Aelix Therapeutics, a spin-off of HIVACAT and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has published positive results of the HIV therapeutic vaccine in Phase I/IIa clinical trial. The virus remained under control for 6 months without treatment in 40% of those vaccinated. Yesterday, the scientific team explained the results at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections 2021, one of the most important international congresses on AIDS.

The AELIX-002 study is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to assess the vaccine's safety, tolerability, immunogenicity and antiviral effect. It took place at a single centre in the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital ...

Aortyx, a spin-off of Institut Químic de Sarrià and Hospital Clinic Barcelona, is launching a crowdequity round to raise €1.6 million through the Capital Cell platform. The funds will go towards clinical trials on an innovative patch to treat aortic dissections. Both Aortyx and Capital Cell are CataloniaBio & HealthTech members.

The patch Aortyx has designed is bioresorbable and sticks to the damaged artery to promote healing, tissue regeneration and full recovery from the injury.

Aortic dissection occurs in 1 out of 10,000 patients each year and the mortality rate can be up to 50%, depending on the ...

The consultancy Linking Innovations, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has launched a new website dedicated to its field of expertise, the clinical engineering and electromedicine services it provides to companies in the healthcare sector. The website has been launched together with a new corporate image.

Linking Innovations was founded in 2013 by Toni Miró, an engineer with more than 45 years under his belt in the development and industrialisation of in vitro diagnostic products and medical devices. Over the years, Linking has supported the industrialisation and manufacturing of innovative ideas for companies such as Dentaid, Devicare, NEOS Surgery, New Born ...

Drug Development & Regulation (DDR), a scientific and regulatory affairs consultancy firm and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has opened new offices in Amsterdam, next to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). DDR also has offices in Barcelona and London.

With this physical presence in the Netherlands, DDR is reaffirming its commitment to meeting regularly with the EMA face-to-face.

DDR was set up in 2012 by Xavier Luria, an international expert in clinical development of drugs and medical devices and EMA head of Safety and Efficacy of Medicines for seven years.

Photo: Xavier Luria - © DDR

CataloniaBio & HealthTech members have given the green light to the Strategic Plan 2021-2023, which establishes the roadmap to consolidate the organisation and help the push to grow companies in the biomedicine and healthcare sector in Catalonia in size and projection over the next three years.

This strategic plan is the result of months of reflection and working with companies and stakeholders in the ecosystem, carried out by LTC consultancy led by Xavier Marcet. The plan was presented today at the general assembly, explaining that CataloniaBio & HealthTech will work on four strategic focal points:

VB Devices, a start-up and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has closed a €1.06 million round of funding on the Capital Cell platform. The funds will go towards commercialising the new CrabClamp® and Varixio® devices in Europe. Their goal for the round was to raise €850,000.

Founded in 2016 by vascular surgeon Enric Roche and executive Federico Grego, VB Devices creates devices that improve current techniques in vascular surgery. 

VB Devices’ business model is based on developing innovative, patentable solutions, outsourcing manufacturing locally, and commercialising the products globally through exclusive distributors and directly in closer markets like Spain ...

Almirall, a pharmaceutical company and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member based in Barcelona, has appointed Gianfranco Nazzi as its new CEO, taking over for Peter Guenter. He will officially join the company on 1 May. 

Nazzi has a degree in Economics and Banking from the University of Udine (Italy). He had been headhunted by Almirall from Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd, where he was executive vice-president for foreign markets and a member of the executive board. Previously, he has also held positions of responsibility at AstraZeneca, GSK and Eli Lilly.

More information

You may also be interested in:

SocialDiabetes, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has signed a deal with French medical device company Biocorp to integrate the Mallya insulin pen into its telehealth platform. 

This means patients with diabetes who use this pen will be able to control their insulin doses themselves, and get personalised recommendations. The clinical data for each patient is monitored on the platform, which uses artificial intelligence and big data, for healthcare professionals to consult and follow up.

Currently, more than 250,000 patients in Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Chile use the Catalan firm platform. The deal with Biocorp will open up ...

Ambit BST-CSV Experts, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, and EudaMed have signed a strategic alliance to train companies developing medical devices and technology on the EUDAMED database from the European Commission.

The agreement comes at a time of significant regulatory change in the sector. EUDAMED is one of the new initiatives that bring a very ambitious approach to Europe for the traceability, clinical evaluation and medical product monitoring, as well as company inspections in the sector.

The training course on EUDAMED, an European database of mandatory compliance for healthcare and IVD products will take place on 17 and ...

Multinational biotech company Amgen, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has appointed Miquel Balcells medical director of Amgen Iberia, based in Barcelona.

Amgen has 73 clinical trials under way in Spain and Portugal in therapeutic areas like oncology, cardiology, inflammation and nephrology.

Balcells joined Amgen Iberia in 2006 as medical head of oncology and haematology. He has had a key role in making these units a benchmark, as well as boosting collaboration in innovative programmes in hospitals.

More information

Photo: Miquel Balcells - PM Farma

Asian biopharmaceutical firm SeriTech Co Ltd will set up its European subsidiary in Barcelona from the second quarter of 2021.

SeriTech Co Ltd specialises in extracting natural silk proteins, which have been scientifically proven for biomedical, therapeutic and cosmetic uses (biocompatibility with cardiac tissue, cardiovascular grafts, Alzheimer treatments, vaccines, etc.). They have also developed innovative transdermal delivery technology using microneedling.

One of the company’s first steps here has been to join CataloniaBio & HealthTech: “It is a highly active cluster, where we hope to broaden our alliances with companies in Catalonia, particularly in the field of biomedical drugs,” explains ...

Newborn Solutions, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has closed a €600,000 round to carry out clinical validation of its first medical device Neosonics in 2021.

The two undisclosed investors that will be joining the medtech company’s shareholders are from the healthcare sector and will be able to commercialise the product in the future.

The innovation Neosonics will bring to the market is its non-invasive testing for meningitis in newborns.

More information

Photo: Rita Quesada, Javier Jiménez, QuiqueBassat and Marta Príncep, executives at Newborn Solutions.

Want to know more about Newborn Solutions? We recommend this video of CataloniaBio & HealthTech ...

Biotechnology firm Oncoheroes Biosciences, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member with offices in Boston and Barcelona, has signed two agreements to receive philanthropic investments from the Catalytic Impact Foundation and the Gregory Foundation for Cancer Research in the United States.

Both of these foundations value Oncoheroes’ innovative approach to the urgent need for treatment designed specifically for children with cancer, the social impact of their activity, and the fact that it is an early-stage startup. The Gregory Foundation had invested in the company previously.The sum invested through these agreements has not been disclosed.

“We’re happy to see that more non-profit ...

The Government of Catalonia submitted a report entitled Next Generation Catalonia this week, with a proposal of 27 strategic projects* to opt for the Next Generation EU funds Spain will receive from Europe (€150 billion). The projects must promote Catalonia’s ecological transition, digitisation and re-industrialisation under the framework of the new generation of Europe.

The 27 projects were selected from the 542 initiatives submitted by Catalonia’s administration and social and economic stakeholders, including CataloniaBio & HealthTech as the representative of the healthcare and life sciences industry in Catalonia.

The selection criteria were based on the projects’ uniqueness, maturity, cost, commercialisation ...

Mowoot, a start-up and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has published its first international clinical trial showing the efficacy and safety of the medical device in treating chronic constipation, regardless of the cause.

It was a multi-centre study carried out with 92 patients over 2 years, funded through the EU Horizon 2020 programme.It was led by Doreen McClurg, a benchmark in the field of neurogenic bowel dysfunction at Glasgow Caledonian University, and Immaculada Herrero-Fresneda, co-founder and CSO of Mowoot.

The results have been published in the journal Clinical and Transalational Gastroenterology.

In addition to the publication of this clinical trial ...

Splice Bio, a spin-off of Princeton University and a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has appointed Jean-Philippe Combal as chairman of its Board of Directors. Combal is a proven senior executive and entrepreneur with 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry (GenSight Biologics, Galderma International, Fovea-Sanofi, among others) and particularly in the field of gene therapy. Currently, he is co-founder and executive director of Vivet Therapeutics (France).

The company is backed by Ysios Capital, Asabys Partners and Caixa Capital Risc. 

More information

Photo: Jean-Philippe Combal - © Splice Bio

You may also be interested in:

Inbiomotion, a spin-off of IRB Barcelona and the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) and a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has closed a round of investment led by Alta Life Sciences. The total amount invested has not been disclosed publicly, although the round included existing investors like the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF).

Inbiomotion is developing a test to diagnose breast cancer using a predictive biomarker (MAF test). Clinical trials have shown this biomarker can identify patients with early-stage breast cancer, who would benefit from bisphosphonates in adjuvant treatment to improve life expectancy. 

This capital increase will ...

Law firm Roca Junyent, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, and consultancy firm Daleph presented their new Test IN service to maximise companies’ chances of getting European funding or grants from the Next Generation EU funds that Spain will receive between 2021 and 2023 to promote economic recovery.

Specifically, Test IN helps companies identify and assess whether their plans or projects are eligible for funding or grants, and to guide them in meeting the requirements.

Roca Junyent has a department that specialises in the healthcare and life sciences sector, led by Yolanda Puiggròs.

More information

Photo: from left to right, Joan ...

Minoryx Therapeutics, a biotechnology company and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has announced positive results of the Phase II/III clinical trial on its main drug, leriglitazone, in patients with adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN).

“AMN is a rare disease with a great unmet medical need and without any approved treatments currently. The Minoryx clinical trial is a great milestone for this indication” notes Minoryx Chief Medical Officer Uwe Meya.

ADVANCE is a multi-centre, double-blind, placebo-controlled study that took place in hospitals in the United States and Europe, with 116 male patients over 2 years.

Minoryx will begin conversations with the regulatory agencies ...

CataloniaBio & HealthTech has launched its new BIOMED ScaleUP programme, with collaboration from Lead To Change (LTC) and support from ACCIÓ (Government of Catalonia) to help start-ups and companies in the healthcare and life sciences sector in Catalonia take a leap forward in their growth. The BIOMED ScaleUP programme was presented yestarday in a hybrid event (online and in person at the Barcelona Science Park) with entrepreneurs and executives from over 80 companies.

The Catalan healthcare industry has evolved very positively since 2010 in business creation, investment attracted, employment, pipeline growth, and innovative services, but “now it is important ...