IRB Barcelona joins Neogenius project with Almirall, Esteve, Palau Pharma and Proteomika

BY BIOCAT

The IRB Barcelona Molecular Modeling and Bioinformatics group, headed by Modesto Orozco, will collaborate on the Neogenius project led by Almirall, Esteve, Palau Pharma and Proteomika to research new drugs to treat arthritis and design new diagnostic tools. Neogenius is one of the research programs selected by CENIT (Strategic National Technical Research Consortia) to drive public/private and industrial cooperation in large-scale projects with a wide-reaching scientific/technical impact.

IRB Barcelona has also reached an agreement with the CSIC and biotechnology firms Antibody BCN and Immunostep to carry out research on new proteins fusions with possible diagnostic applications. This alliance is part of the EpiTag project under the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) INNPACTO grant program. Modesto Orozco’s group will make their facilities available to carry out the project, which will seek out new peptide tags to allow for the development of more effective drugs with fewer side effects.

Modesto Orozco’s laboratory studies cell recognition processes of biological importance, both regarding basic science and applied to new drug research. Throughout his professional career, Orozco has worked as an advisor to many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and has participated in a number of national and international science agencies and panels.

IRB Barcelona currently has 28 research groups structured around five programs: cell biology and development, structural and computational biology, molecular medicine, oncology, and molecular chemistry and pharmacology.  The Institute, headed by Joan J. Guinovart with Deputy Director Joan Massagué, is located in the Barcelona Science Park. In 2010, these research groups collaborated on 14 projects on a local, national and international level.