Aromics launches a crowdfunding campaign to accelerate the development of a novel drug for the treatment of asbestos-related cancer Blog Post

The biotech company Aromics, located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign through the European platform CapitalCell, with the goal of raising a capital round up to 300,000€ for completing the preclinical package of its compound NAX035, a novel first-in-class drug for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma, a rare, aggressive and highly treatment-resistant asbestos-associated malignancy.

 

The Gaem Foundation has been awarded in the 2nd edition of the ‘Somos Pacientes” Awards Blog Post

The ‘Múltiple Esclerosis online’ portal (ME online) of the GAEM Foundation (Group Affected by Multiple Sclerosis), based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), has been one of the five projects winners in the second edition of the awards ‘Somos Pacientes‘ (We are Patients), that recognize the effort, dedication, talent and imagination of patient associations to provide assistance, services and solutions to their partners, members and society in general. 

 

Tumour cells are dependent on fat to start metastasis Blog Post

A study headed by Salvador Aznar Benitah, ICREA researcher at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) in the Barcelona Science Park, and published today in Nature, identifies metastasis-initiating cells through a specific marker, namely the protein CD36. Their results show that the protein CD36, which absorbs fat from the cell membrane, is an essential factor that determines whether tumour cells become metastatic. IRB Barcelona will co-develop antibodies against CD36 with the potential to treat patients.

 

SM Genomics receives the Business and Enterprise Award for Innovation 2016 Blog Post

SM Genomics, located at the Barcelona Science Park, is one of the three companies awarded in the fourth edition of the Business and Sport Awards organized by Indescat –the Catalan Sports Industry Cluster– to recognize the most outstanding projects in the field of innovation, internationalization and partnership. The awards ceremony was held at the Museu Olímpic i de l’Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch and was attended by more than 100 people from the institutional, business and sports world.  

 

New computational method to create drugs more efficiently Blog Post

Researchers of the University of Barcelona proposes in a study published in the scientific journal Nature Chemistry, a new way of facing the discovery of molecules with biological activity. Since it is based on a different principle, this method complements conventional tools and allows going forward in the path of rational drug design. ICREA researcher Xavier Barril, from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB) –located at PCB– has led this project, which has the participation of professor Francesc Xavier Luque and PhD student Sergio Ruiz Carmona, members of the same Faculty. 

 

Structural biologists endorse the potential of their field to extract quality information from big data Blog Post

From the massive data obtained from genomic analysis down to the most intricate details of individual proteins. This is precisely what will be addressed by invited speakers in the next Barcelona Biomed Conference, to be held from today 28 to 30 November at the Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Entitled From genomes to structures: looking at big data with an atomic perspective” and organised by IRB Barcelona, based at PCB, and the BBVA Foundation, this event is the 29th in this series of think-tank gatherings.

 

Pangaea Oncology and Laboratorio Echevarne sign an agreement to develop liquid biopsy Blog Post

Pangea Oncology –Associated Company at Barcelona Science Park– and Laboratorio Echevarne have signed an agreement to develop liquid biopsy for cancer diagnostics. This non-invasive test is able to detect genetic mutations in the blood of cancer patients, allowing oncologists to monitor the patient’s response to therapy in real time, tailor or change treatment if resistance develops.   

 

Minoryx Therapeutics wins the 2016 of Senén Vilaró Prize for best innovative company Blog Post

Minoryx Therapeutics ––located at TecnoCampus Mataró-Maresme, with laboratories at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– has won the 2016 Senén Vilaró Prize for best innovative company, one of the four awards conferred by the Board of Trustees of the University of Barcelona and the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG). The Ramon Margalef Prize of the Board of Trustees to the best article published in a distinguished journal in the field of experimental sciences and health was for Benjamí Oller Salvia, for a  research developed during his doctoral thesis at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) at the PCB.

 

Towards a better understanding of the puzzling “droplets” in the cell cytoplasm Blog Post

A study at IRB Barcelona, located at PCB, sheds light on the dynamics of protein aggregates that behave like “droplets of oil in water” and that are described as membraneless cytoplasmic organelles.These organelles regulate protein activity during cell division.This is the first study at the Institute to address the so-called liquid-like droplets, which are attracting the attention of researchers worldwide.

 

Upcoming Forum of the BioRegion, the summit of the Catalan healthcare and life sciences ecosystem Blog Post

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Biocat is holding a new edition of the Forum of the BioRegion of Catalonia on 25 November at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya in order to bring together the stakeholders in the Catalan healthcare and life sciences ecosystem and reflect on the challenges and opportunities available in this current environment of change and sectorial transformation. The latest session brought together more than 450 representatives from Catalan organizations and this year Biocat –with headquarters at the Barcelona Scientific Park – is opening the event up to international clusters.