Horizon Europe, the European Union’s framework programme for investment in research and innovation for 2021-2027, has kicked off after being published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) on 12 May 2021.

Horizon Europe has a total budget of €95.5 billion, 30% more than its predecessor Horizon 2020.

The new programme has three main pillars: 

Peptomyc, a spin-off of the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) and the Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has kicked off its Phase I/IIa clinical trial on the first Myc inhibitor. Myc is a gene involved in the development of most human cancers.

On 4 May, the first patient was treated with this therapy at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona under the supervision of Dr Elena Garralda, director of the Research Unit for Molecular Therapy of Cancer (UITM) and principal investigator of VHIO’s Early Clinical Drug Development Group.

The objective ...

The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation has presented its part of the European Union's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for a total of €3.38 billion distributed between 2021 and 2023.

These resources represent a 60% increase in the Ministry's budget compared to 2020 and are structured in nine investment blocks:

The University of Barcelona (UB) becomes a shareholder of Reveal Genomics, a spin-off of the Hospital Clínic Barcelona and the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), which develops precision diagnostic tests in oncology based on different genomic data.

Initially, the company focused on improving the diagnosis of breast cancer.

Reveal Genomics was founded in 2020 and is led by Aleix Prat, head of the Medical Oncology Service at Hospital Clínic, together with Ana Vivancos from the VHIO, Charles M. Perou and Joel S. Parker, from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (USA) and Patricia Villagrasa, CEO of the biotech.

This ...

Predictheon, a spin-off of the Hospital Clínic Barcelona, the University of Navarra and the University of San Buenaventura Cali, has closed its first investment round of €840,000 led by the University of Navarra I+D+I Technology Transfer Fund, under the management of Clave venture capital firm. 

The transaction has been coordinated by the strategic and corporate finance consultancy firm, Inveniam Group. 

Predictheon develops software-based monitoring solutions, through artificial intelligence techniques such as machine learning and deep learning, for the prediction of clinically relevant real-time patient metrics and outcomes in different areas of anesthesia and perioperative care ...

Ability Pharma, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, announces the inclusion of the first patients with advanced pancreatic cancer in a Phase IIb clinical trial with ABTL0812.

The study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of ABTL0812 in combination with Folfirinox in 150 patients as first-line therapy. The clinical trial has started simultaneously at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center (USA) and at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona. Dr Davendra Sohal and Dr Teresa Macarulla are principal investigators, respectively. 

In total, the international study will include sixteen sites: four in the USA, six in Spain, three ...

Sequentia Biotech, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, and NextBiomics, a University of Naples Federico II spin-off, announced the filing of a patent application for a bacterial vaccine against COVID-19.

The NextBiomics vaccine is similar to others authorised (AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer and Reithera) in that it stimulates an immune response against the Spike-shaped protein that the coronavirus uses to infect cells, but its difference lies in usinga probiotic bacterium as a vector. 

"The evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic indicates that citizens will have to continue to undergo the recall vaccination. The strength of our approach with oral ...

Asabys Partners becomes the first venture capital firm specialised in the health sector to obtain the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) management system accreditation in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) from United Nations.

Asabys has carried out this process together with consulting firm Planet Fair Play and has also undergone an audit and certification by Bureau Veritas.

The Barcelona-based management company founded by Josep Lluís Sanfeliu and Clara Campàs has been active and impacting the sector for almost three years now. From the outset, they have always considered sustainability as a fundamental pillar of their strategic objectives and they ...

Gebro Pharma, a pharmaceutical company and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has appointed Ricard Castellet as the company's Digital Transformation Officer in Spain. 

This new position in the company is part of the board of Commercial Operations led by Gustavo Pérez which aims to bring digital technology to all areas, especially in products and services for patients and the public health system. 

Gebro Pharma specialises in solutions for pain, rheumatology, urology, dermatology and the respiratory system.

Castellet graduated in Sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), and has more than 20 years of experience in launching and consolidating ...

Pharmacelera, a startup specialising in research into molecules using quantum mechanics and artificial intelligence and a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has closed a €1-million round of funding on Capital Cell led by investors from the pharmaceutical sector.

This funding aims to accelerate the company’s commercial plan, especially in the North-American market, and to carry out two proof-of-concept studies in areas that are strategic for the company’s positioning. Recently, the company hired Bill Wiersma, former VP for Sales and Marketing at Labtronics (acquired by PerkinElmer), as its North America Sales Manager.

Pharmacelera has developed the computing platform called PharmScreen® which ...

The CataloniaBio & HealthTech Regulatory Affairs Workgroup devoted its ninth Hard Reg Café session to the regulatory challenges facing advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP), on 28 April.

ATMP are highly innovative drugs that are needed to treat diseases in the 21st century. In the European Union, 17 were authorised between 2009 and 2020. Oncology is the main area, followed by neurology, infectious diseases and endocrinology.

“ATMP based on the patient’s own genes, cells or tissues are revolutionising healthcare, but the regulatory process for them isn’t easy,” noted Lluís Chico, managing partner of NEOS Surgery and first vice-president of CataloniaBio ...

The Metabolism Research Centre (Ceremet) in the Faculty of Biology at the University of Barcelona has received a Good Laboratory Practice (BPL) certificate for handling trial products and obtaining specimens, awarded by the Government of Catalonia.

Since 2003, Ceremet has been offering scientific guidance and experimental support for pharmaceutical and biomedical businesses. Their expertise in physiology, biochemistry and metabolism means they can conduct in vitro studies, biochemical analyses and pre-clinical studies, including studies with animal models.

Furthermore, Ceremet has a network of collaborators within the Faculty of Biology and the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute to extend their services ...

Genesis Biomed, a consultancy firm and a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, and DKV have signed a collaboration agreement to promote digital health through DKV Innolab.

DKV Innolab is a space located in the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site in Barcelona, designed to generate practical knowledge, research and analysis on emergent trends in this field, which will play a determining role in the post-COVID-19 era.

Natàlia de la Figuera, partner and COO at Genesis Biomed, pointed out "we will provide DKV Innolab with our business development knowledge, mainly in the field of entrepreneurship, to find the best business models to reach ...

Aortyx, a spin-off of Institut Químic de Sarrià and Hospital Clinic Barcelona that is developing an innovative patch for minimally invasive treatment of aortic dissections, has closed its second round of funding for €2.4 million through acrowdequity campaign on Capital Cell. CataloniaBio & Healthtech, which Aortyx is a member of, announced the round in early March.

This round brought in Medex Partners, Vergara Capital and several family offices as new shareholders. 

The financial resources will go to kick off pilot clinical trials in patients scheduled for 2022.

Between capital and competitive grants, Aortyx has raised nearly €5 million ...

Asian biopharmaceutical firm SeriTech, which has a subsidiary in Barcelona and is a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has hired cardiovascular surgeon Manuel Galiñanes as its new Chief Medical Officer.

Galiñanes has a PhD in Physiology and Biochemistry from the University of London, a degree in Medicine from the University of Salamanca and in Cardiovascular Surgery from the Complutense University of Madrid. He practised for over 20 years in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada and has been head of Cardiac Surgery at Vall d’Hebron Hospital and co-founder of the European Society of Cardiology’s working group on Cell Therapy.  ...

Enantia, a Contract Research Organisation (CRO) member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech and specialised in medicinal chemistry, process chemistry and solid form development, has expanded its facilities at the Barcelona Science Park commissioning a new Kilo Lab.

The Kilo Lab is designed for the development, scale up and production of key intermediates and compounds to be used in preclinical phases of the development of a drug.

More information

Photo: Enantia's Kilo Lab - © Barcelona Science Park

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Better Care, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member that provides connectivity and clinical data management solutions for hospitals, has appointed Xavier García Ordóñez as its new CEO.

García Ordóñez holds a degree in Business Management and Administration from the Open University of Catalonia and a postgraduate degree in Market Access and Institutional Relations from EADA. He has more than 20 years of experience in sales team management and Market Access. In his career, he has worked in executive positions at the multinational medical technology company Smith & Nephew and Brill Pharma.

“We are embarking on a new era with three objectives ...

Thanks to research and innovation, today we have more personalised treatments for serious diseases like cancer and the COVID-19 vaccines. The Science and Technology Section of the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC) devoted its Science Thursdays conference yesterday to competitive innovation being done in Catalonia in the health arena.

The guest speakers were Judit Anido, CEO of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, the organisation that represents companies in the sector, and Laia Arnal, Business Development director at Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR).

The session kicked off with a welcome from IEC Science Section President Alícia Casals (co-founder of the spin-off Rob Surgical ...

Twenty-eight renowned researchers, including Josep M. Canals and Unai Perpiñá from the Production and Validation Centre of Advanced Therapies (Creatio) at the University of Barcelona, have created the Stem Cells for Huntington's Disease (SC4HD) consortium to promote advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) for Huntington’s Disease.

The main goals of SC4HD are to work together with the Huntington’s Disease community, develop criteria and guidance and address the main challenges to quickly and safely bring potentially beneficial stem cell-based therapies to patients. 

The researchers are based in ten different countries.

SC4HD was officially announced in a recent issue of the Journal ...

Juan Suárez of the Barcelona law firm Aránega, Miravitlles & Suárez, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has been listed on the prestigious Chambers & Partners Europe 2021 ranking as one of the top lawyers in Spain in the life sciences.

Aránega, Miravitlles & Suárez advise pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare product companies and institutions on investment operations, contracts, taxes, and corporate and regulatory issues. The founding partners are Francisco Aránega, Javier Miravitlles, Juan Suárez and Anna Mitjavila.

Want to learn more about Aránega, Miravitlles & Suárez? We recommend this video of CataloniaBio & HealthTech interviewing them: