Press room

Biobide, presented to the media today, will have its headquarters at the Miramon Technology Park in San Sebastián. It was set up as a company on 22 December with a share capital of 3.3 million euros, of which the Basque Government and the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa have provided 900,000 euros each; Genetrix another 900,000 in tangible and intangible assets, especially zebra fish with a fluorescent marker; and the MCC 600,000, through MCC Inversiones and MCC Innovación. The MCC will be the main point of reference in terms of technology in developments in robotics and automation.

The Basque Government’s Deputy Minister for Technology and Industrial Development, , Iñaki Telletxea; the member of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa responsible for Innovation, Joaquín Villa; the Cheif Executive Officer of Biobide, Javier Pagaegi and the President of Biobide’s Advisory Scientific Committee, Juan Carlos Izpisúa all took part in the press conference.

Biobide’s clients will be pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, research centres and specialist laboratories. Dr Izpisúa highlighted some of the characteristics of the zebra fish which make it a model of reference in biomedical research: its high level of genetic homology with human beings (87%), its high reproductive capacity, its simple maintenance and the transparency of its embryos, which make possible the study of cellular movement and the random, rapid generation of disease models. The initial work will focus on heart disease, and will be extended later to cover other areas of biomedicine like cancer, blood or tissue diseases.

Javier Pagaegi emphasised the basic element that makes the project stand out, which is the automation of the entire process, integrating robotics, biotechnology, optical analysis and computing tools. This will facilitate rapid results, with a high level of information, a high reliability of practically 100%, a la carte experimentation based on the needs of the client, much lower costs than at present and the carrying out of a high volume of tests, starting with 300 a day going on to exceed 2,000 within five years.

This automation process will be led by the MCC and the participants will be the Co-operatives and Research Centres working in this field, together with Vicomtech, a Research Centre forming part of the Basque Network of Science and Technology, which operates in the field of image analysis, computerised interactive graphics and multimedia technology. The plans are for this integrated automation process to be completed in 2007, which will make Biobide stand out and provide it with something totally innovative in the world market.

Biobide starts it first year of operation in 2006 with a skilled staff of six people, with plans to double the number by the end of the year, total 20 by 2008 and have close to 30 in 2009. It will invest around 6 million euros in its first four years.

http://www.mondragoncorporation.com