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Dr Judit Cubedo, co-founder and CEO of GyCardial (Photo: Daniel Portales, Barcelona Science Park).
 13.02.2019

GlyCardial Diagnostics moves its headquarters to Barcelona Science Park

The biotechnological company GlyCardial Diagnostics, focused on the development of a novel diagnostic test for early detection of cardiac ischemia, has joined the Barcelona Science Park (PCB). The company is about to begin a study with patients to validate this innovative and disruptive technology, which could revolutionise hospital clinical practice. 

 

GlyCardial Diagnostics, founded in 2017, is a spinoff of the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (IR-HSCSP) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), promoted by Judit Cubedo, Doctor in Biology, as a result of a research project that began more than a decade ago in the IR-HSCSP and was conducted by Dr Lina Badimon, Scientific Director of the company and one of its four co-founders.

Cardiac ischemia is the lack of blood supply to the heart; a situation that occurs in episodes such as heart attacks or angina, among others. Acute ischemic events are one of the most common cardiac emergencies, and their early detection is crucial for avoiding subsequent complications and irreversible damage. The problem is that, with current techniques, ischemia can only be detected when irreversible death of the cardiac tissue has already taken place.

GlyCardial Diagnostics is working to respond to this medical requirement that has not yet been successfully addressed. It has developed innovative technology for the detection of Apo J Glyceria protein as a new biomarker in blood; not only for the diagnosis of cardiac ischemia, but also for predicting the evolution of patients and the risk of recurrence after this episode. The company expects to start a multi-centre clinical trial in the coming months to demonstrate the reliability of the new test in hospital laboratories.

“Our location in the Barcelona Science Park will allow us to benefit from a highly dynamic ecosystem, which fosters synergies between the scientific and business community, as well as the exchange of knowledge and experiences with other entrepreneurs with projects in stages of development similar to that of GlyCardial”, says Dr Judit Cubedo, co-founder and CEO of the company.

To boost its entrepreneurial initiative, the start-up has received support from the La Caixa Foundation and Caixa Capital Risc —via the Caixaimpulse programme— as well as from Healthequity, the Ship2B Foundation, EIT Health and other entities. The money received in the October 2018 funding round from the SME Instrument Phase II, as part of the H2020 programme, constituted a crucial step in its progress.

The MIT Technology Review award for Innovators Under 35 presented to Judit Cubedo in 2014, recognised this project as one of the 10 most influential and disruptive projects in Spain.