On this page you’ll find the latest news about CataloniaBio & HealthTech and the member companies and knowledge stakeholders in the field of health and life sciences.
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10 December 2018
Innovamed, CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has expanded the production centre in Barberà del Vallès (Barcelona).
Created in 2004 by the founders of Grupo Gema, and currently managed by José Ortíz, Innovamed is focused on providing services cleanroom for medical and pharmaceutical sector: injection and microinjection of plastic parts or components, coupling and packaging services, and contract manufacturing.
10 December 2018
Avinent, CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, will invest €8 million to expand its facilities by 7.000 square metres in Santpedor (Barcelona). The construction of the building, designed by the architect Manuel Guerrero, will finish in 2022.
The company’s new building is a reflection of the ambition, modernity and technological spirit of the firm. Last year Avinent has made a commitment to 3D printing, apart from its dental implant solutions. In this sense, new areas will be created for 3D printing in metal and polymers, laboratories of new technologies of 3D printing and bio-printing, a space for innovation and R & ...
9 December 2018
On 5 December in Barcelona, Biocat presented the 2017 Biocat Report, the benchmark study that analyses the life sciences and healthcare sector in Catalonia. More than 300 professionals attended the event chaired by President of the Catalan Government, Quim Torra.
The life sciences and healthcare sector accounts for 7.2% of the country's GDP. On average, a new start-up company opens every week in the medical and life sciences sector. In 2017, the sector had 1,060 companies, nearly 58,000 employees and a joint turnover of some €17.8 billion, with an average annual growth of 2.4% between ...
5 December 2018
More than 60 executives from companies and stakeholders that are members of CataloniaBio & HealthTech participated in the first UnConference, held on 29 November at the Sant Pere de Clarà Farmhouse in Argentona (Barcelona), to debate the future of therapeutic solutions for healthcare in Catalonia and the world. The sector currently makes up 7.2% of the Catalan GDP and companies are raising more than €100 million in investment each year.
The welcome session was hosted by Jaume Amat, president of CataloniaBio & HealthTech and CEO of Specipig, and Albert Barberà, director general for Research and Innovation in ...
4 December 2018
Accompanied by the director general of research, Joan Gómez, the president of the Government of Catalonia, Quim Torra, visited on 30th November the company Rob Surgical in El Prat de Llobregat (Barcelona). The company designs and develops new robotic systems for minimally invasive surgery.
During the visit, the president and the director general of research attended a simulation of the Bitrack System carrying out a nephrectomy with Dr Lluís Peri of Barcelona's Hospital Clínic.
"It is encouraging to see innovative companies such as Rob Surgical that are international right from the start. We hope to bring this technology to ...
4 December 2018
Lamentem comunicar-vos la defunció sobtada de l'Àlex Casta, membre de la nostra associació i bon amic de molts de nosaltres. En nom de la junta volem expressar el més sentit condol a la seva família i amics per aquesta trista pèrdua. L'Àlex ha estat l'ànima d'UPF Ventures, un projecte empresarial en el qual tenia dipositada una gran il·lusió i estava realitzant un excel·lent treball. Anteriorment va ocupar càrrecs de responsabilitat a Caixa Capital Risc, Biocat i la Fundació Bosch i Gimpera, a més de fundar l'start-up RadisMed.
La vetlla es farà el dimarts 11 de desembre de 16 h ...
3 December 2018
The co-founder and CEO of GoodGut, Mariona Serra, was honoured with the Fidem 2018 award for innovation at a gala held on 29 November in CaixaFòrum Barcelona. Serra received the award from the Catalan Minister of the Presidency, Elsa Artadi, who took part in the event alongside the Minister of Enterprise and Knowledge, Àngels Chacón.
For the last 21 years, the International Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs (Fidem) has through this award recognised successes and initiatives by women who, through good management of their businesses, contribute to economic and social development.
3 December 2018
The biotechnology company Iproteos and the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), CataloniaBio & HealthTech members, and the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) are set to develop an innovative treatment to slow down, stop and even reverse the growth of solid tumors, which represent more than 90% of cancer cases.
The project, which received €935,000 from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, through of the call 2017 Retos, will focus in its first phase on two of the most common solid tumors in children and adolescents, rhabdomyosarcoma and neuroblastoma, as well as in lung and colon ...
21 November 2018
Kymos Pharma Services, a Contract Research Organisation that provides quality control and R&D services for the biopharmaceutical industry and a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has added Dr Montserrat Barceló to its Board of Directors as an independent external advisor. The company has therefore completed the process of gradually filling its executive bodies with professionals in order to tackle new challenges associated with international expansion.
Barceló has a degree in medicine from the University of Barcelona and a master from the ESADE Executive Programme for Women in Upper Management. She is currently director of operations at TFS and a founding partner ...
16 November 2018
Kymos Pharma Services, una Contract Laboratory Organization que ofereix serveis d'R+D i control de qualitat per a la indústria biofarmacèutica associada a CataloniaBio & HealthTech, ha incorporat la Dra. Montserrat Barceló al consell d'administració com a consellera externa independent. La companyia culmina així un procés gradual de professionalització dels seus òrgans de direcció per abordar nous reptes d'expansió internacional.
Barceló és llicenciada en Medicina per la Universitat de Barcelona i màster de Programa Executiu de Dones en l'Alta Direcció d'ESADE. Actualment és directora d'operacions de TFS i sòcia fundadora de l'Associació Espanyola de Executives i Conselleres (EJE & ...
14 November 2018
Grifols presented AMBAR (Alzheimer Management by Albumin Replacement) top line results phase IIb/III at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s disease congress hold on 27th October in Barcelona.
Dr Antonio Páez, Grifols Medical Director and Head of the AMBAR Clinical Program, confirmed that "the analysis of AMBAR data in moderate patients has shown positive, highly relevant results in a cohort of patients suffering from moderate Alzheimer’s disease."
The combination of Plasmapheresis, a well known and safe procedure used in plasma exchange, with Albutein® (Albumin) may offer a new treatment pathway for the illness.
Fundació ACE in Barcelona and ...
13 November 2018
FreeOx Biotech, a spin-out of Hospital Clinic Barcelona-IDIBAPS created in 2017 that is developing a new class of neuroprotective drugs, has closed its first round of funding with €500,000 from private investors Montserrat Esteve and Francisco Javier Alsina.
The biotech member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech has two highly promising molecules in its pipeline to treat stroke and other diseases of the central nervous system (CNS): Ox-01 and Ox-02.
With this funding, they will carry out formulation and preclinical trials with in vivo testing on Ox-02. Also, “it will allow us to prepare to start phase III clinical ...
12 November 2018
iVascular, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has acquired 10% of the shares of the American start-up NaviGate Cardiac Structures for €8,7 million. With this purchase, iVascular becomes part of the Board of Directors of the Navigate.
The agreement between both companies, contemplates the joint development of a new product: the tricuspid valve with percutaneous access. Clinical studies are currently underway in the United States and Europe to analyze the efficacy and safety of this valve, that is estimated to be ready for clinical application by 2020.
iVascular has its headquarters in Sant Vicenç dels Horts (Barcelona).
Photo ...
11 November 2018
Ahead Therapeutics, a company promoted by ZBM Business Connect in 2017, is preparing for a new funding round to start the clinical trials. The first round amounted to a total of 2 million euros.
The biotech aims to develop new drugs against autoimmune diseases (type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, celiac disease, pemphigus and thyroiditis). Its technology comes from the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA).
ZBM Business Connect, division of ZBM Patents & Trademarks and a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member ...
7 November 2018
Reig Jofre has inaugurated the expansion of its plant in Toledo, which has a total of 15,200 square metres. This additional space is used for a new line specialising in penicillin-derivative antibiotics.
The pharmaceutical corporation, led by Ignasi Biosca and a member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has invested €10 million in the new facility, which will meet the company's current needs in the national and international markets and allow it to enter the United States market in 2019.
The event, on 23 October, featured President of Spain Pedro Sánchez, President of Castile-La Mancha Emiliano García-Page, Mayor of Toledo Milagros ...
6 November 2018
Laboratorios Rubió has invested €4 million in its factory in Castellbisbal (Barcelona) with its sights set on the United States, according to newspaper La Vanguardia. The pharmaceutical corporation led by Pelayo Rubió produces 6 million units of its drugs each year.
"We hope to market our products in North America by 2020," said Pelayo Rubió.
The company saw revenue of €30.7 million in 2017, up 20% from 2016, and is present in 47 countries.
We recommend this video of CataloniaBio & HealthTech interviewing Pelayo Rubió:
2 November 2018
The digital therapeutics company Devicare, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, and the multinational company Exeltis have signed an agreement to market the Lit-Control® family of products in Spain.
Lit-Control® is the world's first digital therapeutics solution that allows the most common urological diseases to be prevented and treated effectively from home while also improving patients' adherence to the treatment.
“We're excited to work with Exeltis to expand the use of Lit-Control® and provide a response to the uncovered medical needs in the area of urology thanks to the constant work with the scientific-medical community and patients” says Rosendo ...
30 October 2018
The biomedical industry entrepreneur Antonio Parente has joined the Specipig board of directors as an independent member. Parente will combine this position with his roles on the governing bodies of GP Pharm and BCN Peptides.
Parente's experience will be key in the Catalan company's international consolidation phase, five years after it was founded. Specipig is the only company in the whole of Europe to offer the whole process from pig breeding to CRO services for biomedical research. 80% of its turnover is already from other countries.
Dr Parente was a founder of CataloniaBio, and in 2010 and 2014 was president ...
29 October 2018
Oryzon Genomics, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, announced the successful closure of the subscription of a capital increase of 13 million euros through ordinary shares. The offering included corporate investors specialized in healthcare and life sciences from the USA and Europe.
On the other hand, the biopharmaceutical company started the inclusion of the first patient in a Phase IIa clinical trial with Iadademstat (ORY-1001) in elderly Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). The study named ALICE (AML trial with LSD1i in Combination with azacitidine in the Elderly) is conducted at two Spanish hospitals, La Fe in Valencia and Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona ...
26 October 2018
Aelix Therapeutics, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, and Gilead Sciences Inc. have entered into collaboration to jointly evaluate proprietary research products in a strategic clinical study aimed at achieving a functional cure for HIV.
The collaboration will allow them to conduct clinical study Aelix-003 to assess the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity and efficacy of a regimen of the Aelix HTI T-cell vaccine and the Gilead Toll-Like Receptor 7 agonist vesatolimod in HIV-infected individuals already on antiretroviral therapy. The Aelix-003 trial is expected to begin in early 2019.
Aelix Therapeutics has its headquarters at the Barcelona Science Park.
Photo: Dr ...