Spain's Biotech Revolution

Supporting Research

Supporting Research Companies such as Advancell and Oryzon Genomics attribute some of their success to government support and to the network of science parks around the country that provide shared facilities for young, smaller companies starting out.

“Science parks have been shown to be one of the best instruments for the creation of technology-based companies in a variety of sectors, including biotechnology,” says Felipe Romera, president of the Spanish Association of Science Parks.

The science parks are a key feature of what are known as bioclusters, where regional governments such as those in Catalonia, Madrid, Valencia, Andalusia, and the Basque country have invested in coordinating an area’s public and private biology research and promoting the creation of knowledge-based companies. They link scientific parks, hospitals, universities, and private companies to develop a robust biotechnology sector.

“We need to be able to attract talent, and we’re seeing a big change in that area,” says Montserrat Daban of Catalonia’s BioCat. “Many researchers and professionals from the private sector are willing to come here to work, because they see this is a promising sector.”

One unusual model of a research institution- company partnership is Digna Biotech, the company created to commercialize research conducted at the University of Navarra’s Center for the Study of Applied Medical Research (CIMA in Spanish). Both began operations in 2004.

CIMA, a Pamplona-based research center, studies the areas of gene therapy and liver-related diseases, central nervous system disease, cardiovascular health, and oncology. “Digna’s mission is to take the patents from CIMA and move them to the market,” says Pablo Ortiz, CEO.

Within only four years, one product has already reached phase-2 clinical trials: a cream for scleroderma, a skin disease with no known treatment. They have also developed a treatment that aids in the regeneration of liver tissue after liver surgery and transplant.

The treatment goes into clinical trials next year; if successful, this would be the only drug of its kind.

The technology transfer office of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC in Spanish) aids in the transfer of patents from more than 6,000 researchers to private companies. CSIC is the largest Spanish research organization, comprising 126 research centers and 145 additional research units associated with local institutions. Under the auspices of the national government, CSIC performs multidisciplinary scientific and technological research to contribute to the advancement of both science and the economy.

The culture in Spain has changed, says CSIC’s Beatriz Lara, IP and knowledge transfer manager: “Researchers are increasingly patenting their discoveries and working with companies to develop their research.” Her organization helps shepherd researchers through the patent and licensing process.

“It’s important to establish a relationship between scientists and companies,” says José Pablo Zamorano, deputy director of licensing for life sciences. “Researchers can learn the needs of the private companies, and companies realize there are researchers out there who can help them.”

Some challenges remain in the Spanish biotechnology sector. Researchers speak of the need for increased access to venture capital funds. They stress the importance of continuing to develop the culture of patenting innovations and transforming those discoveries into companies. They point out the need to facilitate the creation of companies by university professors, who today are hampered by regulations about how much of a company a professor may own. The Spanish government has a number of initiatives underway to deal with these challenges and encourage the growing industry.

“I think Spain has good competitive advantages in biotechnology,” says Joan Ballesteros, chief scientific officer of Vivia Biotech. “There’s a lot of great science going on here.”