumab) and two non-biologic drugs (Methotrexate and Prednisone) have been analysed.

Anaxomics' TPMS (Therapeutic Performance Mapping System) technology has made it possible to simulate patients with Still's disease or juvenile idiopathic arthritis treated with the drugs under study and to analyse the most efficient treatment. The ...

Next Generation EU funds under the European recovery plan to tackle the economic and social consequences caused by COVID-19 are expected to arrive imminently. Companies and organisations in the biomedicine and healthcare sector are waiting for this opportunity to advance in innovation, digitalisation, ecological transition and reindustrialisation.

CataloniaBio & HealthTech and KPMG organised a webinar on 12 July about the 5 most relevant points to take into account with more than 90 executives and professionals.

Judit Anido, CEO of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, pointed out that "the healthcare sector and its highly innovative component should be key in building a more ...

On 15 July, Barcelona Global presented the second edition of the Scale-Up Monitor to the High Commissioner for Spain Entrepreneurial Nation, Francisco Polo, with a study that highlights Barcelona's strengths and weaknesses as a centre for technology-based scale-ups.

Those taking part in the event included Jordi Nicolau, Director of Retail and Customer Experience at CaixaBank; Aurora Catà, President of Barcelona Global; Mateu Hernández, CEO of Barcelona Global; Cristina H. Valiñani, Director of Projects at Barcelona Global; and around thirty stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, such as CataloniaBio & HealthTech, represented by its CEO Judit Anido.

Barcelona is ranked among the ...

The digital health start-up SocialDiabetes, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, and the Irish firm Innovation Zed Ltd have signed an agreement to enhance health outcomes for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

The companies will pursue joint efforts to sell their products as a single integrated system.

Innovation Zed has developed InsulCheck Connect, an insulin pen add-on technology which automatically collects essential usage data that informs users of their injection history. SocialDiabetes is one of the most established diabetes management software providers.

"Therapy adherence is a serious issue and we are dedicated to making a cumbersome task as ...

Biotechnology firm Gate2Brain, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has won the Barcelona Activa pre-acceleration contest for early stage high-impact entrepreneurial projects.

The programme will allow Gate2Brain to validate its business model with experts, share experiences with similar projects, accelerate access to market and get a €5,000 prize.

Gate2Brain was created in 2020 as a spin-off of the University of Barcelona, IRB Barcelona and Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute. The company has developed a peptide-based technology platform for developing therapies that cross the blood-brain barrier. 

Its R&D pipeline includes a first-in-class drug (G2B-001) that has been shown to ...

Inbrain Neuroelectronics, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, announces a collaboration with Merck to co-develop the next generation of graphene bioelectronic vagus nerve therapies targeting severe chronic diseases in Merck’s therapeutic areas.

The collaboration will be carried out through Inbrain’s subsidiary Innervia Bioelectronics.

Inbrain is one of the most advanced and promising neurotechnology companies in the world (created at the crossroads of medical technology, deeptech and digital health). Recently, digital media outlet Sifted.eu (Financial Times) ranked it ahead of Elon Musk’s company Neuralink. 

“Bioelectronic devices have the capability to directly communicate with the nervous system. Recording nerve signals and ...

More than 30 Catalan companies from the biomedical sector took part in the Hospital Connection session on medical needs not covered at Bellvitge, hosted by the CataloniaBio & HealthTech Innovation Workgroup on 28 June.

Medical professionals from Bellvitge University Hospital presented the main challenges that need new technology developed, in order to find joint hospital-business solutions that can reach patients as soon as possible. The event, held online, received collaboration from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL).

The event was presented by Marta Palicio, third vice-president of CataloniaBio & HealthTech and CIO of Biokit; and Melqui Calzado, secretary general ...

Avinent, Althaia Foundation and Bages–UManresa University Foundation have created MAP+, an innovation and technology hub for personalised medicine and healthcare in Bages county (Barcelona) and Central Catalonia.

The main lines of work at MAP+ are tech experience, to develop, test and validate new technology; collaboration with medical technology companies; teaching and training; research, innovation, attracting and retaining talent; and collaborating with healthcare and dependent care centres to ensure technology is applicable.

The initiative is supported by the Manresa City Council, Bages County Council and the Manresa Chamber of Commerce.

Avinent is a leading international company in dental implantology led by ...