7 September 2018
Mimetis Biomaterials, a bone regeneration company member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has initiated an investment round of 2 million euros which will be raised in two phases. It is hoped to secure around 120,000 euros in the seed capital round through crowdfunding and the rest through a Series A round.
The materials manufactured by Mimetis, a company based in the Vallès Technology Park, facilitate the biological processes that regenerate the lost bone of the patient and can be applied in the dental, craniomaxillofacial and orthopaedic fields. Mimetis’ greatest achievement, however, has been 3D-printed custom implants.
The company previously closed ...
7 September 2018
Prof. Lina Badimon, director of the ICCC programme of the Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute and co-founder of the spin-off Glycardial Diagnostics, has been appointed Chair of the Advocacy Committee and Board Member of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Badimon will hold the position until 2020.
The ESC represents more than 90,000 cardiology professionals around the world and supports the development of policies for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in the European Union, through the European Heart Agency in Brussels.
25 July 2018
Jordi Naval is the new CEO of Biocat, an organisation created in 2006 by the Government of Catalonia to promote the healthcare and life sciences ecosystem along with other actors such as ACCIÓ and the association of companies CataloniaBio & HealthTech.
He is now taking over the position that was left vacant a year ago by the previous CEO Albert Barberà, current Director General for Research and Innovation in Health.
Jordi Naval has a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Barcelona (UB) and in Biochemistry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). He has helped launch several start-ups like ...
25 July 2018
The Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering (CREB) of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, inaugurated its new facilities on 6 July with a day of conferences and visits from researchers and members of the UPC governing bodies.
Most of the research groups at the CREB have moved to the offices and laboratories on the fourth floor at the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering. Previously, they were located in several different buildings at the university.
The CREB has more than 25 years of experience in technology transfer, holds 27 patents and 5 to out-license, and has ...
25 July 2018
Devicare, member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, is moving forward in its international expansion by closing licensing and distribution agreements in Argentina, Uruguay and Peru. Various pharmaceutical companies will introduce the products from the Lit-Control® brand to improve the urinary healthcare of the residents of Latin America. The company had previously announced its entry into Mexico and Colombia.
“These agreements with leading urological pharmaceutical companies confirm our scientific work, our clinical data, as well as the commercial interest in our products” remarks Rosendo Garganta, co-Founder and CEO of the company located at the UAB Research Park.
The company expects to end ...
23 July 2018
German multinational corporation Hartmann, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, will invest €10 million between 2019 and 2021 in its two plants in Mataró and Montornès del Vallès (Barcelona), according to financial newspaper Expansión.
The Mataró factory is a global benchmark in developing and manufacturing adhesive healthcare products and is currently responsible for production of the company’s popular plasters.
In 2017, Hartmann acquired the Lindor brand from Procter & Gamble and saw revenue of €175 million in Spain, up 52% from 2016. The company is open to new acquisitions to continue growing in Spain and expects to see sales of €250 ...
21 July 2018
The biomedicine, innovative medical technology and health ecosystem in Catalonia is maturing and there are more and more companies that experience the full business cycle through to success. Licensing deals, selling the company or commercialising the product in different markets are the main paths to this promised land.
Palobiofarma, STAT-Dx and NEOS Surgery are good examples. CataloniaBio & HealthTech invited their founders and general managers to the Lessons Learned debate forum, on 4 July at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) to share their experiences and the lessons they've learned with new start-ups and spin-offs. The session ...
20 July 2018
ZeClinics, a zebrafish preclinical Contract Research Organisation (CRO) and member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has signed a licensing agreement with the Office of Technology Management of the University of California in San Francisco.
With this, the company located at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) leads licensing and business development efforts on behalf of the university for the commercialization of drug discovery assays in childhood epilepsy by using scn1Lab mutant zebrafish.
We recomend the videointerview to Dr Davide d'Amico, co-founder and CEO of ZeClinics, to learn more about this animal model for preclinical research.
20 July 2018
Kymos Pharma Services, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has expanded its offices at Parc Tecnològic del Vallès with an additional 1,000 square metres and €500,000 investment.
Over the coming months, the company led by Joan Puig de Dou expects to begin works to expand the laboratories it launched in 2015.
Kymos is a Contract Research Organisation (CRO) that provides R&D and quality-control services for the biopharmaceutical and related industries. Since it was founded in 2001, the company has posted sustained growth. Today, the CRO sees revenue of €10 million and has clients in more than 20 countries ...
20 July 2018
CataloniaBio & HealthTech Review (Spring-Summer 2018)
A cohesive, active and growing ecosystem. These were the words heard most yesterday in informal conversations among the nearly 300 entrepreneurs and professionals from the biomedicine, innovative medical technology and health arena at the CataloniaBio & HealthTech summer networking barbecue (#BBQ2018).
#BBQ2018 was organised for the first time by the new association created just five months ago, through the merger of CataloniaBio and Health Tech Cluster. The event, at the Specipig facilities, demonstrated more than ever the diversity of the start-ups, companies and organisations in the sector in Catalonia. "This diversity, far ...
19 July 2018
Dr Daniel López Serrano of the National Centre for Biotechnology (CNB) and Prof Rubén Martín of the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) have won the XIII Banco Sabadell Award for Biomedical Research and II Banco Sabadell Foundation Award for Science and Engineering, respectively.
Biochemist Dr López Serrano has received the recognition for his innovative contribution in the field of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, a topic which is relevant in terms of biomedicine and sanitation on a global scale.
On the other hand, Prof. Martín has won the award for his innovative and creative vision of chemical ...
10 July 2018
The Spanish Bioindustry Association (Asebio) presented the Asebio Report 2017 with the latest data on the Spanish biotechnology sector on 9 July in Madrid.
One of the most noteworthy figures is the investment raised, €150 million, up 17% from 2016. Also, the sector's impact on the economy as a whole, generating 7.8% of the GDP and 108,000 jobs.
The number of companies in the sector has dropped by more than 200, from 2,981 to 2,767 in 2016. By area of activity, 66.8% focus on human health and 23.5% on food. R&D investment totalled €617 ...
10 July 2018
Consultancy Eignapharma, member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has reached a collaboration agreement with Biogem, an Italian consortium specialised in lab scale development and production of biosimilars, monoclonal antibodies, new biological entities and related preclinical studies.
Under this agreement Eignapharma will use its commercial efforts to put at the industry disposal Biogem’s research and development capabilities consisting on documented small-scale processes and fully protocolised technology transfers procedures to allow a safe scaleup to industrial production.
Biogem is conformed by the Italian National Research Council (CNR),the Area Science Park of Trieste, the University of Naples "Federico II", the University of Milano ...
9 July 2018
Biopharmaceutical firm Spherium Biomed has begun phase-I clinical trials on their product Cilakin to prevent acute kidney injury (AKI) based on more than 10 yearsof research conducted by Dr Alberto Tejedor and Dr Alberto Lázaro at Hospital Gregorio Marañón in Madrid. Spherium acquired the licence in 2015 in order to develop an injectable drug suitable for patients (more than 3 million cases each year in Europe, the United States and Japan).
"Cilakin could become the first standardised preventative treatment for this condition," explains Dr Montserrat Cano, head ofthe project at Spherium. The mortality rate can be up to 70 ...
7 July 2018
Dr Jordi Mestres, founder and CEO of CataloniaBio & HealthTech member Chemotargets and coordinator of the Systems Pharmacology Group at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), has been admitted as a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
This recognition, one of the most important granted to a chemist, is an important milestone in a researcher's career because it is indicative of scientific quality.
The Royal Society of Chemistry has more than 54,000 members around the world and heritage spanning over 175 years. Its mission is to advance the chemical sciences by investing in educating future ...
3 July 2018
Leukos Biotech, spin-off of the Jose Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute supported by Inveready, has received the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) orphan drug designation for its drug candidate LK-01.
LK-01 is a product based on Apomorphine for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a blood cancer arising from the myeloid lineage of haematopoietic stem cells. A still relevant proportion of patients with AML die from progressive disease after relapse.
The potential benefit of LK-01 is being explored in a phase I/II trial in elderly patients and relapsed patients with AML. Results are expected later in 2019.
The US ...
26 June 2018
Bio€quity Europe, the longest investor event for the European biotechnology sector, will take place in Barcelona for the first time on 20th and 21st May 2019. The conference will be held in Barcelona at the initiative of the Host Regional Committee, which brings together Biocat, Ysios Capital, ACCIÓ and CataloniaBio & HealthTech.
Bio€quity Europe —organised by BioCentury and EBD Group— has showcased more than 800 leading European companies and thousands of investment and pharma business development professionals. More than 550 delegates from 26 nations attended latest edition in Ghent.
"Barcelona has all of the key ingredients for a ...
25 June 2018
Almirall launches the open innovation platform AlmirallShare with the aim of finding advanced small molecules that could be used in the therapeutic treatment of atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, acne, actinic keratosis, and related dermatological diseases.
The call is addressed to universities, research centers, biotech companies, start-ups, and pharma companies all over the world with research compounds that have shown good potency and an acceptable pharmacokinetic profile or development compounds that have shown a good human safety profile.
Submitting a proposal is as easy as going to sharedinnovation.almirall.com.
19 June 2018
FreeOx Biotech, spin-out of Hospital Clinic Barcelona-IDIBAPS and member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has opened a round of investment hoping to raise €500,000. The company’s goal this year is to accelerate development and the regulatory process for its drug candidate Ox-01, which has completed phase IIb, and begin preclinical trials with Ox-02. Both drugs are being used to treat stroke and other diseases of the central nervous system (CNS).
“We’re looking for a total of €500,000 and we’ve already raised €200,000 from two private investors,” explained Carlos Lurigados, co-founder and CEO of FreeOx. These investors ...
15 June 2018
The Genesis Ventures investment fund, managed by Genesis Biomed consultancy, has made its first investment of €75,000 in the NeuroHeal research project at the Institut de Neurociències (INc) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), led by Dr Caty Casas. The agreement will allow them to accelerate development of the product and move towards creating a new spin-off.
NeuroHeal is a new first line of treatment to accelerate neuroregeneration and reduce muscle atrophy.
Genesis Ventures, which was first presented at the Barcelona Science Park in November 2017, is committed to projects in the very early stages to help them ...