Spin off companies

Although this is by no means expected from ICREA researchers, it so happens that sometimes they hit on something that shows promise of becoming a powerful new technology, but it seems impossible to develop that further without significant investment of time and money. In these cases, many choose to explore the option of creating a spin-off company dedicated to the concept.

List of spin off companies

  • FUELIUM

    Supported by the Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona (IMB-CNM-CSIC) and ICREA.
    Entrepreneur: ICREA Research Professor Neus Sabaté.
    Born in July 2016. 


    view details

    CLOSE

    FUELIUM

    fuelium.tech

    FUELIUM SL develops ecofriendly and single use paper batteries that are able to deliver electrical power to a wide variety of portable devices. The mission of the company is to provide a clean and efficient alternative to conventional button cells.

    FUELIUM batteries are made of paper, carbon and small quantities of non-toxic metals and can be fabricated with low-cost reel-to-reel processes. They are activated by the addition of a single drop of an aqueous liquid: water, urine, plasma/serum, saliva, etc…and can deliver power in the range of miliwatts for several hours. These features make them particularly suitable to power in-vitro diagnostics applications (IVD). The company aims to cover the IVD needs by providing power to digital tests in sectors like woman health monitoring, infectious diseases, drugs of abuse, food analysis or environmental control.

    Compared to their competitors, FUELIUM batteries can be tailored to deliver the energy required by a particular application, they do not generate any harmful or toxic waste – what allows them to be disposed in domestic bins without the need of any recycling procedure - and they reduce manufacturing and integration costs of the devices that require power on-board.

    FUELIUM was founded in 2015 due to the know-how accumulated by the Microfuel cells research group led by Prof. Neus Sabaté at the Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona (IMB-CNM-CSIC) and the CSIC patent that protects the technology was licensed to the company in 2016. 

  • INBIOMOTION

    Supported by the Institut the Recerca Biomèdica (IRB Barcelona) and ICREA.
    Entrepreneur: ICREA Research Professor Roger Gomis.
    Born in March 2011. 


    view details

    CLOSE

    INBIOMOTION

    inbiomotion.com

    Inbiomotion is a personalized medicine company based in Barcelona. It develops biomarkers that predict bone metastasis to improve cancer patients’ quality of life.  

    Inbiomotion’s unique diagnostic assay is based on a highly selective single gene biomarker. It can predict at an early stage a patient’s risk of bone-specific metastases from primary tumors. The selectivity of the lead biomarker has the potential to advance the clinical standard of care using personalized medicine.

  • INNOVEX THERAPEUTICS

    Supported by ICREA, ISGlobal/CRESIB and IGTP.
    Entrepreneur: ICREA Research Professor Hernando A. del Portillo.
    Born in March 2014.


    view details

    CLOSE

    INNOVEX THERAPEUTICS

    innovexther.com

    INNOVEX THERAPEUTICS SL is the first Spanish spin-off company devoted to develop Exosomes as new platform for vaccines and diagnostic tools. Cornerstone of the spin-off is the discovery that reticulocyte-derived exosomes (rex) from malaria infections could be used as a new platform and vaccine against this disease. This approach is internationally protected (PCT/ EP2010/070800). Exosomes are 30-100 nm vesicles formed by endocytosis of segments of the plasma membrane. The internalized segment generates multivesicular bodies (MVBs) containing small vesicles that are released as exosomes following fusion of the MVBs with the plasma membrane. The company offers a new proprietary and flexible technological platform based on exosomes for the design, formulation and production of new vaccines and diagnostics. INNOVEX THERAPEUTICS SL was created in March 2014 by Hernando A. del Portillo and Francesc E. Borrás, with an accionary participation of three Research Institutions: ICREA, CRESIB and IGTP. Presently, it consists of two senior researchers, one junior researcher and one technician. The Scientific Advisory board is formed by Drs. Clotilde Théry (Institut Curie, France), Bernd Giebel (University Hospital Essen, Germany), Javier Martínez-Picado (ICREA at IRSICaixa) and Professor Hermann Bujard (University of Heidelberg, Germany). The management consultant is Dr. Carlos de Lecea (Lemus Buhils SL).

    INNOVEX THERAPEUTICS SL´s objective is to contribute to a better health through the development and commercialization of exosomes as new vaccine platforms and diagnostic tools for human and animal health. The company includes in its portfolio balanced projects and takes into consideration that they are not presently covered by the market, the size of the business opportunity, their target amplitude of use, chronicity of the products and competitive price positioning in each segment. Our strategy is to develop three commercialized products within the next three years, when the company expects to have a return of investment. The business plan is adapted to regulatory guidelines of the different products to avoid delay in its economic objectives, and foresees that investments in early studies not only become rapidly profitable but that they also serve as the basis for regulatory applications of the most complex products. The company has obtained free laboratory space for the next three years at IGTP – Campus Can Ruti, where it is presently operating. In addition, the
    company has received a first investment for developing a Proof-of-Concept of a new vaccine and is actually and actively seeking
    new investors. Transfer of the patent to the company was only possible through the generous and “example-to-follow” attitude of the four Institutions originally owning it: ICREA, CRESIB, Fundació Clínic and Fundació Privada CELLEX, which fully and legally supported this transfer. 

  • KOGENIX THERAPEUTICS

    Jointly supported by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and ICREA.
    Entrepreneur: ICREA Research professor Miguel Chillón.
    Born in August 2016.


    view details

    CLOSE

    KOGENIX THERAPEUTICS

    kogenix.com

    Kogenix Therapeutics, Inc. is an early stage gene therapy company developing treatments for debilitating and fatal neurodegenerative diseases. The company plans to develop one-time single dose therapies using adeno-associated virus vectors (AAV) aiming to increase levels of Klotho protein in the brain. The first targeted indications are Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and multiple sclerosis (MS).

    Klotho is a large protein produced in the kidney and brain that acts as a circulating growth factor, involved in neuroprotection, neuroregeneration, remyelination and cognition in the CNS. Thus, Klotho-deficient mice show many signs of human aging including cognitive decline, synaptic loss, abnormal CNS myelin, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis and die prematurely. Moreover, in humans, Klotho levels are very low in the aged brain. In contrast, transgenic Klotho mice live 30% longer, are healthier and smarter, and gene therapy approaches for boosting the level of Klotho protein in the CNS led to significant improvements in memory and cognition.

    The company, based in Boston (US), was founded in August 2016 by Dr. Miguel Chillon, an ICREA researcher at UAB and VHIR, Dr. Assumpció Bosch, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UAB, Dr. Carmela Abraham, Professor of Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Boston University (BU), and Menachem Abraham (CEO), Director on the boards of a dozen private and public companies. Kogenix Therapeutics.

  • MEDCOM ADVANCE

    Supported by Medcomtech, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), the Centre Tecnològic de la Química a Catalunya (CTQC) and ICREA.
    Entrepreneur: ICREA Research Professor Ramón Álvarez Puebla.
    Born in July 2013.


    view details

    CLOSE

    MEDCOM ADVANCE

    medcomadvance.com

    Medcomtech SA is an experienced company in the sector of medical technology. In 2010 it entered the Alternative Stock Market (MAB) withsolid growth, visibility and credibility.MEDCOM ADVANCE SA was created in July 2013for the research, development, production and
    distribution of new medical systems based in nanotechnology. It is a subsidiary company (spin-off) of Medcomtech SA and its initial objective is to promote and develop an innovative system for fast detection of microorganisms in fluids. This new system, aimed at hospitals, clinics and medical centers in general, presents improvements within the scope of the investigation of the source of infections and saving costs and time, since unnecessary medical tests are not carried out on patients.

    To create this new product, medical nanotechnology has been used, and the project had a budget of e 2,8 M for its production. Activities of MEDCOM ADVANCE SA are not restricted to this, but are also involved in the development of new materials for medical implants or new diagnostic devices for diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer’s. To date, MEDCOM ADVANCE SA consists of six senior and six junior researchers, and two technicians with specialities ranging from physics to microbiology or medicine, with an expected expansion to other twenty positions within the next two years. This new business company, owned mainly by Medcomtech (75%), also involves scientific
    partners: Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV); Catalan Center for Chemical Technology (CTQC); Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA); and, privately, the ICREA Research Professor Ramón Álvarez Puebla.

     

Pages