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.

 

A new study reveals effectiveness of a cognitive enhancer for schizophrenia treatment Blog Post

Researchers from the biotech company Iproteos and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine of Barcelona (IRB Barcelona), member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) –based at the Barcelona Science Park–  in collaboration with scientists from the Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group –belonging to the University of Basque Country /Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU) and to the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM)– have published an article at European Neuropsychopharmacology, where the new procognitive drug efficacy has been demonstrated for schizophrenia treatment.

 

Iproteos closes a round of funding valued at 1.5 millon Euros Blog Post

Iproteos – based at the Barcelona Science Park– has closed a round of funding valued at 1.5 millon Euros, led by Caixa Capital Risc and with participation of Kinled Holding, a Hong Kong based investment company with offices in London, New York and Zurich, and the biotech ASCIL Biopharm. The company will set aside this injection of capital to the completion of the regulatory preclinical phase of his compound, a first-in-class drug for the treatment of Cognitive Impairment Associated with Schizophrenia (CIAS). The compound is one of the few that are being developed around the world to halt and reverse the cognitive impairment caused by this disease.

 

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.

 

IRB Barcelona researcher Benjamí Oller wins one of the ‘Premis Pioner 2015’ Blog Post

The young scientist Benjamí Oller, who recently defended his PhD thesis, done in Prof. Ernest Giralt’s lab at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), has been awarded one of the five ‘Premis Pioner 2015‘ (Pioneer Prizes 2015), which are presented by the CERCA Institute –an organisation belonging to the Government of Catalonia– in order to recognize to recent doctorates that orient his research to obtain industrial or commercial results. 
 

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.

 

New Trojan horses to conquer the brain Blog Post

20 pioneering scientists present their latest research on the barrier and the breakthroughs in therapeutic shuttle transporters that target the brain in the ‘Blood-Brain-Barrier’ Barcelona Biomed Conference, an event organised by IRB Barcelona with the University of Tohoku (Japó) and supported by the BBVA Foundation. One of the latest results is a shuttle based on bee venom developed by Ernest Giralt’s Lab from IRB Barcelona at PCB. The conference starts today at the Institut d’Estudis Catalans in Barcelona and ends on Wednesday 4th November.

 

Gate2Brain of IRB Barcelona is one of the projects supported by the RecerCaixa Programme Blog Post

The project “Gate2Brain, peptide shuttles for protein replacement therapy in Friedreich’s ataxia“, led by Ernest Giralt, head of the Peptides and Proteins Lab at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) –based in the PCB– and full professor of the University of Barcelona, and by Javier Díaz Nido, at the Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), has been awarded funding from the RecerCaixa Programme—an initiative of the Obra Social “la Caixa” with the collaboration of the Associació Catalana d’Universitats Públiques(ACUP).