Elías Campo, director of Research at Hospital Clinic Barcelona and director of the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), has won the Gregorio Marañón National Research Award in Medicine granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

He has received this recognition for his contribution to the study of lymphoid neoplasia and to improving diagnosis and treatment of these diseases.

The award comes with a cash prize of €30,000.

Hospital Clinic is a member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech.

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Oncoheroes Biosciences, a biotech start-up and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has been granted orphan drug designation (ODD) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for volasertib to treat paediatric rhabdomyosarcoma and other rare soft-tissue sarcomas.

“All the incentives that come with ODD will help us accelerate clinical development and commercialisation of our first drug, volasertib.In the United States alone, each year 450 families are diagnosed with this type of childhood cancer,” explains Ricardo Garcia, founder and CEO of Oncoheroes. Volasertib is currently in Phase I clinical trials.

The company specialises in new therapies for childhood cancers and is ...

Almirall has selected six start-ups in the second call of the accelerator program Digital Garden: AI Derm, Ampersand, Legit, Patch Ai, Tryl and Vila Health. 

All will receive the mentorship of experts in the pharmaceutical industry. They will also have the chance to carry out pilot studies in top hospitals in Barcelona, work on Almirall projects, and access Almirall’s communication and PR networks to promote their projects, among other incentives.

Francesca Wuttke, Chief Digital Officer of Almirall, explains: "We are sure that this will be a mutually beneficial collaboration that will allow us to develop solutions that will directly ...

Biotechnology firm Oryzon, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has appointed Dutch executive Torsten Hoffmann to its management team as Global R&D Director replacing Tamara Maes.

Hoffmann holds a PhD in Chemistry from ETH Zürich and has over 20 years of experience leading drug research and development at Roche, Zealand Pharma, Silence Therapeutics and Taros Chemicals.

Tamara Maes will continue as vice-president of the Oryzon Board of Directors and president of its Scientific Advisory Board, a body that is to be strengthened with prestigious new international incorporations. Since the company was founded in 2000, Maes has been instrumental in discovering ...

Just weeks after receiving a €1.6-million grant from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), biopharmaceutical firm Ability Pharma has closed a €2-million round of investment through the Capital Cell platform.The funds will go towards the company's Phase II clinical trial on its molecule ABTL0812 to treat pancreatic cancer.

Ability has received approval from the FDA and the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS) to begin the clinical trial in Spain and the United States. 

It is an international multi-centre double-blind placebo-controlled trial in patients with pancreatic cancer, who will be treated with ABTL0812 and Folfirinox ...

The Dutch group Qiagen, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has expanded its facilities in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) to 2,800 square metres to double its production capacity for Covid-19 diagnosis tests.

The inauguration took place on 23 November, in the presence of the Minister of Business and Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia, Ramon Tremosa; Rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Elias; the head of Qiagen Barcelona, Nik Baumann, CEO of the PCB, Maria Terrades; Universities and Research Secretary, Francesc Xavier Grau; General Director of Research, Joan Gómez; and the Secretary of Business and Competition, Quim Ferrer ...

Cornea Project has opened a €700,000 round on the Capital Cell platform to fund clinical development of a device for early diagnosis of keratoconus, an incurable degenerative eye disorder. In just five days, the start-up based in Sitges (Barcelona) has raised 89% of its target amount. 

The main investor to join the company's shareholders is Basque company AJL Ophthalmic. 

Cornea Project's main partners are Barraquer Ophthalmology Centre for clinical trials in Europe and Massachusetts Eye and Ear, associated with Harvard Medical School, for studies in the United States.

Recently, the biotechnology firm also opened a subsidiary in ...

Journal Farmespaña Industrial interviewed CataloniaBio & HealthTech President Judit Anido about the state of the biotechnology and healthcare sector after Covid-19 has thrust it into the global spotlight. Anido also shared the five large-scale challenges the sector has to tackle by 2025 to boost its economic impact and role as a driving force for innovation.

Read the full interview (in Spanish on pp. 56 and 57)

A twenty of CEOs and board members from the companies and start-ups in CataloniaBio & HealthTech met with Susana de Antonio, director of Euronext in Spain and head of the Tech Hub Europa initiative, on 18 November, during the CEO Council talks.

“The situation we are going through this year on the markets is not affecting the healthcare and tech sectors. This is a very good time for companies to go public,” said Susana de Antonio. “What’s more, we have a special focus on start-ups and SMEs,” she added.

Euronext is the largest stock exchange in Europe, with ...

Leitat, a technology centre member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, is taking part in the European INNO4COV-19 project, which has a budget of €6.1 million to support commercialisation of new products to fight Covid-19 over the next two years.

The consortium consists of 11 companies and entities and is led by the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL).

In total, 30 companies (working in medical technology, sensors, protection of healthcare workers, artificial intelligence and data mining) will be selected in three calls: through 30 November 2020, through 31 March 2021 and through 31 May 31 2021.

Each company will receive ...

Listen the podcast (in Spanish)

For the Capital Radio Investment Day, journalist Miguel Sanmartín interviewed CataloniaBio & HealthTech President Judit Anido to learn about the state of the healthcare and life sciences sector in Catalonia.

Anido explained that, although this has been a difficult year, it has also confirmed this sector’s strategic role not only in tackling Covid-19 but also in any future healthcare challenges and for a knowledge and innovation-based society.

According to indicators in the BioRegion of Catalonia Life Sciences and Healthcare Outlook 2020, the healthcare sector has shown strong and sustained growth over the past 10 ...

DKV has chosen the ReHub® digital telerehabilitation platform from start-up DyCare, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, to improve patient care at its 1,400 affiliated rehabilitation centres in Spain. The new service is currently available at 15 centres and is expected to be rolled out throughout the network in 2021.

Silvia Raga, co-founder and CEO of DyCare, highlights that “ReHub® makes it possible for patients to continue treatment at times when social distancing is difficult.”

“Telemedicine has gone from being a complementary service to an essential part of clinical care, which was particularly effective during the Covid-19 crisis,” ...

VB Devices, start-up member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has obtained CE marking for their CrabClamp® and Varixio® medical devices.

CrabClamp® is a first-in-class device that allows surgeons to easily secure guidewires and catheters during endovascular procedures. Having secured initial distribution agreements with specialised companies in the field, VB Devices will launch the product in Europe in January 2021, while continuing to expand its distribution network globally. 

"I am excited to see this need-based invention reach the market and hopeful it will facilitate surgical procedures for many of my colleagues and their assistants", says Dr Enric Roche, vascular surgeon and ...

Laboratorios Rubió, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has been awarded Great Place to Work® certification for its family life balance, workplace health and safety and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes.

“We’re very proud of the Laboratorios Rubió team and believe it is very important to create an environment of trust where each person can develop their talent,” explains Joan Ramon Llonch, the company’s financial and HR director. “Great Place to Work® certification is one of the most widely recognised worldwide and is a great boost for our policies,” he adds.

The pharmaceutical company has been in business for ...

Minoryx Therapeutics, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has been granted a €25-million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support development of its main drug candidate, leriglitazone, for neurodegenerative rare diseases.

Leriglitazone is being assessed in three clinical trials: Advance (Phase II/III) for adrenomyeloneuropathy (ALD), Nexus (Phase II) for cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (cALD) and Frames (Phase II) for Friedreich ataxia.

This is a long-term venture debt operation under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), an instrument the EU bank uses to support leading companies in innovative sectors.

EIB Vice-president Ricardo Mourinho Félix, who is in charge of the ...

BHV Partners, the first venture builder in the healthcare sector in southern Europe, has closed a €500,000 round of investment with participation from private investors, executives and science and medical professionals.

With just over a year in the business, BHV Partners has already invested in three start-ups: Aimentia, an artificial intelligence platform for mental health; Nela Biodynamics, which specialises in designing and developing orthopaedic devices; and Biel Glasses, which develops smart glasses.“We aim to have 30 innovative projects in our portfolio by 2025,” explained Marta Príncep, managing partner of BHV Partners, to La Vanguardia.

The venture ...

The fifth Health & Bio Team Dating event was held yesterday with great turnout: 87 speed-dating meetings, 16 projects from research groups in the healthcare and life sciences arena and 37 executives interested in contributing their expertise in business management and strategy. This year, the speed-dating event was held online.

BStartup of Banc Sabadell, Biocat and CataloniaBio & HealthTech created this initiative in 2015 after detecting that “the sector needed strong companies with solid teams, both in science and in business,” noted Biocat CEO Jordi Naval in his introduction to the event, which you can watch again here.

“ ...

The public agency of the Catalan Government Catalonia Trade & Investment interviewed the president of CataloniaBio & HealthTech Judit Anido. 

Judit Anido is the first woman to lead the association of companies and pioneer agents in research, development and innovation in the healthcare and life sciences sector in Catalonia. A sector that has become a class-leading hub in Europe and that is undergoing constant growth, as can be seen in the figures from the latest BioRegion of Catalonia Report 2020.

In this interview, Anido explains that Catalan start-ups have raised some 120 million euros between January and ...

CataloniaBio & HealthTech has joined the call Por una Estrategia a Largo Plazo por la Ciencia y la Innovación en España (For a Long-Term Science and Innovation Strategy in Spain) promoted by SOMMa, the Spanish Association for Cancer Research (Aseica) and the Spanish Bioindustry Association (Asebio). In total, more than 40 organisations in the life sciences and innovation arena have signed the document announced today.

Before the preliminary general budgetary plan for Spain is passed and with the opportunities arising from the Reconstruction Plan, the Green Deal and the missions of the new Horizon Europe framework programme, the main science ...

Moirai Biodesign, a start-up and member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has developed a prototype for a device using biosensors to diagnose sepsis from a blood sample in just three hours. 

Amadís Pagès, CEO of Moirai, highlights: “This will allow clinical specialists to make decisions more quickly, as this process normally takes up to five days of laboratory analysis.”

Moirai aims to commercialise the device in hospitals after completing the validation phase. 

Sepsis is a complication of infection and, if not treated in time, leads to multiple organ failure and death. 27-30 million cases are diagnosed each ...