An IrsiCaixa project awarded for its patentability at the Innomed Awards of the Campus Can Ruti

The Campus Can Ruti and its surroundings, a multidisciplinary space where various leading biomedical institutions in generating scientific research at both national and international levels are grouped, including IrsiCaixa, was the venue for the Innomed Awards ceremony, a meeting point for health innovation. This event not only recognized significant advances in biomedicine from the campus but also reaffirmed the commitment to collaboration among the leading healthcare and research centers.

The Innomed program, which began in early 2024 with the support of ITEMAS, the platform of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) for supporting R&D&I in Biomedicine and Health Sciences, is already marking a turning point in collaboration among various innovation units. Institutions associated with the Can Ruti biomedical campus are participating together: IrsiCaixa, the Consorci Sanitari del Maresme (CSdM), the Hospital Germans Trias (HUGTiP), the Institut Català d'Oncologia (ICO), the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC), the Institut Guttmann and the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP).

The event, which took place on Thursday, June 13, opened with an institutional welcome from Dr. Evarist Feliu, president of the IJC Delegated Commission, and the director of IGTP, Jordi Barretina, who highlighted the energy and collaborative spirit of those involved. They were joined by Lluís Blanch, coordinator of the ITEMAS – ISCIII Platform, and Raül Zurita, head of Innovation at IGTP, who explained the Innomed program to more than a hundred attendees. Subsequently, the session "Innovation in Action: Success Stories of Three Biomedical Spin-offs" brought together prominent leaders: Oriol Iborra (Nimble Diagnostics), Alicia Martínez Piñeiro (Time is Brain), and Alberto Martin (AIMS Medical), who shared their experiences and successes, thus inspiring the entire innovative community present.

In turn, the 15 new talents selected through the program's incubator, including researchers from IrsiCaixa, had the opportunity to present their projects in the first edition of the project pitch. The highlight of the day came with the awards ceremony, where the effort and excellence of the best projects were recognized.

For its part, IrsiCaixa presented two projects. On one hand, predoctoral researcher Eudald Vehí and postdoctoral researcher María Lázaro presented their project Immunotherapy for HIV Cure. On the other hand, senior researcher Carmen Aguilar shared with the jury the project she is conducting called Towards a Highly Immunogenic Vaccine Platform for Pancreatic Cancer. Both projects were highly valued by the jury, and Aguilar was awarded one of the five prizes, specifically, the Patentability Study Award, sponsored by ZBM Patents & Trademarks.

The remaining awards were distributed among Ana Piqueras, from the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital (Market Study and Business Model Award, sponsored by Inveniam Group); Laura Belver, from the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (Market Study and Business Model Award, sponsored by BHV Partners); Alba Roca, from the Guttmann Institute (Market Study and Business Model Award, sponsored by Genesis Biomed), and Mireia Jordà, from the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (Clinical Regulatory Study Award, sponsored by Ingecal).

Each of the awardees received a service provided by each of the sponsors, valued at 5,000 euros.

Raül Zurita, head of the Innovation Unit at IGTP, shared his vision during the event: "This event not only celebrates the achievements in biomedical innovation but also sets a clear path for its future at the Campus Can Ruti and its surroundings. We have a rich and full of potential ecosystem, where innovation has long been promoted. This program has proven that it provides the necessary tools to continue advancing and achieving good results."

The impact of this program and its associated events promises to continue expanding, thus consolidating a healthcare innovation hub that is a state-level reference and attractive for both public and private investments.

Innomed: Connected for Health Innovation

The Innomed program was born with the aim of transforming health innovation. This initiative has been structured around three axes: promoting a culture of innovation, project incubation, and public-private collaboration. The projects selected by the participating institutions have been developed through the program, which has offered six months of training and workshops to evaluate and implement innovative projects, covering key elements of an innovative project and addressing issues such as market and business model, regulation of medical products and drugs, and the technology transfer process, essential for laying the foundations of future innovation projects on the campus.