Introducing XenOPAT, a spin-off of IDIBELL, ICO and HUB
The company provides mouse models for personalized cancer treatment
XenOPAT was recently created as a new spin-off of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB). XenOPAT offers services based on creating orthotopic mouse models (Orthoxenograft®) by grafting small fragments of human tumors onto the corresponding organ of the mice. What sets XenOPAT apart is that most companies and research services graft the human tumor onto the epidermis and not the corresponding organ the original human tumor comes from. Grafting the tumor onto the corresponding organ in the mouse creates an animal model that reproduces the histological, genetic and epigenetic characteristics of human tumors, which has great potential not only for researching new drugs but also for designing personalized therapeutic strategies for oncology patients.
XenOPAT offers companies and researchers their OrthoXenoBank®, a wide range of orthotopic mice with different types of tumors that can be used to test new drugs. This allows for the best preclinical trials possible, which is essential to the complex drug-development process.
An Orthoxenograft® can also be created from a specific patient’s tumor in order to determine the best oncology treatment for each person. Thus, the XenOPAT orthotopic mouse models are a great step forward for personalized medicine.
From the laboratory to business
This spin-off is the result of work carried out over many years by ICO-IDIBELL researcher Alberto Villanueva and HUB pathologist August Vidal. Together with Anna Portela, in charge of business management, they have brought their research to business and become founding partners of XenOPAT.
XenOPAT was one of the projects from the 2013 BioEmprenedor XXI program that successfully set up a company. BioEmprenedor XXI is a joint initiative of “la Caixa”, Biocat and Barcelona Activa to promote business creation in Catalonia in the life sciences arena.
Dr. Alberto Villanueva, one of the promoters of XenOPAT, is also one of the principal researchers in the Barcelona Patient Cancer Platform (BPCP), a collaboration project that brings together Catalan universities, hospitals and research centers in a network of excellence for the application of personalized medicine in cancer, which has received support from Biocat.