The business DIGNA BIOTECH will develop the first seven patents of the CIMA of the University of Navarra.
La empresa DIGNA BIOTECH desarrollará las siete primeras patentes del CIMA de la Universidad de Navarra
The business DIGNA BIOTECH will develop the first seven patents of the CIMA of the University of Navarra.
With a pioneering model , this company will invest more than half a million euros in Navarra this year.
More than half a million euros is the investment foreseen in 2005 in Navarra by DIGNA BIOTECH, business of recent creation that will develop the first seven patents obtained at the research center Applied Medicine (CIMA) of the University of Navarra. The aim of this company, according to its general manager, Pablo Ortiz, director , is "to bring to the market the discoveries that emerge in the laboratories of CIMA".
In this way, the aim is to close the productive cycle of research in biomedicine developed at the University of Navarra and to solve "the great distance that generally exists between a scientific finding and its application in patients. It should not be forgotten that the search for products to improve health does not happen automatically, but requires a long and costly process of development", he clarifies.
In his opinion, if DIGNA BIOTECH manages to introduce a product in the market, "the benefit for Navarra will be very important because of the prestige that this brings to all the entities involved in the project and because of the impulse it represents for the start-up of others". Likewise, he believes that the signature of agreements with other companies in the sector "will provide new business opportunities for the region that we are already exploring".
DIGNA BIOTECH's model is a pioneer in Spain, although it is very similar to the one that American universities have had for the last eight to ten years. With respect to its advantages, Pablo Ortiz assures that "its proximity to the source of generation of the knowledge allows the result to be detected at an early stage of the research and facilitates its timely protection through the corresponding patents".
He also points out that this initiative constitutes "a homologable model that could be applied on other occasions, since it allows linking the university and the private investor, so that the research does not have to depend exclusively or fundamentally on public funds".
For the time being, the patents filed cover the intellectual property of some thirty substances with relevant pharmacological properties. In addition, four more have been generated in recent months. The first product to be developed is a cream for the treatment of scleroderma. There is also a new interferon that may be of use in hepatitis C. Finally, the third project focuses on therapy for pulmonary fibrosis.
At present, the product portfolio includes up to eight different projects, selected for their highest commercial viability in different areas of pathology, including some of diagnostic interest.
The first positive economic results are expected in 2011, with some products expected to reach the market in 2009. Because, as the general director reminds us, "in this sector it is very difficult to obtain returns in shorter periods of time".
Although it is expected that business will be self-financing in the coming years, it is currently being financed by its own funds provided by the partners, "which are mainly the fifteen that make up the Unión Temporal de Empresas, with which CIMA is financed, plus the University of Navarra".
On the other hand, support is being sought from other public bodies, such as the Government of Navarra, the Center for Industrial Technological development (CDTI) or European funds. "The volumes that need to be invested in the development of drugs are very high and it is necessary to take advantage of all the financing possibilities available," stresses Pablo Ortiz.
However, he cautions that DIGNA BIOTECH's role is not to be directly involved in the research of CIMA. "What we do is to first plan and then develop all the steps that are necessary to document a product so that it can be marketed". At the same time, he also says he intends to "involve basic researchers more and more in the development of the products and keep them informed of the progress".
The company is made up of ten people, nine of whom are PhDs. In addition, it has the partnership part-time of several professionals. In total, there are more than 28 people involved in project.