Minoryx Therapeutics, a company specializing in the development of new drugs for orphan diseases, announces the start of its pivotal phase II/III clinical trial of MIN-102 for the treatment of adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN), the most frequent phenotype of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD).

The first patients were dosed at the University Hospital Vall d'Hebron (Barcelona) by Dr. Josep Gámez and at the Academic Medical Center (Amsterdam) by Dr Marc Engelen. In addition, recruitment was also initiated at the Institute of Genomic Medicine and Rare Disorders (Budapest) by Dr. Maria Molnar. More patients will be enrolled in several other European countries (United Kingdom ...

The Spanish Bioindustry Association (Asebio) has voted in its new board of directors this week. A total of 25 candidates stood in the election. 

Ferrer, represented by Jordi Martí, will hold the presidency of the board for the first time, although it is the second time in the position for Martí himself (previously representing Celgene). The vice-presidents are Carlos Buesa, CEO of Oryzon Genomics; Carmen Eibe, director of Project Coordination at PharmaMar; and Daniel Ramón, CEO of Biopolis.

The other new members taking up their places on this board are representatives from 3P Biopharmaceuticals, Ability Pharma, Atrys Health, Ayming ...

The new Bitrack System robot for minimally invasive laparoscopy surgery, developed by the company Rob Surgical, has successfully completed its technical validation on experimental models and is preparing for European authorisation and to enter the market by 2019.

Bitrack is the modular, flexible and more economical alternative to the American Da Vinci robot installed in many leading hospitals around the world, including Barcelona’s Hospital Clínic and Vall d'Hebron University Hospital.

The trials using the final prototype were conducted in the new experimental operating theatre at Specipig, a CRO with GLP certification specialising in offering this service to medical technology companies ...

Devicare has signed a participative loan worth €2 million from the Innova Global line by Avançsa, assigned to the Business and Expertise Department, with the option to convert the investment into Series A stock in the mid-term.

With this new economic injection, Devicare will continue the strategic development plan of new medical solutions under the Remote Patient Monitoring concept, which simply and economically places patients at the centre of their own healthcare management, known as patient empowerment, as well as the corresponding clinical studies and trials for the expansion throughout the European and North American markets. Currently, the company has ...

Cebiotex, a CataloniaBio member, has launched a new crowdequity campaign to raise €650,000 through CapitalCell in order to ensure its first drug, CEB-01 for post-op treatment of soft-tissue sarcomas, reaches paediatric oncology.

The campaign is part of a €1.6-million round of funding. The biotech firm hopes this capital will be covered with public and private funds, allowing it to begin phase I/II clinical trials on candidate CEB-01 with 15 patients in 2018, and begin proof-of concept testing for new oncology treatments for pancreatic cancer, liver cancer and brain tumours. “The first licences are expected from 2021, with ...

Enantia, a CataloniaBio member, has launched a new corporate website presenting its R&D services and expertise in chemical processes, solid forms, medical chemistry and analytical support, as well as the MaxPHOS technology platform to offer new chiral ligands, its catalogue of commercial products and licensing-out opportunities.

The strengths of Enantia, created in 2003 as a spin-off of the University of Barcelona and led by Dr Joan Feixas, are asymmetrical chemistry and crystallisation technology to develop new drugs, among other products. Thanks to the founders’ extensive industrial experience, Enantia has become an European benchmark supplier for pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnology companies ...

A new era for the CataloniaBio association of companies and the HealthTech Cluster. Members of the two organisations unanimously passed the motion to merge under the brand CataloniaBio & HealthTech at their respective extraordinary general meetings held in Barcelona yesterday. Negotiations and the preliminary merger process have taken place throughout the year, with institutional support from ACCIÓ, the Catalan government agency that promotes clusters, and legal guidance from RCD.

CataloniaBio & HealthTech now represents more than 150 companies, as well as collaborating stakeholders such as hospitals, research centres and universities that are leaders in R&D in biomedicine. The headquarters will ...

Laboratorios Leti, a CataloniaBio member, has signed an agreement with the multinational MSD Animal Health to distribute its canine leishmaniasis vaccine LetiFend® in France, Italy, Greece and the United Kingdom. Leti will continue to manage the Spanish and Portuguese markets directly.

LetiFend® is the first recombinant vaccine available in Europe to prevent canine leishmaniasis, a global zoonosis caused by Leishmania infantum, which is potentially deadly and prevalent in more than 80 countries around the world. Moreover, there are few treatment possibilities, which highlights the importance of vaccination to strengthen the immune system before infection.

According to Laboratorios Leti President Jaime ...

The UAB Research Park and the Catalan Biotechnology Reference Network, the organisers of the 2017 Generation of Ideas programme with collaboration from CataloniaBio, have awarded the prize for best innovative project to Nanoplastics.

Created by Achille Francone, researcher at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2); Natalia de la Oliva, of the Institut de Neurociències (INc UAB); and Ana Beatriz and Tarik Ruiz Medina, of the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), Nanoplastics has created a single-layer biodegradable film to boost food safety and extend the shelf life of packaged fresh food.

The runner-up was RES-KIT, a diagnostic ...

Report of the last Lessons Learned 

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The biopharmaceutical industry (biopharma) is increasingly interested in acquiring medical technology (medtech) to provide innovative, effective solutions to the main global diseases. The line between these two areas has become blurred and is taking us towards a new business model. Four Catalan companies that are deeply involved in this spoke at the latest Lessons Learned session organized by CataloniaBio and Biocat with collaboration from the Health Tech Cluster, on 29 November at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB).

CataloniaBio Secretary General Melqui Calzado opened the debate looking at patient care that “requires ...

The biotechnology Leukos Biotech and the bioinformatics Mind The Byte, a CataloniaBio members, have reached an agreement to work on the development of potential treatments for the T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T- ALL), that represents a 15% of all cases of leukemia.

The project will be based on previous studies developed by the Leukemia Stem Cells Group at the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute, led by Dr Ruth Risueño. Risueño is co-founder and CSO of Leukos Biotech. These studies have discovered the therapeutic effect of several molecules, but their mechanism of action remains unknown. Mind the Byte will computationally investigate ...

Genesis Biomed, a CataloniaBio member, was presented yesterday Genesis Ventures, a new investment fund located in Barcelona 

Representatives of a total of 24 biomedical research projects have taken part in the third edition of Health & Bio Team Dating, which took place in Barcelona today. It is the only speed-dating event in this industry, and offers a chance to contact potential partners who can help them attract investment and bring their science to the market. Over 160 sessions were held over a four-hour period as part of this initiative, which has been organised by Banco Sabadell’s BStartup, Biocat and the association of companies CataloniaBio, with the collaboration of 29 universities and research institutions in Catalonia.

“At BStartup ...

Representatives of a total of 24 biomedical research projects have taken part in the third edition of Health & Bio Team Dating, which took place in Barcelona today. It is the only speed-dating event in this industry, and offers a chance to contact potential partners who can help them attract investment and bring their science to the market. Over 160 sessions were held over a four-hour period as part of this initiative, which has been organised by Banco Sabadell’s BStartup, Biocat and the association of companies CataloniaBio, with the collaboration of 29 universities and research institutions in Catalonia.

The pharmaceutical company Esteve, a member of the CataloniaBio board of directors, will begin 2018 with a new Chairman of the Board, Albert Esteve, and a new Chief Executive Officer, Staffan Schüberg. These changes are part of the largest restructuring of its governing structure to date, a process the company initiated in 2016.

Albert Esteve, currently the CEO and Vice-president of the group, will replace Joan Esteve as Chairman of the Board. He commented, "This is a new challenge that I am facing with great enthusiasm. Consolidating the best practices in corporate governance initiated under the leadership of Joan Esteve ...

Vytrus Biotech, a CataloniaBio member, has raised more than €600,000 in a capital increase it closed on 29 October. This investment came through a crowdequity campaign on the Capital Cell platform.

Specifically, the biotechnology firm raised 110% of its initial goal of €550,000 and has become one of the first companies in Spain to raise over half a million euros through this type of campaign.

The investment will go towards boosting the company’s industrial growth and research lines, as well as helping prepare the company to go public next year.

Vytrus has distribution deals in more than ...

Reig Jofre, a CataloniaBio member, has collaborated on the first social-health research study in the world on the use of seawater for hygiene and to alleviate the symptoms of respiratory conditions, which obtained information from 175 medical specialists and 1,350 patients.

As a result of the study, participants have compiled the first recommendations for nasal washing with seawater, presented at the congress of the Spanish Society of Outpatient Paediatrics and Primary Care (SEPEAP) held 19 to 21 October in Santander. Of the participating specialists, 8 in 10 agreed on the suitability of using seawater instead of saline solution for ...

The European Association of Economy and Competitiveness (AEDEEC) has granted the European Medal for Merit in Work to Mimetis Biomaterials, a CataloniaBio member. This medal recognises the entrepreneurial spirit in Europe of a selection of companies, institutions and professionals from various sectors that have fostered entrepreneurship and best practices in companies.

“We strive to find solutions to the clinical challenges bone regeneration poses, working with numerous researchers and professionals from the dental and orthopaedic sectors, with support from the Administration and, above all, drive and commitment,” explained Mimetis Biomaterials CEO Dr David Pastorino in accepting the award.

More information ...

Ruti®, the therapeutic vaccine for tuberculosis (TB) from Archivel Farma, a CataloniaBio member, is one of the nine candidates whose development progress was analysed at a meeting called by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 3 and 4 October in Geneva.

Dr Pere-Joan Cardona, head of the Experimental Tuberculosis Unit at the Institute for Health Science Research Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP) and inventor of the Ruti® vaccine, presented the results of several preclinical trials and clinical studies carried out so far to experts from the WHO. He also shared that they are recruiting patients with MDR-TB for a phase ...

Mitelos, a CataloniaBio member, has closed a commercial deal with OC Farma for this pharmaceutical corporation to distribute Otiblock® Ear Spray in Turkey.

Otiblock® Ear Spray is a new healthcare product aimed at facilitating elimination of earwax build-up, protecting the physiology of the ear canal to prevent future infections.

With this deal, Mitelos has extended the list of countries where the product will soon be marketed, which also includes: Malaysia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Australia, New Zealand and Spain, among others.

More information is available on the Mitelos website.

Photo: Otiblock® Ear Spray, © Mitelos