EcosystemIndustry
Picks of February: Investment and infrastructure news, cutting-edge research, and a plethora of sectoral activities
We are closing the month with the tenth edition of the 4YFN MWC, where the digital health subsector has been one of the most heavily represented. February has also been noteworthy for hosting the Barcelona Health Innovation Week, with the presentation of the BioRegion of Catalonia 2023 Report as the headliner. Let's review this busy month!
- The venture capital company Nina Capital has recorded its third investment vehicle to raise €50 million, after having invested €60 million in 46 new startups in just five years.
- If we turn to news in investment rounds, Palabiofarma closed an operation worth €7 million to conclude three phase II clinical trials; Wivi Vision has raised €4 million to continue to develop its tool to improve sight; BiteRight has secured €2.8 million to develop high-precision dental implants; Affirma Biotech has gotten €1.75 million in financing to make headway in the development of new drugs; and the femtech Domma has raised €950,000 to continue researching solutions for menopause.
- In public financing, Connecta Therapeutics has received €2.7 million from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and from the European Union through the Next Generation EU program to start phase IIa clinical trials of the drug CTH120 targeted at treating fragile X syndrome (FXS).
- In terms of business expansion, Inbiomotion has reached its third distribution agreement for its breast cancer test, this one in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Other startup news includes the company Peptomyc’s positive results in its first clinical trial in patients.
- This month, another important science district in the Esplugues de Llobregat and Sant Joan Despí area has been announced: BaSID (Barcelona Science Innovation District), a complex devoted to scientific research and innovation. This new hub, promoted by Stoneshield Capital via Deeplabs, will have a space measuring 75,000 m2 and laboratories for companies in the sector, including Bayer, which already has its headquarters there.
- Regarding the pharmaceutical companies in the BioRegion, Grifols has sold 20% of Shanghai RAAS to Haier to lower its debt. Furthermore, the start of the company’s new CEO has boosted investor confidence and led to a new upturn in stock prices. Insvatech, a company devoted to integral solutions and innovation in the pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and food sectors, has announced that it will boost production by 100% with its move to a new factory in Martorelles (Vallès Oriental).
- In research news, several Catalan centers that have developed a monoclonal antibody announced that it neutralizes all SARS-CoV-2 variants. The project is now seeking a pharmaceutical company to take over the clinical trials and manufacturing. The Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau has also been in the news this month when it became the first hospital in Europe to implant the smallest pacemaker in the world.
- We are celebrating Barcelona's ranking by entrepreneurs as their third favorite European city for launching a startup. It has held onto this rank for the seventh year in a row according to the Startup Heatmap Europe. The reasons are well known: the global connectivity afforded by its infrastructures, the solidity of its university system, the presence of international talent, and the quality-price ratio in the cost of living.
- Regarding newsworthy appointments, in February Laia Pallejà was appointed the new general manager of ICERCA, Sergi Camacho was brought on board as the manager of IBEC, and Oriol Romero-Isart was appointed the new general manager of ICFO. We would also like to congratulate the IRB biologist Eduard Batlle for winning the Catalan National Research Award for his discoveries in cancer. The awards ceremony will be held next June.
- And we are ending with great news for the entire scientific and sectoral community: the president of the Government of Catalonia and the chair of the Biocat Board of Trustees, Pere Aragonès, has announced that, for the first time in history, advances in research, development, and innovation (RDI) will be allocated more than €1 billion in the Government of Catalonia's 2024 budget.