The biotech, member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has just closed a first seed round of €1.3M, led by the European venture Elaia Partners. With this new capital injection, the company, specializing in computational engineering for enzyme discovery and optimization, plans to boost its current portfolio and catalyze widespread use in industry to promote a new generation of products leading the transition towards a more sustainable future. They also opened a laboratory in the Barcelona Science Park.

In February, Newborn Solutions, CataloniaBio & HealthTech members, received official approval from the Moroccan health authorities to carry out its clinical trial in Morocco. The achievement of this milestone allows the inclusion of the Hôpital d’Enfants de Rabat (HER), a reference pediatric hospital in the country.

Uric Acid is a neuroprotectant and cerebral reperfusion enhancer identified by Dr Ángel Chamorro at the Hospital Clínic Barcelona and transferred to FreeOx Biotech for its development as a drug, Ox-01, which has been granted a patent in the USA for its use in combination with Mechanical Thrombectomy in ischaemic stroke.

CataloniaBio & HealthTech's 2023 agenda began with a CEO Council to reflect on the role of health in society and the economy. More than thirty CataloniaBio & HealthTech CEOs met at the cambraDigital HUB (Barcelona Chamber of Commerce) on 6 February to discuss this global vision of our ecosystem

Asabys has announced this week the first closing of its new fund, Sabadell Asabys Health Innovation Investments II (SAHII II), with total commitments of 100 million euros, expecting to reach a size of €200 million this year. SAHII II will invest in healthtech and biopharma companies, that provide novel solutions to unmet medical needs, with solid scientific evidence, and a clear benefit for patients.

CataloniaBio & HealthTech held the Ordinary General Assembly on 14 February at the Barcelona Athenaeum, at a meeting of the Board,the executive team and almost 140 members to discuss and approve the 2023 Action Plan and the Management Report and 2022 Accounts. The admission of 21 new members was also approved, who had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the auditorium.

To put all these new developments and in particular, to observe their effects on the life sciences and health sector, CataloniaBio & HealthTech held an entrepreneurship forum on this subject. It was on 14 February in the Oriol Bohigas Room of the Barcelona Athenaeum, coinciding with the Association’s Ordinary General Assembly.

Ysios Capital invested in Mineralys Therapeutics from its third fund, Ysios BioFund III, participating in a $118 million financing round in July 2022, and has continued to support the company in its IPO. The IPO of Mineralys represents a new milestone for Ysios Capital, being the eighth company from the Ysios funds to go public on the NASDAQ and the second from its third fund, just 8 months after the initial investment.

The Pharmacy Service of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, a centre member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, will launch a study in the coming weeks to test the efficacy, tolerability and level of acceptance of a drug created using a 3D printer in children. This new formulation will help to dose the drug in a personalized way for each patient and hopes to improve the experience of children who have to take medication on a daily basis. This is the first clinical trial with a 3D printed drug in Europe in the pediatric field and is the result of a collaboration between the Pharmacy Service at Vall d'Hebron, the University of Santiago de Compostela and the company FabRx.

HumanITcare announced a new collaboration in healthcare with Garmin, a leading global provider of smartwatches, fitness trackers, and digital health solutions. From now on, clients in Spain, Portugal, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, and Europe will be able to consent to connect their Garmin smartwatch to their platform.

NIMBLE Diagnostics, ha tancat amb èxit una ronda de finançament on han aconseguit més d'un milió d'euros liderada per Grow Ventures amb Namarel Ventures, i la participació d’Inveniam Group, membres de CataloniaBio & HealthTech, que ha actuat com a sindicat de diversos business angels.

Nanomol Technologies announced this January the start of a European project, the Horizon Europe NABIHEAL project, by the hand of the Center for Biomedical Research Network (CIBER) of the Institut de Ciencia de Materiales de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) as coordinator. The company, member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, participates in the biomaterials scalie up tasks and co-lead the Business Development & Exploitation work package together with Histocell SL.

Ysios Capital, a European life sciences venture capital firm, member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, announced the promotions of Jordi Xiol to Partner and Salvatore Scaffidi to Associate, as well as the appointment of Joan Perelló as Venture Partner.

L’Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Córdobaacull l’esdeveniment anual d’ITEMAS, impulsat per l’Instituto de Salud CarlosIII (ISCIII), amb el patrocini de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, CidiSalud i GENESIS Biomed, membres de CataloniaBio & HealthTech.

In the study by Segú-Vergés et al, 2022 recently published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, Anaxomics have applied systems biology and artificial intelligence techniques to evaluate the mechanisms of response to treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) by evaluating the pathophysiological pathways of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases that show different clinical responses to this treatment. This project has been carried out thanks to the collaboration between Grifols, Anaxomics Biotech and the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale.

Onalabs Inno-Hub, a biotech startup dedicated to the development of non-invasive medical and sports devices for monitoring biochemical parameters, has hired Rat Gasol as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Vytrus Biotech, the company specialized in activeingredients derived from plant stem cells for the cosmetic industry, CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has achieved the approval of its first patent in Europe, United States andJapan.

The call for the ninth edition of the Bioèxit Award of the year, promoted by CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has opened today. The initiative will recognise the best business milestone of 2022 in the health and life sciences sector in Catalonia. The deadline for submitting candidacies is 9 February, using this form.

Onalabs Inno-Hub, the biotech start-up that transforms the skin into a data platform, has taken a further step in its growth and internationalisation with the creation of the Andorran subsidiary Onalabs-AD Digital Health. Through it, and thanks to the support of Andorra Research and Innovation (ARI), it will immediately start two pilot programme, aimed at the areas of sport and health.

The company, a member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, spin-off of IRB Barcelona, the UB and SJD has a patented technology based on peptides that efficiently cross biological barriers, such as the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain. As if they were molecular shuttles, these peptides can carry drugs that unaided cannot reach the brain to cure it. The first indication that will benefit from the technology is in the field of pediatric brain tumors.