The project Nanocore Biotech of the University of Navarra, created by Yolanda González, has won the first award of the national phase of the Yuzz contest for young entrepreneurs of Banco Santander. This award has a prize of 30,000 €. The project proposes an improvement in the therapy to treat bone cancer in children. It is about lipid nanocapsules, transporters of drugs, which provide intelligence to the encapsulated drugs.

Yolanda González, a graduate in Pharmacy, and Master's Degree in design Galenic and Biopharmacy by the University of Navarra, doctoral student at the same university and entrepreneur, collected the award in the Financial City of Banco Santander from Rodrigo Echenique, vice president of the Bank.

The project focuses on increasing the efficacy and reducing the adverse effects of chemotherapy in children. This proposal is of great value for currently used active ingredients and for those molecules in the development phase and at risk of failure due to toxicity or insufficient efficacy. In addition, nanoparticles may make it possible to replace the intravenous route of administration of drugs by the oral route.

The YUZZ program received more than 1,200 business ideas at the start of the 2016 program. Of these, 700 projects were presented to the juries of the 48 Yuzz centers that co-organized the program with Banco Santander throughout Spain. Nanocore Biotech was the winner in Navarra. Yolanda González was able to enjoy, together with the other winners of the local phases, a trip to Silicon Valley, the most recognized entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world.

The goal of this experience, which is repeated every edition, is to inspire and empower young entrepreneurs to accelerate the development of their projects, providing them with connections for the internationalization of their projects and the search for funding. The program includes visits to companies such as Google, LinkedIn or Facebook and conferences at universities such as Berkeley or Stanford. The 48 winners also visited the Spain Tech Center (STC) - promoted by Banco Santander, ICEX and network.es-, whose goal is to facilitate the implementation of Spanish technology-based SMEs in one of the most dynamic and competitive environments in the world, accelerating their internationalization.

Once back, the teams attended the final held at the Ciudad group Santander in Boadilla del Monte, where a jury made up of representatives from Banco Santander, Centro Internacional Santander Emprendimiento (CISE) and collaborating entities selected the winners of YUZZ 2016. The three best entrepreneurs in the general category received an economic endowment (30,000, 20,000 and 10,000 euros) to accelerate their projects. Alfredo Albaizar, director attachment of Santander Universities Spain, said at the Madrid pre-stage that "everyone knows that banks are looking for profitability; there is no better move than financing young talent".