Launch of the company Gate2Brain, based on novel technology developed at IRB Barcelona to transport drugs into the brain Blog Post

The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute (IRSJD)- Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (SJD) have set up Gate2Brain, a company based on a novel technology to transport drugs into the brain. The biotech, based in the Barcelona Science Park, is the second joint spin-off between IRB Barcelona and the UB to be funded by the Mind the Gap Programme run by the Botín Foundation.

 

Three innovation projects at IRB Barcelona are granted funding for market development Blog Post

The Catalan’ Government’s Agency for Management and of University and Research Grants (Agencia de Gestió i Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR)) has awarded around 220,000 euros to three innovation projects underway at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) at the Barcelona Science Park. These funds have been provided through the 2016 Knowledge Industry grant call, a programme cofunded by European Regional Development Funds (ERDFs) devoted to Catalonia in the period 2014-2020.

 

New research front to tackle Friedreich’s Ataxia Blog Post

The associations of patients and families Babel Family and the Asociación Granadina de la Ataxia de Friedreich (ASOGAF) channel 80,000 euros of their donations (50% from each organisation) into a new 18-month project at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) located at PCB. The long-term goal of the project is to achieve an injectable frataxin treatment able to reach the brain. Frataxin is the protein that is reduced in those affected by this rare and degenerative disease, which has no cure.

 

Sights set on the next generation of shuttle peptides to target the brain Blog Post

IRB Barcelona scientists Benjamí Oller, Macarena Sánchez, Ernest Giralt, and Meritxell Teixidó, all from the Peptides and Proteins Lab of the Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Programme, have written a review on the emerging field of shuttle peptides—molecules that have the capacity to transport drugs across the blood-brain barrier and thus treat diseases affecting the central nervous system. The article will be featured on the cover of September’s issue of Chemical Society Reviews.

 

Secondary school teachers learn about biomedical chemistry at IRB Barcelona Blog Post

On the afternoon of Friday 27th November and all of the next day, fifteen secondary school teachers from around Catalonia will have the opportunity to learn about the value of chemistry for biomedicine by the hand of researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). Forming part of the programme Teachers and Science, an initiative of the Catalunya-La Pedrera Foundation, the course Chemistry: the basic ingredient of biomedical research involves the collaboration of IRB for the fifth consecutive year. The course will be held on IRB Barcelona premises at the Barcelona Science Park.