Minoryx Therapeutics, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has been granted a €25-million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support development of its main drug candidate, leriglitazone, for neurodegenerative rare diseases.

Leriglitazone is being assessed in three clinical trials: Advance (Phase II/III) for adrenomyeloneuropathy (ALD), Nexus (Phase II) for cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (cALD) and Frames (Phase II) for Friedreich ataxia.

This is a long-term venture debt operation under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), an instrument the EU bank uses to support leading companies in innovative sectors.

EIB Vice-president Ricardo Mourinho Félix, who is in charge of the ...

BHV Partners, the first venture builder in the healthcare sector in southern Europe, has closed a €500,000 round of investment with participation from private investors, executives and science and medical professionals.

With just over a year in the business, BHV Partners has already invested in three start-ups: Aimentia, an artificial intelligence platform for mental health; Nela Biodynamics, which specialises in designing and developing orthopaedic devices; and Biel Glasses, which develops smart glasses.“We aim to have 30 innovative projects in our portfolio by 2025,” explained Marta Príncep, managing partner of BHV Partners, to La Vanguardia.

The venture ...

The fifth Health & Bio Team Dating event was held yesterday with great turnout: 87 speed-dating meetings, 16 projects from research groups in the healthcare and life sciences arena and 37 executives interested in contributing their expertise in business management and strategy. This year, the speed-dating event was held online.

BStartup of Banc Sabadell, Biocat and CataloniaBio & HealthTech created this initiative in 2015 after detecting that “the sector needed strong companies with solid teams, both in science and in business,” noted Biocat CEO Jordi Naval in his introduction to the event, which you can watch again here.

“ ...

The public agency of the Catalan Government Catalonia Trade & Investment interviewed the president of CataloniaBio & HealthTech Judit Anido. 

Judit Anido is the first woman to lead the association of companies and pioneer agents in research, development and innovation in the healthcare and life sciences sector in Catalonia. A sector that has become a class-leading hub in Europe and that is undergoing constant growth, as can be seen in the figures from the latest BioRegion of Catalonia Report 2020.

In this interview, Anido explains that Catalan start-ups have raised some 120 million euros between January and ...

CataloniaBio & HealthTech has joined the call Por una Estrategia a Largo Plazo por la Ciencia y la Innovación en España (For a Long-Term Science and Innovation Strategy in Spain) promoted by SOMMa, the Spanish Association for Cancer Research (Aseica) and the Spanish Bioindustry Association (Asebio). In total, more than 40 organisations in the life sciences and innovation arena have signed the document announced today.

Before the preliminary general budgetary plan for Spain is passed and with the opportunities arising from the Reconstruction Plan, the Green Deal and the missions of the new Horizon Europe framework programme, the main science ...

Moirai Biodesign, a start-up and member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has developed a prototype for a device using biosensors to diagnose sepsis from a blood sample in just three hours. 

Amadís Pagès, CEO of Moirai, highlights: “This will allow clinical specialists to make decisions more quickly, as this process normally takes up to five days of laboratory analysis.”

Moirai aims to commercialise the device in hospitals after completing the validation phase. 

Sepsis is a complication of infection and, if not treated in time, leads to multiple organ failure and death. 27-30 million cases are diagnosed each ...

Ability Pharma, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member focused on the development of innovative oral anticancer compounds, has received a €1.6 million grant from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

This year the biopharmaceutical company based at the UAB Research Park expects to raise a total of €9.2 million to fund clinical phase IIb of the ABTL0812 treatment for pancreatic cancer. ABTL0812 has obtained positive results in clinical trial in patients with endometrial and lung cancer.

Last March, Ability received €5 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC). The remaining €2.6 million will come through ...

Chemotargets, a CataloniaBio & HealhTech member, has appointed Scott Boyer as new CEO with the aim to consolidate its business transition from a software business to a biotechnology company. 

Boyer has a PhD in Molecular Toxicology from the University of Colorado (US). He joins Chemotargets from Swedish pharmaceutical company Klaria. Prior he was CSO at AstraZeneca in Sweden and senior scientist at Pfizer Central Research in the US.

Boyer’s short-term goals include closing the Series A funding round opened in July.

Genesis Biomed is advising Chemotargets in the transformation of the company.

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Photo: Scott Boyer - © Chemotargets ...

The Spanish Society of Periodontology and Osseointegration (SEPA) and Dentaid, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, hosted the fifth annual scientific dentistry symposium on 3 October, connecting over 6,000 professionals online.

The symposium dealt with preventing and restoring oral health for good overall health. 11.2% of the global population has advanced periodontitis, a gum infection that can lead to tooth loss and systemic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular conditions.

Participants also discussed how SARS-CoV-2 interacts in the oral cavity, protection and work methods for dentists, and evidence supporting the role antiseptics play in preventing viral infections, especially Cetylpyridinium chloride ...

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Best of the 2020 CataloniaBio & HealthTech Gala:

2020 is a year for the history books. Covid-19 is having affecting our whole society and posing challenges we have to face together. As could be no other way, the pandemic also marked the sixth annual CataloniaBio & HealthTech Gala, the yearly gathering of the Catalan healthcare and life sciences sector, held this year online from Gaudí’s Crypt at Colonia Güell. More than 180 entrepreneurs, executives and investors followed the event on screen.

The CataloniaBio & HealthTech Board of Directors highlighted the indicators* confirming the sector is in a good place  ...

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CataloniaBio & HealthTech presented the 2020 Biosuccess Award to Kymos for its consolidation, international expansion and key role in dynamising the healthcare and life sciences sector in Catalonia as a science services company.

The awards ceremony took place yesterday during the CataloniaBio & HealthTech Gala, which this year was streamed online from the Gaudi’s Crypt in Colonia Güell and held during the day due to the Covid-19 situation. The sector’s main yearly event featured Secretary of Economy of the Government of Catalonia Natàlia Mas, Director General for Research and Innovation in Health Robert Fabregat, and the CataloniaBio & HealthTech ...

FreeOx Biotech, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has been granted a patent for its most advanced drug, Ox-01, by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent protects the use of Ox-01 until 2038 for patients with ischaemic stroke treated with mechanical thrombectomy.

“This grant is wonderful news for the company as it will allow us to strengthen our drug’s protection in a market representing approximately 50% worldwide in terms of returns and move forward with our regulatory plan with close communication with EMA” said Carlos Lurigados, co-founder and CEO of FreeOx.

Ox-01 is currently in clinical phase ...

Maria Fátima Lucas, co-founder and CEO of the Barcelona-based start-up Zymvol Biomodeling, is one of the four winners of 2020 EU Prize for Women Innovators. She will receive a €100,000 cash prize.

During the European Research and Innovation Days on 24 September, commissioner for Innovation and Research Mariya Gabriel revealed the winners chosen by a jury of independent experts. 

The other recognised women are Madiha Derouazi, founder and CEO of Amal Therapeutics (Switzerland), Arancha Martínez, co-founder and managing director of It Will Be (Spain) and Josefien Groot, co-founder and CEO of Qlayers (Netherlands).

Zymvol Biomodeling was founded in ...

Two active ingredients from Vytrus Biotech, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, have been recognised with the 2020 Best Ingredient Award, given out annually at the top international cosmetics fair: In-Cosmetics Global. The ceremony was streamed live online on 6 October.

These awards recognise innovation in raw materials in the cosmetics industry. From Vytrus, the winning ingredients are Kannabia Sense and Deobime Noni, for their science, mechanisms of action and the market need they address.

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Inveready, a venture capital management firm and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has closed its first vehicle, Inveready Seed Capital SCR, after 11 years with returns of €100 million.

Inveready Seed Capital was created to invest in early-stage technology companies and, in total, the fund has participated in 35 firms, 40% in the healthcare and life sciences sector. The life sciences portfolio out-performed investment five-fold.

“We are very pleased with the return on this fund, one of the sector's most successful in Europe, as well as its social and economic impact,” notes Inveready President Josep Maria Echarri. 

The fund ...

Kymos Pharma, a Contract Research Organisation (CRO) and member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, has bought German company Prolytic GmbH in order to strengthen its activity in the biologics and advanced therapies market. The company previously acquired Italian firm Pharmaprogress in 2016.

"This strategic merger gives us the opportunity to increase our service offering, strengthen the emerging therapies market and create a multinational and multidisciplinary company. We are very much looking forward to this new phase in the company’s history", says Joan Puig de Dou, co-founder and CEO of Kymos Pharma.

From now on, Kymos' services will be for innovative small and ...

Aortyx, spin-off of the IQS School of Engineering, has won the first annual Àlex Casta Awards for best pitch in the healthcare and life sciences ecosystem in Catalonia. The competition took place today at the presentation of the 2020 BioRegion of Catalonia Report, compiled by Biocat and CataloniaBio & HealthTech.

The other start-ups that competed as finalists were Ona Therapeutics, Glycardial Diagnostics, Able Human Motion and Pebble Analytics.

Founded by Jordi Martorell, Salvador Borrós and Vicenç Riambau, head of Vascular Surgery at Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Aortyx is developing a new generation of grafts to repair blood vessels.

“I hope these ...

PHOTOS

With three months until the end of 2020, the life sciences and healthcare sector in Catalonia is flexing its muscles, in spite of expectations it would be a challenging year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Start-ups in this ecosystem, the most dynamic in Spain and one of the most active in southern Europe, have managed to raise €120 million in investment, well above the previous record from 2019, which was €112 million. This data is from the BioRegion of Catalonia Life Sciences and Healthcare Outlook 2020 - Challenges Ahead, the report presented today by Biocat and CataloniaBio & HealthTech.

President ...

Minoryx Therapeutics, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, and Sperogenix Therapeutics entered into an exclusive license agreement for the development and commercialization of MIN-102 for the treatment of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) in China, Hong Kong and Macau. Currently, there is no treatment for X-ALD.

Under the terms of the agreement, Minoryx will receive an initial upfront payment and pre-defined regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to €66-million, as well as double-digit royalties on annual net sales.

Marc Martinell, co-founder and CEO of Minoryx, says that "Sperogenix is a company with experience and capabilities in the field of rare diseases in ...

Josep Amat, co-founder and CSO of Rob Surgical, received the Creu de Sant Jordi 2020 from the Government of Catalonia for his extensive background as a robotics engineer.

Amat is co-inventor of the new Bitrack robot for minimally invasive surgery, and the first entrepreneur from CataloniaBio & HealthTech to receive this recognition.

Currently, he is emeritus professor of architecture and computer science at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), advisor to the Robotics and Vision Group at the Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering-UPC and member of the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC).

The awards ceremony took place on 21 September ...