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Judit Cubedo, co-founder and CEO of GlyCardial Diagnostics (Photo: GlyCardial).
 14.07.2020

Judit Cubedo, CEO of GlyCardial, finalist for the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2020

Judit Cubedo, co-founder and CEO of GlyCardial Diagnostics, is one of the twenty-one women selected as finalists for the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2020, an award given annually to the most talented and inspiring entrepreneurs in Europe. The company led by Judit, which is based in the Barcelona Science Park, is conducting a clinical trial to validate the performance of Apo J-Glyc as a novel biomarker for the early detection of Myocardial Ischaemia. The award winners will be announced at the European Research and Innovation Days taking place on 22-24 September 2020.

 

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. 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.

GlyCardial 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. Now the company expects to demonstrate the reliability of the new test at four leading hospitals in Spain and UK.

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 program, constituted a crucial step in its progress.

Four Spanish women, two Catalan, among the finalists

First launched in 2011, the EU Prize for Women Innovators was created to raise awareness of the need for more female entrepreneurs and create role models for women and girls. The prize is awarded every year to four talented women entrepreneurs from across the EU and Associated Countries, who have founded a successful company and brought innovation to market. Three winners each receive €100,000, with another €50,000 awarded to a Rising Innovator, aged 35 or younger.

In addition to Judit, three other Spanish entrepreneurs are among those selected to compete in the main category: the Catalan Neus Sabaté, co-founder and scientific adviser to Fuelium; Arancha Martínez, co-founder and managing director of It Will Be, and Maria Fátima Lucas) co-founder and CEO of Zymvol Biomodeling.

According Maryia Gabriel, commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth: “We celebrate the work of outstanding women innovators and encourage the next generation of women and girls to follow in their footsteps. Gender biases and stereotypes continue to steer girls and women away from science and technology-related careers. These women clearly lead by example and show that you can follow your dreams no matter how big they are.”