The Catalan healthcare and biomedical research ecosystem operates at full capacity, as demonstrated by the IV VTSO-XarSMART Health Innovation Awards. This year’s edition has exceeded all expectations with a record of 73 applications submitted, from 39 different institutions, which confirm the good health of the sector. Of all the projects presented, today the 10 finalists who opt for the €25,000 that will receive the winner of one of the most important public-private innovation awards in Catalonia to promote their research have been known.

The quality and diversity of the projects reflect the reality of current biomedical research: 41% of the initiatives are led by women, and the category that has received the most nominations has been that of Oncology (12), followed closely by Neurology (8), Cardiology (7), Paediatric Indications (6) and Immunology (4).

In addition, 13 of the proposals use artificial intelligence (AI), which demonstrates the rapid adaptation of technological advances to the world of research and the commitment that is being made in favour of the new AI tools.

Of all of them, of excellent quality, 10 are the ones that have finally been selected as finalists. Below are the advances that are emerging as future transformative solutions for health:

1. FORT-SEE (UPF). The project led by the team of Dr. Laura Becerra is committed to the development of a remote monitoring platform for heart failure. Through a single intravascular, flexible, and wireless sensor, data on the patient’s heart state is collected in real time and integrated into a monitoring app, accessible to patients and professionals, allowing the detection and treatment of possible complications in time.
2. ONAkids (UB). The team of Dr. Carles Escera proposes a neonatal screening test based on electroencephalograms (EEG) for the early detection of language delay. By measuring the brain response to speech sounds from birth, an objective fact, they could predict the risk of these delays before clinical symptoms manifested, and thus be able to initiate early interventions.
3. THOR (IDIBELL). Dr. Rafael Moreno and his team propose to develop a universal and modulable CAR-T therapy that allows the treatment of various tumours, from a single cell bank, without the need to constantly redesign it. This would eliminate individualized manufacturing timeouts for each therapy and would allow modulating the immune response to reduce adverse effects.
4. TAR-NK (HMRIB). The initiative led by Dr. Aura Muntasell focuses on designing NK cells, a type of immune cell, so that they can break the immunosuppression barrier of solid tumors. The new cells could enhance the body’s immune response against cancer, doubling or tripling the effectiveness of classic chemotherapeutics.
5. BrainMapp (CVC). Electric mapping is key to preserving functions such as language, motor skills or memory in brain surgeries. The team led by Dr. Xim Cerdà is committed to developing a digital medical platform, based on AI, that facilitates this mapping and generates a dynamic brain image, in 3D and in real time. With millimetric precision, it would reduce the dependence on manual registration and standardize the process for greater patient safety.
6. AIINANE (IDIBELL). Dr. Ancor Serrano’s team has developed an AI-based tool designed to automate and simplify the entire preparation process prior to any surgery. The system calculates surgical risk and helps the anaesthetist decide which patients can go to the operating room and which need a personalized medical check-up, optimizing preoperative efficiency and guaranteeing safer clinical decisions.
7. SUCC2M (IISPV). Current treatments for inflammatory bowel disease are costly, ineffective and have severe adverse effects. The team of Dr. Isabel Huber proposes an alternative based on an enzymatic oral administration therapy that addresses the multifactorial nature of inflammatory bowel disease, while facilitating adherence to treatment and allowing monitoring of the progress of the disease.
8. Dermalflora (UPF). Dr. Marc Güell’s team presents an innovative strategy for the treatment of acne and atopic dermatitis, which uses the only bacteria in direct contact with the focus of acne and genetically modifies it to produce therapeutic proteins in a controlled and sustained way, re-establishing the skin balance.
9. CARBOSign4Cancer (HMRIB). There are currently no clinical markers good enough for the early detection of lung, stomach, and pancreatic cancers, one of the deadliest worldwide. The team of Dr. Oscar Pozo addresses this problem, proposing a simple early diagnosis system, by blood analysis, which would allow the global detection to be doubled and the early detection of these cancers to be quadrupled.
10. LiverColor (UPF). The AI-based medical platform developed by Dr Gemma Piella’s team would allow to use a simple photograph of the operating room to analyse the health of the donor liver and decide whether it is suitable for transplantation or not. The tool would transform a now subjective decision into an objective data, with a precision of more than 90%, being able to rescue up to 50% of previously discarded liver.

About XarSMART

XarSMART is an initiative of the Catalan health sciences ecosystem that emerged with the main objective of accelerating the transfer of research results to the market. Led by the IDIBELL Business Development and Innovation team, it has been organizing three editions of one of the most important public-private biomedical innovation awards in Catalonia, together with Viladecans The Style Outlets (VTSO). The initiative is developed with the support of the City Council of Viladecans, Eatris and AEBALL.

About Viladecans The Style Outlets (VTSO)

It is the only outlet center in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and is managed by NEINVER, a Spanish multinational leader in the outlet sector in Europe. Within its sustainability strategy, the center promotes various initiatives related to the promotion of employment, training and support for innovation, in collaboration with entities such as the City Council of Viladecans, Innobaix, Netmentora Catalunya and IND+i Viladecans. In collaboration with XarSMART, it promotes the Viladecans Health Innovation Awards The Style Outlets. Likewise, the center is part of the Viladecans Climate Neutral City 2030 mission and has certifications that guarantee its responsible management, including BREEAM, Biosphere, AIS, ISO 14001 and Zero Waste.

About IDIBELL

The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research center established in 2004 specialized in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine, and regenerative medicine. It counts on a team of more than 1.500 professionals who, from 73 research groups, publish more than 1.400 scientific articles per year. IDIBELL is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona, and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centers accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).