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From left to right: Enric Barba, president of the Cecot Innovation and Technology Club; Joan Bertran, CEO and co-founder of Cebiotex; Quim Torra, president of the regional government of Catalonia; and Antoni Abad, president of Cecot (Photo: Cecot).
 24.10.2018

Cebiotex awarded the Cecot Recognition of Innovation prize 2018

Cebiotex– the first spin-off between the SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital (HSJD) and the Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya (UPC)– awarded the Cecot Recognition of Innovation prize 2018. Joan Bertran, CEO and co-founder of the biotechnology company based at the Barcelona Science Park (Parc Científic de Barcelona, PCB), yesterday received the award at the Cecot Recognition of Business Progress prize-giving ceremony at the National Theatre of Catalonia, as part of the 24th Night of the Entrepreneur, which was chaired by the president of Catalonia, Quim Torra.

 

Cebiotex was founded in 2012 by textile engineer Joan Bertran as a spin-off between the SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital (HSJD) and the Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña (UPC), to develop a membrane of biodegradable nanofibres (which can be reabsorbed by the body) for post-surgical cancer treatment.

The Cebiotex membrane is a local drug delivery system that allows surgeons, after the removal of a tumour, to cover the surgical bed with high concentrations of a drug so that it can act directly on the affected area.

Thanks to the collaboration between HSJD researchers, who undertook the scientific and clinical aspects of the project, and the team of engineers from the UPC’s Institute of Textile Research and Industrial Cooperation of Terrassa (INTEXTER), which provided the technology for producing nanofibres, Cebiotex successfully created its first therapeutic solution – CEB-01. This solution is designed for the treatment of surgical beds for soft tissue sarcoma (STS), a rare type of cancer that affects adults and children and which can appear at any age.

After three financing rounds, Cebiotex has patented the technological drug delivery platform in the United States, the European Union and China, and has its own technology and production team for the manufacture and regulative development of its first drug. The challenge it currently faces is to sign licensing agreements with pharmaceutical companies to secure profitability for partners and entrepreneurial viability for the project.

The Cecot Recognition of Business Progress awards were launched in 1995 to highlight good practices in professional and entrepreneurial fields that improve competition, whilst maintaining a strong focus on the environment and social cohesion. Each year, Cecot presents these awards on the Night of the Entrepreneur, which is now a fixed date in the calendars of Catalan politicians, economists, academics and entrepreneurs.

The 24th edition of the event, under the slogan ‘Smart society. Digital Transformation and Social Empowerment’, was attended by nine-hundred people. In addition to the president of the regional government of Catalonia, Quim Torra, the event was attended by the president of the Parliament of Catalonia, Roger Torrent; the minister of Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency of Catalonia, Ernest Maragall; the minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of Catalonia, Chakir El Homrani; the minister of Enterprise and Knowledge of Catalonia, Àngels Chacó; and the minister of Digital Policies and Public Administration of Catalonia, Jordi Puigneró.