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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30 March 2017
The start-up Made of Genes, linked to ESADE Business School and associated with CataloniaBio, has been the first company in Spain selected, from more than 1000 worldwide, to join the 2nd edition of the Dubai Future Accelerators program, an initiative of the Dubai Future Foundation. For Oscar Flores, CEO of Made of Genes, "this is an important recognition and convert Middle East in a crucial region for the internationalization of the company".
The Dubai Future Accelerators program partners with ground-breaking companies from around the world and gives them the opportunity to find and test new solutions to real-life challenges using ...
29 March 2017
Bionure exceeded the one million euros initially expected in its crowdfunding campaign and plans to allocate these resources to the development of BN201, an innovative drug against multiple sclerosis that has the potential to stop the advance of the disease (El Periódico). Multiple sclerosis, which is currently incurable, affects 2.5 million people worldwide, 600,000 in Europe and 47,000 in Spain.
Bionure has granted Spiral Therapeutics a license to develop BN201 and BN119 (for the treatment of the inner ear disorders). Spiral Therapeutics, founded by Hugo Peris in San Francisco (Silicon Valley), will soon start a feasibility assessment ...
29 March 2017
Capital Cell, a crowdfunding platform that finances new companies in the life sciences field, has received authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority and €580,000 from seven British investors to launch the operation in London next 26 April (La Vanguardia). The company has signed a collaboration agreement with Angels in MedCity, a specialised network of 3,500 private investors from London, Oxford and Cambridge that is considered one of the biggest in Europe, and will soon present its first six investment projects in London.
Photo: Daniel Oliver, CEO of Capital Cell.
28 March 2017
A disruptive device surgery for herniated discs, developed under the AR-TEX European project led by the company Neos Surgery, associated with CataloniaBio, has won the category Innovators of tomorrow in the Eureka Innovation awards. The aim now is to launch the new restful invertebral ring device which acts as a buffer between the affected area and nearby nerves. This creates a barrier strong enough to prevent re-herniation.
Every year more than one million patients in Europe undergo surgery to repair herniated discs in the lower lumbar. It is a painful process, expensive and sometimes risky (10% of patients require a ...
23 March 2017
In 2017, CataloniaBio is launching a new activity: the CataloniaBio Council. This is geared exclusively towards the CEOs, founding partners and board of directors at member companies. Its goal is twofold: to create a tight-knit group of executives that represent the present and future of the sector and to give them the chance to network and share in the knowledge of top-notch guest speakers.
The first event, held on 23 March at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), was attended by fifteeen executives of CataloniaBio. TiGenix CEO Eduardo Bravo was present to explain the milestones his company has achieved since it ...
22 March 2017
Minoryx Therapeutics announces that it has successfully completed its phase 1 trial with MIN-102. MIN-102 targets X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD), a rare and chronically debilitating life threatening neurodegenerative disease. There are two main clinical phenotypes of X-ALD: adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN), characterized by progressive motor dysfunction, and inflammatory cerebral ALD (cALD), characterized by severe neuroinflammation leading to early death. There are currently no pharmacological treatments for X-ALD. MIN-102 is the only product in development for potential use across all the main phenotypes.
The phase 1 trial was a combined single- and multiple-ascending dose study with the aim of assessing pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability ...
21 March 2017
La biotecnològica ZeClinics, associada a CataloniaBio, ha tancat un acord comercial amb l'empresa danesa Cobo Scientific per poder oferir els seus serveis al nord d'Europa. Gràcies a aquesta aliança ZeClinics podrà entrar als mercats danès, suec, noruec, finlandès i polonès.
Cobo Scientific es va fundar el gener del 2017 però el seu equip compta amb una experiència de més de 20 anys treballant com a soci comercial d'algunes de les empreses europees més destacades en l'àmbit de la recerca biomèdica i de descobriment de fàrmacs. La seu de l'empresa danesa es troba a Copenhaguen, en un dels clúsers europeus més ...
16 March 2017
Two companies have received the CataloniaBio 2017 BioSuccess Award in recognition of the milestones they have reached over the past year in the health and life sciences area in Catalonia: Mosaic Biomedicals, a spin-off of the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) and the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) founded by Dr Joan Seoane, Dr Judit Anido and Dr Josep Baselga, and STAT-Diagnostica, created by engineers Jordi Carrera and Rafel Bru.
The awards ceremony took place on the 15th of March as part of the 3rd CataloniaBio Gala Dinner, held at the Maritime Museum of Barcelona ...
7 March 2017
Pharmaceutical company Reig Jofre, a CataloniaBio member, is awaiting approval from international healthcare authorities for 100 new drug listings the company is developing over the coming three years. This news was announced by Reig Jofre CEO Ignasi Biosca in Madrid, in his presentation of the company’s results.
Photo: Ignasi Biosca, Reig Jofre CEO and president of CataloniaBio © Ara.cat
7 March 2017
Personal genomics start-up Made of Genes, a member of CataloniaBio, and academic group SOLTI have joined forces to “create a high-potential research tool to help address scientific/clinical concerns and expand our knowledge of biology and treating breast cancer,” explained Dr Aleix Prat, coordinator of the Solti Scientific Committee.
You can extend this information to the website Made of Genes.
Photo: Dr. Oscar Flores, CEO Made of Genes. © CataloniaBio
3 March 2017
Report of the latest "Lessons Learned"
How can Catalan companies get more funds from the European Commission’s SME Instrument? The first Lessons Learned session of 2017, held by Biocat and CataloniaBio on 21 February at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), aimed to share the successes and failures of participating in one of the star programs of Horizon 2020, which has €3 billion earmarked through 2020.
SME Instrument funds innovation projects with great potential to help SMEs grow, develop and internationalize. From 2014 through February 2017, 117 projects in Catalonia have received funding, 20% of which are in the healthcare and ...
1 March 2017
Gebro Pharma, held by the Austrian multinational corporation of the same name and a member of CataloniaBio, expects to post 14% growth this year for a total of €72 million in sales. This growth will be possible thanks to the launch of two new drugs, one for pain and one for rheumatology conditions, as well as the company’s increased investment in R&D in 2016. Gebro Pharma, in Austria, made the leap into R&D last year, increasing investment by 20%, which is 7% of the company’s sales in Spain.
You can extend this information to the website of Gebro Pharma.
Photo ...
1 March 2017
Biotechnology firm Bionure, a spin-off of Hospital Clinic Barcelona-IDIBAPS and member of CataloniaBio, has got the green light from the British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for its protocol to begin clinical trials on BN201, a neuroprotector and myelin regenerator that curbs the progression of multiple sclerosis. The Bionure team has met with the MHRA to discuss the agency’s guidelines for preclinical results and to adjust the clinical protocol to that country’s regulations.
Photo: Albert G. Zamora, CEO of Bionure and Pablo Villoslada, CSO, at Barcelona's offices (Carlos Montañés, El Periódico).
23 February 2017
El principal candidat a fàrmac MIN-02 de Minoryx Therapeutics ha rebut la designació de medicament orfe de la Food and Drug Administration (FDA) d'Estats Units, per l'adrenoleucodistrofia lligada al cromosoma X (X-ALD), una malaltia del sistema nerviós central que actualment no té cap tractament. En el cas d'Estats Units l'estatus d'orfe es concedeix a medicaments que s'adrecen a malalties que afecten a menys de 200.000 persones, com és el cas del MIN-02. Aquesta designació li permetrà tenir l'exclusivitat en el mercat d'Estats Units durant els propers 7 anys i gaudir d'altres beneficis com bonificacions fiscals, assistència en protocols ...
22 February 2017
Un consorci publicoprivat liderat per la biotecnològica Iproteos, associada a CataloniaBio, ha iniciat un projecte per validar una nova família de compostos peptidomimètics per al tractament de l'acumulació vascular de colesterol associada a l’aterosclerosi. L'objectiu és obtenir un candidat a fàrmac first-in-class per aquesta malaltia.
El projecte, en el qual participen l'Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques de Barcelona (IIBB-CSIC) i el Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG), ha rebut un ajut de 700.000 euros del Ministeri d’Economia, Indústria i Competitivitat a través de la convocatòria Retos-Colaboración 2016. "En el camp de les malalties cardiovasculars manquen tractaments per evitar l’acumulació descontrolada de ...
20 February 2017
CataloniaBio members Xenopat and ZeClinics are participating in the European 3D-Neonet programme. This new international consortium, led by University College Dublin (UCD), has been created to accelerate development of oncology and ophthalmology therapies. The consortium will comprise 18 companies and academic institutions from seven countries.
Photo: Blood vessels in the retina of a mouse stained with isolectina - © Irish Tech News - University College Dublin.
20 February 2017
Biotechnology company Cebiotex, a CataloniaBio member, has raised €1.8 million after launching its second round of social-impact funding. Investors included Ship2B, Inveready, family offices and others from two crowdfunding campaigns. These funds will allow the spin-off of Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia to transfer its antitumor therapies to paediatrics and finish the preclinical phase with CEB-01, a local post-op oncology treatment for soft-tissue sarcomas.
Photo: Joan Bertran, co-founder and CEO of Cebiotex. © PCB.
20 February 2017
Applied science company Starlab, cofounded by Giulio Ruffini and Ana Maiques in Barcelona, will be one of the companies recognised today at Casa Llotja de Mar Barcelona at the 36th annual Banco Sabadell Businesses of the Year Awards. Ana Maiques, who also heads up Neuroelectrics, is a member of the CataloniaBio Board of Directors.
Photo: The Starlab's founders, Giulio Ruffini and Ana Maiques, at its headquarters in Barcelona - © El Periódico
16 February 2017
Forté Pharma, la línia de complements nutricionals de Reig Jofre, ha rebut el premi Health Wellness Beauty 2016 a Hong Kong pel complement nutricional Turboslim Fat ReduxTM 900mg. Turboslim Fat ReduxTM ha estat el producte supervendes en la categoria d'aprimar i des d'inicis de 2016 es comercialitza a les més de 200 parafarmàcies Watsons que hi ha a Hong Kong i Macau.
Aquest premi es dóna per l'estratègia comercial, la política d'atenció al client i l'excel·lència global dels productes de les marques més destacades en salut i bellesa de Hong Kong, de manera que és un bon reconeixement per al ...
15 February 2017
La divisió de consultoria i finances d'IMB Grup, Mabia, ha presentat aquest febrer els resultats de l'estudi sobre el Mercat Alternatiu Borsari (MAB) de 2016. De les 39 empreses en expansió del MAB, Altia, MásMóvil y Clerhp són les més ben valorades. Les biotecnològiques AB-Biotics i InKemia, associades a CataloniaBio, ocupen el 12è i 16è lloc en el rànquing, respectivament.
En global, més del 70% de les empreses del MAB supera l'aprovat i la puntuació mitjana és de 54,1 punts sobre 100. S'ha detectat com a principal millora respecte les valoracions de 2015 l'augment de la transparència en ...