Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) celebrated the second edition of its Accelerator Meeting Point (AMP), restating the success of the previous edition. This meeting is organised by IDIBELL’s business development and innovation area and aims to offer investors preferential access to innovation projects in their early stages.
In this year’s edition, nine researchers had the opportunity to pitch their projects to a group of experts related to innovation, biotechnological industry and health investment. “The aim is to help researchers bring their technologies closer to society, while having a clear vision of the market”, explains Gisela Lorente, head of the innovation portfolio at IDIBELL. The selected projects at AMP involve new therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases, medical devices, biomarkers and regenerative medicine.
Researchers highlight the value of the feedback they received from the experts and the opportunity to pitch their projects in a real market environment. Besides the individual presentations, the AMP included a networking session between entrepreneurs, innovation staff and potential investors.
“The effort behind all projects is more than evident, as well as key role played by the office for the transference of research results regarding the valorization of the projects” says Andrea Sáez, investment associate at Asaby Partners and participant at the AMP. “It is very important to understand the drug discovery process as well as the market environment from early stages of development”, adds Sáez, “which is why external expertise and first level partners should be integrated to the team in order to advise researchers and add value to projects that already have great potential.”
Lucas Martinez, CEO at DCN Ventures, also highlights the quality of the pitched projects, although he considers that “there is still a lack of some tools and vision to reach the market. Investors look for projects with the highest probability of success and the largest number of potential beneficiaries. Entrepreneurs need to focus their message taking this into account to stand out with their proposals. The AMP is very useful in this sense, but we should always be trying to find innovative formats”.
“IDIBELL is committed to innovation and organises this meeting with a clear intention of attracting funding and transfer opportunities; we encourage collaborations between the private and public sector, and the main example of that is the growing number of spin-off companies emerged from our centre – four in the previous years” concludes Raquel Egea, Manager of the Business Development and Innovation area at IDIBELL. On this line, IDIBELL is setting the final details to create an Industrial Assessment Committee that will guide the researchers to their way to entrepreneurship.