Drug repurposing, a new hope for rare diseases Blog Post

Under the theme Drug repurposing for rare diseases. The cure of the 21st centuryB·Debate – an initiative by Biocat and  “la Caixa” Foundation– will be holding, in association with the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (HSJD), an international expert gathering at CosmoCaixa on 17 and 18 November to help identify new therapeutic strategies for rare diseases, with a special emphasis on drug repurposing already approved for other diseases. 

 

Gaia, the first intuitive SaaS software for human, animal & plant metagenomics that compares samples in real time Blog Post

Sequentia Biotech based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) recently developed Gaia, an online bioinformatics tool able to manage and analyze metagenomic data from any microbial community (bacteria, viruses and eukaryotes) generated by new sequencing technologies (Next Generation Sequencing, NGS) applied to human, animal and plant genetics and automatically integrates all levels of taxonomic classification with functional classification (from the kingdom to the subspecies) in just 12 hours. It is also the first bioinformatics tool that compares samples in real time. This SAAS-based software is available in the cloud and does not require specialized training; making it possible for any researcher who is not versed in bioinformatics to use it. 

 

Broad participation of Barcelona Science Park at BioSpain 2016 Blog Post

The Bilbao Exhibition Center (BEC) in Barakaldo (Bizkaia) will host  BioSpain 2016, the 8th edition of the eighth edition of this biennial event of biotechnology, the largest in Europe with permanent headquarters in one country and the fifth in the world ranking by number of partnering meetings. The event, to be held from 28 to 30 September, will bring together more than 2,000 attendees, 855 companies and nearly 50 investors- and will feature the participation of the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) and a large number of companies and entities of the PCB Community.

 

New strategy to obtain a specific type of amyloid-beta aggregate that may underlie neuronal death in Alzheimer’s disease Blog Post

Scientists from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) at Barcelona Science Park (PCB), in collaboration with researchers at Scientific and Technological Centers of the University of Barcelona (CCiTUB), the University of Leuven (Belgium) and the University of Groningen (the Netherlands), and the the, describes for the first time how to prepare a specific type of aggregate of the amyloid-beta protein with the ability to perforate the cell membrane. Interpreted in the context of Alzheimer´s disease, this discovery suggests that the aggregate can also perforate the membrane of neurons, alter the equilibrium of these cells, and trigger their death.

 

The sperm tail may determine semen quality Blog Post

The annual Congress of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) has been the setting chosen by the Eugin group and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) to present new collaborative research. The study describes, for the first time, the presence of alterations in the tail of the human sperm, the so called flagellum, which will help indicate the quality of sperm and improve the diagnosis of infertility.

 

Biocat and Leitat will coordinate two of the five RIS3CAT Communities Blog Post

The RIS3CAT Community for Digital applications in biotechnology and health therapies –coordinated by Biocat from its headquarters at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– is one of the first RIS3CAT Communities to which Government of Catalonia, through ACCIÓ, has allocated 19.1 million Euros from the ERDF fund (European Regional Development Fund). Leitat –whose BioMed Division is based at PCB– will also coordinate a further RIS3CAT Community for New diagnostic devices and big data applied to health, in which Intelligent Pharma, located at PCB, leads one of the four projects: ‘Diabetes as an accelerator of cognitive derioration in Alzheimer´s disease: Integral approach and treatment adherence’.

 

IDP Pharma closes a funding round for 2 million euros Blog Post

IDP Pharma, founded in 2015 and with headquarters at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) has raised, during its first operative year, over 2 million euros from public and private capital. The biopharmaceutical company –specializes in the development of drugs for cancer treatment directed to a new class of therapeutic targets: IDPs– will appoint this capital to continue the preclinical development of their most advanced products: two first-in-class molecules with antitumor activity for Multiple Myeloma, the second most common blood cancer

 

Researchers froms IBEC and UB have collaborated in the definition of a new kind of indicators for bacterial virulence Blog Post

Researchers and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the University of Barcelona (UB) together with their collaborators from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene (University of Lübeck) and German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) have determined a new kind of indicators for bacterial virulence which can help detect and preventing infection outbreaks caused by Escherichia coli.

 

Eugin grows its business to 14,000 treatments per year Blog Post

Eugin Clinic performed 13,885 assisted reproduction treatments in 2015, which places it as one of the European leaders in the sector. The international centre, which has its basic research laboratory at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), performs 10% of the treatments by means of egg donation from all over Europe and their success rates, which are verified by the prestigious German certification agency, TÜV, confirm that 9 in10 women achieve pregnancy. Eugin is also undertaking a large number of scientific projects with leading research centres and six European universities, including the University of Barcelona (UB).

 

Mind the Byte and Sequentia take part in a trade mission in Massachusetts Blog Post

Mind the Byte and Sequentia Biotech, both based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), have been two of the 10 Catalan companies that participated last week in a trade mission in the state of Massachusetts (US) to search for business opportunities in the fields of digital health and big data applied to life sciences. The trade mission was organized by the Government of Catalonia through ACCIÓ, the agency for business competitiveness, and Biocat coinciding with Bio-IT World Conference & Expo, one of the largest and most important events in the US in the field of ICTs in the health sector.