The "la Caixa" Foundation has awarded four new grants to biomedical research projects that, due to their innovative nature, have the potential to move from the laboratory to the market, thus improving people's health and quality of life.
The chosen projects, mature projects that are intended to help them move closer to commercial investment, are a project from the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) to develop synthetic cells that improve the control of viral infections; a technology from CiQUS of the University of Santiago de Compostela and the CSIC that acts on cancer stem cells to overcome resistance and recurrence; a new drug built with a pyruvic pyruvic acid (Pyruvic pyruvic acid) that acts on cancer stem cells to overcome resistance and recurrence; a new drug built with a pyruvic pyruvic pyruvic acid that acts on cancer stem cells to overcome resistance and recurrence; a new drug built with a launcher peptide from Gate2Brain and the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu that crosses the blood-brain barrier to treat childhood brain cancer, and smart glasses from the University of Murcia to correct severe eye defects.
Beyond the financial support of up to 300,000 euros per project, the researchers receive tailored support in areas such as technology transfer, financing tools or negotiations, as well as mentoring from experts who will help them define their development and commercialisation plans in a personalised way.
The support for these projects comes within the framework of the 2021 CaixaResearch Consolidate call, which promotes the transfer of knowledge and technologies in the field of biomedicine and health, and provides support for the creation of new research-based companies. The call remains open all year round, understanding the importance of the applicant projects receiving the right funds when they need them. This year, the entity had already helped three other innovative biomedical projects in this call.
In the same line of boosting biomedical innovation, the "la Caixa" Foundation also carries out CaixaResearch Validate, a call aimed at earlier innovation projects that receive up to 100,000 euros for their development. This call is open until 10 February for researchers who wish to present their projects.
Both programmes are developed in collaboration with Caixa Capital Risc. Since 2015, the "la Caixa" Foundation has allocated 16 million euros to 155 innovative projects in these calls. The projects have generated an additional investment of 14.7 million euros, and 27 spin-off companies have been created.
