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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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.

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Comser —previously Compliance Services— has been chosen the best business initiative of 2018 by the Cecot employers' association. The awards were given out on 23 October at the Nit de l'Empresari (Businesspeople's Night) at Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (National Theatre of Catalonia) before an audience of 900 people.

"We are very proud of being recognised for the company's progress since it was founded in 2013. This award strengthens our confidence in our values to tackle the future enthusiastically," commented Jaume Vallet, founder of Comser.

Comser, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, provides consulting, auditing, validation and engineering services for the ...

The University of Barcelona Production and validation centre of advanced therapies (Creatio), a member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, is coordinating the Advanced Stem Cell Technologies for Neurology (ASCTN-Training) programme that has been launched with €3.8 million in funding from the European Commission Horizon 2020 programme.

ASCTN-Training brings together eleven public and private institutions, providing training in interdisciplinary research and high-level transversal skills for fourteen young researchers to develop cell therapies applied to neuronal disorders.

It should be noted that another Catalan entity, the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), is also participating.

Additionally, this week Creatio has been accredited ...

Mabia, a Barcelona based registered financial analysis firm with a long track record in the Spanish Alternative Stock Market (MAB), has been selected as Spanish equity research partner for Euronext’s Trade & Leverage programme, part of its European Tech SME initiative to assist tech companies in developing their business on a greater scale through capital markets.

Jordi Rovira, CEO of Mabia, says "we are very proud to have been selected as Spanish equity research partner for German, Italian, Spanish and Swiss tech companies newly listed on Euronext".

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Photo: Jordi Rovira - IMB Grup

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Twenty biomedical research projects and nearly thirty business development experts and mentors participated in the fourth edition of Health & Bio Team Dating in Barcelona, the only business speed-dating event in the sector hold on 17th October in Barcelona. This edition of Health & Bio Team Dating hosted 90 speed dates, with scientists presenting their research to professionals with business experience interested in growing these projects as mentors, entrepreneurs or business developers.

Health & Bio Team Dating is promoted by Banc Sabadell BStartup, Biocat and CataloniaBio & HealthTech, and took place for the first time under the framework ...

Bionure, a biotech company specialized in neuroprotection member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, announces the appointment of Dr. Laurent Nguyen as the new CEO and strengthens its scientific team with the arrival of Dr. Amit Bar-Or, a multiple sclerosis specialist.

Nguyen is doctor in Medicine and has a solid experience in the pharmaceutical industry at Hoechst-Roussel, Merck, F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Pierre Fabre. He then moved to the biotech sector where he became CEO of a French academic spin-off that he developed into a publicly traded clinical biotech company.

The ongoing Phase I clinical trial of its neuroprotective and remyelinating compound ...

CataloniaBio & HealthTech has launched a Regulatory Affairs Workgroup (WG) in order to help members stay up-to-date on regulatory changes and implementations, boost institutional relations with agencies, foster the transfer of expertise and know-how to start-ups, and give companies the chance to express their concerns, propose activities and participate in carrying them out.

This WG is coordinated by Lidia Cánovas (Asphalion) and Lluís Chico (NEOS Surgery), both of which are board members, with support from Melqui Calzado (secretary general). "We hope members will participate actively to make this a quality WG that is useful to all," highlighted the coordinating ...

Institut Marquès, a global benchmark in gynaecology, obstetrics and assisted reproduction with its main headquarters in Barcelona, has opened a new facility in the modern Beacon Court medical services centre in Sandyford (Ireland). The city of Sandyford is well connected to the centre of Dublin, where the clinic has a surgery for medical appointments.

Created by generations of gynaecologists, InstitutMarquès became a member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech in 2018 and has a scientific division led by Dr Alex Garcia-Faura that is working on several lines of research.

The centre has the latest technology, such as the most modern genetic analysis ...

Pangaea Oncology, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has named Alejandro García Moncayo the new corporate general manager of the company.

García Moncayo has a degree in Business Administration and Management from Pompeu Fabra University and studied a Management development programme at Iese and a master in Corporate finance at Esade. With more than 11 years of experience, he has worked at companies including AB-Biotics and Renta Corporación. The executive says the project is "highly ambitious and very interesting".

Founded in Barcelona in 2007, Pangea Oncology is a medical services company focusing on precision oncology through its clinical care division at ...

Ysios Capital, venture capital firm specialised in life sciences and member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, announced that it has appointed Guillem Laporta as Principal and Claudia D’Augusta and Lance Berman as new Venture Partners to strengthen the strategic area and analysis, as well as international projection.

Laporta started his career at Caixa Capital Risc. Since 2013 was Associate at Edmond de Rothschild group (now Andera Partners). 

D'Augusta has an extensive experience in the financial management of biotechnology companies and currently is General Manager at TiGenix. Prior to joining Ysios, Berman was CMO and Senior Vice President at Relypsa in ...

Minoryx Therapeutics, a company specializing in the development of new drugs for orphan diseases member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, today announces the completion of a Series B funding round of €21.3 million, the most important in the Catalan biotechnology sector so far this year.

The funding round was led by Fund+, joined by SRIW, SFPI-FPIM and Sambrinvest, in addition to all Series A investors (Ysios Capital, Kurma Partners, Roche Venture Fund, Idinvest Partners, Chiesi Ventures, Caixa Capital Risc and HealthEquity).

“The proceeds of the round will allow the company to demonstrate the potential of MIN-102 in new indications,” ...

4 Clinical Trials and Anagram announces their merge with the aim to be the first CRO that integrates Imaging Core Lab services with clinical trial management in Spain.

4 Clinical Trials was born in 2016 to provide support to the clinical reach world from different angles and works in partnership with IEC, a imaging CRO that provides integrated image management solutions for clinical trials.

On the other hand, Anagram, founded in 1998, has a solid track record in supporting clinical trials, both with investigational products and medical devices. With deep experience in cardiovascular and stroke, among other therapeutic areas, Anagram ...

Avinent and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), members of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, have managed to print 3D prostheses that are incorporated into the body and become their own after about three years.

It is a disruptive innovation in the fields of regenerative medicine and dentistry that will allow to improve treatments for several diseases.

The research project has been carried out for now on a chicken embryo membrane and mice. The 3D bioprinter that is used is one of the few providing the level of precision and features required in regenerative medicine in southern Europe.

Avinent, managed by ...

Spherium Biomed, specialized in developing biomedical products developed in academia and a member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has presented the positive results of the Phase II clinical trial of an innovative treatment for atopic dermatitis at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology Congress in Paris.

This is Spherium’s fourth pharmaceutical product in clinical stages and the third to pass the Phase II efficacy studies. The Cyclatop global market is in the 6 billion dollar range worldwide, with an estimated target population of 54 million people for the next decade.

According Luis Ruiz-Ávila, CEO of the biopharmaceutical company: "The next ...

The Government of Catalonia has set up its Health Advisory Council, whose mission is to provide Minister Alba Vergés with its expert advice in defining the country’s health model for the forthcoming years.

The Council is presided over by Manel Balcells, currently the director of the CIMTI and the health commissioner of Leitat. It also includes renowned professionals in the fields of healthcare, medicine, society and economics, such as Pere Joan Cardona, director of the Experimental Tuberculosis Unit at the Germans Trias i Pujol Health Sciences Research Institute and cofounder of the company Manremyc, which is associated with CataloniaBio & ...

The company Sibelmed, member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has begun to commercialise the spirometer Datospir AIRA and the posture therapy device Somnibel.

"They are two products designed and manufactured according to the latest market trends”, says Albert Grau, sales director of the company.

Datospir AIRA is the only spirometer equipped with Bluetooth technology, and it comes in three models (single-use, Turbine and Fleisch). Likewise, Somnibel is a small, lightweight class-IIa device which attaches to the forehead as the patient sleeps and helps lower the incidence of sleep apnea and positional snoring. 

Sibelmed was created in Barcelona in 1980 and ...

The company Ability Pharma, member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has just launched a round of investment of one million euros via the crowdfunding platform Capital Cell in order to continue development of a drug that eliminates cancerous cells.

The goal of the project is to turn cancer, the second leading cause of death in the world, into a chronic illness and thus forestall the death of cancer sufferers. The drug ABTL0812 is administered in combination with chemotherapy in order to augment the response to treatment, and afterward it is administered by itself to prevent relapses.

"We want to give small ...