From the laboratory to the patient: the ”la Caixa” Foundation promotes 29 biomedicine and health projects
The ”la Caixa” Foundation has concluded the 2024 call for the CaixaImpulse Innovation programme, through which it supports 29 new biomedical projects from research centres, hospitals and universities in Spain and Portugal. In total, the Foundation will allocate 3.4 million euros to this initiative, which aims to accelerate the arrival of these innovations to the market and bring them closer to the patients who may need them. Additionally, CaixaImpulse Innovation promotes the creation of new products, services and companies related to life sciences and health.
The winning projects – chosen from over 400 applications received – were evaluated by six panels of international experts and professionals in this field. Among this year’s selected projects are those that aim to validate a tool to help predict the genetic risk of myocardial infarction and sudden death in young people; the development of a non-invasive method to detect endometrial cancer using urine samples; the creation of a new device to assess vision more precisely and quickly; the use of Artificial Intelligence to identify patients with infectious endocarditis who are at risk of embolism; and the promotion of a new type of immunotherapy, based on memory T lymphocytes, to treat solid tumours.
By area of business, 12 fall within the field of therapies, nine are related to diagnostics, seven focus on medical devices and one is centred on digital health. In terms of funding, awardees receive from 50,000 to 500,000 euros, depending on the level of maturity of their project, to develop it over the following two years. In this call, 15 projects have been selected for stage 1 (up to 50,000 euros), 12 for stage 2 (up to 150,000 euros) and two for stage 3 (up to 500,000 euros). The programme also offers the possibility that, when projects reach specific development milestones and following evaluation by the relevant committee, they can progress to subsequent stages with increased funding.
New family of drugs to treat a deadly liver cancer
- Project leader: Marcos Malumbres, Vall d’Hebron Instituto de Oncología (VHIO)
- Funds: 150.000 €
Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of cells. In this process, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) play a critical role. These are a family of enzymes that regulate the cell cycle, making them potential targets for developing anticancer drugs. In this regard, CDK4/6 inhibitor molecules have already been approved as a first-line treatment for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. However, patients eventually develop resistance to these molecules over time, and other tumors are not dependent on these kinases.
The team led by Dr. Marcos Malumbres, ICREA professor, head of the Cell Cycle and Cancer Group, and director of the Systems Oncology Program at VHIO, has obtained in vivo and in vitro data suggesting a crucial role for another, less-studied subgroup of CDKs in hepatocellular carcinoma, a deadly disease. Therefore, obtaining inhibitors against these kinases would open the door to a new family of CDK-targeted therapies for the treatment of liver cancer, which could also potentially be applicable to other types of cancer.
The new project, which will receive €150,000 in funding, aims to develop the first generation of drugs capable of specifically inhibiting CDKs for which there are currently no inhibitors, with the goal of treating liver cancer. Additionally, these new compounds will be patented, a business model will be implemented, and the product will be licensed. The ultimate goal is to create a spin-off company to transfer this new family of drugs to society.
Training and expert support for the projects
CaixaImpulse Innovation supports biomedical projects in the field of innovation and transfer by helping researchers validate their assets and define their exploitation and valorisation strategy to bring their projects to market. So in addition to financial resources, they will also have access to mentoring, consultancy and advice from international experts in different areas of the innovation ecosystem.
