Montserrat Vendrell has been named the new president of the Pompeu Fabra University Board of Trustees (UPF), taking over from Núria Basi, who had held the position since 2008. The board is the body through which society participates in the UPF.

Vendrell is a partner in the venture capital fund Alta Life Sciences, member of the CataloniaBio & HealthTech board of directors and president of the executive committee at the Pasqual Maragall Foundation.

She is the third woman in a row to hold the position of president of the UPF Board of Trustees.

Enantia, CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has again succeeded in applying cocrystallisation technology to a new family of compounds, the cannabinoids.

Cannabinoids, especially cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), plays an important role in a number of biochemical pathways. Besides Sativex® and Epidiolex®, the only two approved drugs containing CBD, the potential of cannabinoids to be used to treat a large number of medical conditions is very high as is shown by the number of ongoing clinical trials.

Enantia has developed new cannabinoid cocrystals to allow their purification from complex mixtures (natural and synthetic) and to obtain improved active pharmaceutical ingredients and ...

FreeOx Biotech has taken on AEC Partners as a strategic partner in the company to accelerate development and marketing of its drug to treat brain ischemia. Both companies are members of CataloniaBio & HealthTech.

The priority drug is Ox-01, which is about to begin phase-III clinical trials. AEC Partners analysed the brand positioning, financial needs and expected return. At the same time, negotiations are already under way with potential licensees in various world markets.

Jordi Esclusa, managing partner at AEC Partners, and Nerea Alonso, partner in the Barcelona offices of AEC Partners, explain that “It is highly satisfying to lead ...

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CataloniaBio & HealthTech has given the Biosuccess Award to the Ysios Capital fund for the milestones achieved in 2018 in the healthcare and biomedicine arena in Catalonia, and an honorary award to Antonio Parente recognising his career in business. The awards ceremony was held yesterday at the CataloniaBio & HealthTech Gala Dinner at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site in Barcelona and attended by Catalan Minister of Health Alba Vergés and more than 200 entrepreneurs, executives and investors in the sector.

The panel of judges valued Ysios' investment in the main operations in the sector in 2018 (STAT-Dx ...

CataloniaBio & HealthTech held its ordinary general assembly on the 15 February at the Barcelona Science Park, where the members of the board, the executive team and around 70 members met to share and approve the 2019 action plan, as well as the management report and accounts from financial year 2018. The admission of 24 new partners* was also approved.

On behalf of the board, and in accordance with the bylaws, the participants included Jaume Amat (president), Maribel Bergés (treasurer), Àngel Alonso (secretary) and Melqui Calzado (secretary general of the association).

“The integration of CataloniaBio and the HealthTech Cluster one ...

Aromics, CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has been awarded with 1,085.659 euros from the European Union for the regulatory preclinics of NAX035 for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma, an aggressive and highly refractory tumor directly related to asbestos exposure.

The financing of Aromics comes through the SME instrument Phase 2 of the Horizon 2020 program, which allows European companies to develop innovative products and services.

The use of asbestos will be definitively banned in the European Union in 2005 but it is a tumour with a long latency period (30 to 40 years from the exposure to the diagnosis ...

Amgen Iberia, the subsidiary of biotechnology multinational corporation Amgen and a member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, increased its staff by 11% in 2018, for a total of 300 employees, after launching a new biosimilars unit, according to L’Econòmic. The company notes that these employees are highly qualified and that they promote equal pay for women and men.

Amgen first began working in Spain in 1990. Currently, the company has nearly 80 clinical trials under way in its various therapeutic areas and invests €18 million in R&D. Its drugs are used to treat serious diseases in cardiology, nephrology, oncohaematology and bone ...

The CataloniaBio & HealthTech Innovation Workgroup (WG) was officially launched on the 7th of February at the Barcelona Science Park with the active participation of around fourty biopharmaceutical, medical technology, and digital health companies and start-ups, hospitals and technological centres. 

The coordination team, made up of Àngel Alonso (Vecmedical), Isabel Amat (Reig Jofre), Ferran Rodríguez (Hospital Clínic), and Eduard Valentí (Esteve), with the support of Melqui Calzado (secretary general), explained the purpose of this WG and then started the first joint working session to identify the topics of interest which shall be addressed in the forthcoming months.

With ...

usMIMA, a start-up that specialises in designing and selling medical devices to combat chronic constipation, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise €400,000 on the Capital Cell platform. It is a bridge round, currently led by Genesis Ventures with €50,000, which will lead into a Series A round in late 2019.

The first product the company has developed is called Mowoot, a device that stimulates intestinal transit naturally, based on a clear need, identified by patients and doctors. Chronic constipation affects 250 million people around the world, but there are few innovative solutions on the market.

With this ...

4D Health, a health innovation and simulation centre and CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has launched its new 4dhealth.com website to raise awareness of its personalised services for companies and hospitals.

The web has three sections: what the centre does, professional training using simulation to increase safety when treating patients, and services for companies associated with training projects for clinical professionals and sales teams, as well as innovation in product development and testing.

“We facilitate and act as a liaison for joint initiatives in the healthcare and business arenas,” explains Franc Espinar, head of projects and operations for 4D ...

The CataloniaBio & HealthTech Regulatory Affairs Workgroup (WG) held its second Hard Reg Café event on 4 February at ACCIÓ. The event was coordinated by Lidia Cánovas (Asphalion) and Lluís Chico (NEOS Surgery) and aimed to nail down the topics of interest identified at the first Hard Reg Café session and discuss the best way to tackle them. 

These themes are implementing the new European medical device regulations and raising awareness and encouraging practical use of the Expedited Pathways.

After a two-hour debate, the companies agreed that, first, notified bodies must be more available and, secondly, the clinical ...

Fertypharm, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, is one of the thirty business and social initiatives recognised in the Icon Group’s Go Health Awards 2019. 

These awards aim to promote talent, innovation and entrepreneurship through the value chain (research, manufacturing, distribution, patient care, etc.), in the public and private sectors.

Fertypharm has won second prize in the Retail / OTC Laboratory category as a new business project. Founded by Roberto Costillas and José Ángel Delpueyo, the Esplugues de Llobregat-based company develops innovative fertility and pregnancy products.

The panel of judges was comprised of top executives from the sector, including Jesús Acebillo ...

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The Mental Health Cluster of Catalonia, CataloniaBio & HealthTech and the Food Nutrition Cluster, with collaboration from ACCIÓ, have pooled more than 50 companies for an intercluster event on the new challenges in nutrition and health.

Palau Marianao in Sant Boi de Llobregat hosted the first of three workshops in this programme on 24 January. The session began with a presentation from each of the cluster managers: Marta Sánchez Bret, Melqui Calzado and Eva Olivera.

The aim of this intercluster is to find solutions to the needs identified previously by three complementary sectors: biomedicine, mental health and nutrition ...

Stimulo, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, and a midwife at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Vanessa Bueno, have designed a postural cushion for pregnant women that corrects the malposition of the fetal head during labor. 

At the time of delivery, the fetus needs to face head down. But, in about 40% of women, the fetus is facing up. If this incorrect position is not corrected, it is necessary to perform a caesarean section or use forceps. 

The origin of this idea is found in a clinical trial carried out by Vanessa Bueno on how to facilitate ...

Kiversal, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member company that specialises in the Internet of Things (IoT), is one of the first companies to use the new User Experience Lab (UXLab) service offered by Barcelona Activa. Specifically, the company has assessed the ease of use of the Audixi 10 audiometer it is developing.

UXLab is designed for start-ups and SMEs to test products, both physical and digital, before they go on the market. UXLab also allows companies to validate their ideas using techniques like neuromarketing and eyetracking to discover the emotions involved in the purchase process, as reported Europa Press. In some ...

CataloniaBio & HealthTech has launched a new Innovation Workgroup (WG) to share new business models and synergies that are coming up with solutions in health, facilitate public-private partnerships, discover unmet needs of patients and hospital care, and align the innovation going on in technology and biopharmaceutical companies with hospitals.

In order to give companies and hospitals the opportunity to express their concerns, propose activities and participate in executing them, a presentation will be held on 7 February at the Barcelona Science Park.

“The WG will be stronger with a participative format, so the launch has been designed to use teamwork ...

Esteve and the Neuropharmacology Group of Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) are beginning the Ribopain project to identify and validate new therapeutic targets for neuropathic pain. The initiative has received funding in the Retos 2017 call by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. 

Its principal investigators will be José Miguel Vela, Director of Drug Discovery & Preclinical Development at Esteve, and Rafael Maldonado and Miquel Martin of UPF.

19% of the adult European population suffers from moderate to severe pain. Neuropathic pain, which is the most refractory to treatment, appears as a result of a traumatic or degenerative ...

Asphalion, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has inaugurated new offices in Barcelona after 18 years working as a scientific and regulatory affairs consultancy firm. The company's new headquarters are at Carrer de Tarragona 151, right by the Sants train station.

"We're very happy with the change and aware that, now more than ever, we can provide more and better services for drug development and regulatory affairs to pharma, biotech and medical device companies," explains Lidia Cánovas, Asphalion general manager for Regulatory Affairs and member of the CataloniaBio & HealthTech board.

Asphalion also has offices in Madrid and Munich. The ...

Minoryx Therapeutics, CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has created a fully owned subsidiary in Belgium. The new office, located in Brussels South Biopark (Charleroi) is due to launch operations this month.

The Belgian subsidiary will leverage the local biotech ecosystem to lead the research and development of MIN-102 in new orphan central nervous system (CNS) indications and will play an important role in the development of the company. 

Minoryx is recruiting several R&D positions for its Belgian site and headquarters in Tecnocampus Maresme-Mataró (Barcelona).

The company recently completed a €21,3 million Series B funding round led by the ...

Senolytic Therapeutics, a biotech company in the Life Biosciences group with offices in Boston and Barcelona, is the focus of a report in the Financial Times on how longevity and treatments for age-related illnesses are being promoted.

Life Biosciences was created in 2017 by David A. Sinclair, a professor in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and the investor Tristan Edwards.

Senolytic develops novel classes of medicines that target and eliminate damaged cells (senescent). The researchers believe, and have proven in pre-clinical trials, that de-constructing these zombie cells will offset the adverse effects of ageing. The company ...