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A scientific and business project on breast cancer

By 22 de May de 2012November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 22.05.2012

A scientific and business project on breast cancer

On May 15 Biopol'H began a new cycle of Coffee with…, the meetings designed to create networking and knowledge transfer. This year, lectures revolve around the relationship between business and knowledge, explaining instances of teamwork between both worlds. This time the paper – entitled "Birth of a scientific and business project on breast cancer" and presented by the clinical researcher Ander Urruticoechea, from the Catalan Institute of Oncology, and the chemist and computer technician Ignasi Belda, founder of the spin-off Intelligent Pharma – is the result of the activities that generate trust between business and research developed by Biopol'H since the first edition of Bioagora in 2009.


From idea to market>

Their common work started when Urruticoechea, responsible of the Breast Cancer Unit, developed together with researchers MA Pujana and H Aguilar a cellular model that mimics the clinical problem shown by patients with breast cancer that develops resistance to hormone treatment. This treatment, cornerstone of systematic therapy in this disease, needs new approaches focused on specific molecular targets – real Achilles heels of cancer – which enables to improve the effectiveness. By doing some research on new potential therapies for this clinical situation, Urruticoechea and his team have found a new product with a cancer-preventing drug action – not yet very shaped – that could have selectivity against cells of breast cancer resistant to hormone treatment.

In order to give priority to knowledge transfer and turn their initial findings into a project of high potential interest for the pharmaceutical industry, the team contacted Intelligent Pharma, a company that provides computational chemistry to standardize more deeply the drug actions of the new compound and find analogous molecules with similar action. This is how an entrepreneurial and collaboration project started to be outlined, linking basic research with applied science. This innovative initiative is designed to apply a therapy to a specific type of breast cancer.

The Catalan Institute of Oncology is part of the Biopol’H Health Park. Intelligent Pharma – with the head office in the Barcelona Science Park and branches in the United States, Great Britain and Germany – has participated in several Biopol’H meetings of networking between agents of innovation, business, research and science parks.

Image: Ignasi Belda, founder of the spin-off Intelligent Pharma and the clinical researcher Ander Urruticoechea from the Catalan Institute of Oncology