R&D assets in the BioRegion
Catalonia is considered one of the main European hubs of health research of excellence, with unique capacities in genomics and structural biology, medical chemistry, nanomedicine, omic sciences and bioinformatics.
Research in oncology stands out, with a wide range of capacities from basic to clinical research. Catalan hospitals are international benchmarks in treating cancer, but also in thoracic, cardiac and opthalmologic surgery, and in kidney transplants.
Research excellence and business vibrancy
The research excellence of the BioRegion's research institutions has boosted the life sciences and health sector. In the period 2014-2023, Catalonia ranked 5th in Europe in scientific publications (54,460) and 1st in percentage of Highly Cited Papers (3.15%).
However, it is the capacity to generate new business projects (startups) and to develop new products and therapies by companies and institutions (clinical trials, pipeline) that is determining the success and growth of the BioRegion of Catalonia.
In 2024, the clinical pipeline developed by the companies and entities of the BioRegion had 54 therapies and 21 advanced therapies, promoted by 11 hospital research institutes.
The number of products developed by healthtech companies (medical technologies and digital health) is growing, 61% of which are medical devices and 39% apps and digital platforms.
24% (112) of the total healthcare startups and scaleups in Catalonia (470) are working on applying AI to their products or services, 32% more than in 2023.
Catalonia: 5th in Europe, 8th in the world
Catalonia is home to 87.2% of Spain's clinical trials (with 5,368 active trials), placing it internationally in 5th position in Europe and 8th in the world.
The quality of the health system, the excellence of its hospitals and the international recognition of its healthcare professionals favour the attraction of multinationals such as Novartis, Roche, MSD, AstraZeneca, Janssen, GSK and Amgen to Catalonia to develop their trials.
1st in the pipeline of new therapies and clinical research
Cancer is one of the priority lines for a significant portion of the 99 research organizations in the BioRegion. Some, like the VHIO, ICO and Josep Carreres Foundation, focus solely on oncology and hematology, while others -like IRB Barcelona, a renowned specialist in metastasis, and the top hospital institutes: IDIBAPS, VHIR, IDIBELL, IGTP, etc.— have broader programs, with an important focus on studying the genetic and molecular foundations of cancer and precision oncology.
Oncology is by far the main area of clinical trials conducted in Catalonia (5,368 active in 2024, of which 1,718 in oncology). Cancer is also one of the pathologies with the most therapies under development by the pharma and biotech companies in the BioRegion. Archivel Farma, Grifols, Ability Pharma, Oryzon Genomics, Peptomyc, Ascil Biopharm, OneChain Immunotherapeutics, Cebiotex, IDP Pharma and Theriva Biologics have products for this area in phases I and II.
76 therapies in clinical development
Oncology and the central nervous system are the two clinical areas where companies and research institutions in the BioRegion are developing the most therapies.
Biocat has identified 54 therapies promoted by pharmaceutical and biotech companies and 21 treatments in advanced therapies. The entity that promotes the most studies is the Hospital Clínic (FCRB-IDIBAPS), a reference center in advanced therapies at a national and European level. Also noteworthy this year are the phase I CATHERINE study promoted by VHIO in collaboration with the IMIM and the BST (second cell therapy promoted by entities in the BioRegion against breast cancer together with the TILS-001 study promoted by the Hospital Clínic), and the new phase I/II study by SpliceBio for Stargardt's disease.
Benchmarks in care, teaching and research
Of the approximately twenty Catalan university hospitals, Hospital Clinic and Vall d’Hebron Hospital are at the top of national and international rankings, followed by Hospital Sant Pau and Bellvitge University Hospital. All of them are benchmarks in care, teaching and research, which they channel through their healthcare research institutes. IDIBAPS (Clinic), VHIR (Vall d’Hebron), IIB Sant Pau, IDIBELL (Bellvitge), IGTP (Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital), IMIM (Hospital del Mar) and IRB Lleida (Hospital Arnau de Vilanova and Hospital Santa Maria in Lleida) are the seven Catalan healthcare research institutes accredited by the Carlos III Health Institute, which lead clinical and translational research in the BioRegion.