Vitoria (EFE).- The Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, has presided over the act of laying the first stone of the new Biomedical Institute of Intelligent Nanohydrogels, which will start with an investment of 20 million euros and will create 60 initial highly-qualified jobs.
The place chosen to install this Biomedical Institute was the Álava Technology Park, located a few kilometers from Vitoria.
After laying the first stone, Urkullu has valued public-private collaboration as the germ of projects like this so that the Basque Country is an interesting place to “attract talent” and maintain what it already has. With this, “the first stone of a more promising future is being laid” for the Basque Country.
“This investment builds the present and the future. It will help create quality employment directly and will attract top-level researchers.”
Urkullu in his speech at the laying of the first stone of the Nanohydrogels Biomedical Institute. EFE/L.Rico
PANDEMIC AND SCIENCE
Urkullu has indicated that the pandemic has highlighted the role of science and the need to invest in this sector and has assured that “in the darkest days” science was “the greatest hope and the strongest weapon to face to the virus.”
Lastly, he insisted that today is a step for “research and development to continue to grow”. He has also highlighted that this center was born under the shelter of the UPV / EHU business incubator, which he has described as “a source of pride”.
The Biomedical Institute of Intelligent Nanohydrogels, the first of its kind in the world, is promoted by the Álava company i+Medm. It will have an investment of 20 million euros to initially create 60 highly-qualified jobs that could grow to 125, most of them researchers.
NANOHYDROGELS AND DRUGS
The 20 million investment is divided into two parts. The first, valued at 8 million to build the center that will house an R+D+i area and a pharmaceutical plant for the launch and distribution of new medicines.
The remaining 12 million euros of investment will be used to acquire state-of-the-art technology and machinery and to attract and retain highly-qualified personnel.
The construction of this Biomedical Institute will conclude at the end of 2024 and will also serve as the headquarters for i+Med. This company calculates that its turnover, of about 10 million euros in 2022, can reach 25 million by 2025.
i+Med is a cooperative of scientists founded in 2014 that focuses its activity on the development of personalized nanomedicine projects in the field of smart nanohydrogels for the controlled release of drugs and active substances.
These nanohydrogels are alternative drug dosing systems that allow the target organ to be addressed in a more effective and direct way. This system reduces pharmaceutical costs and avoids drug side effects. EFE