On 5 March the first Executive Council Meeting of the BioDonostia Institute was held. It is a research centre created by the Basque Health Service Osakidetza and BIOEF with the aim of providing a stable structure for scientific research in Donostia Hospital. Moreover, this new institute also aims to add strategic value to this hospital for innovation in the bioscience business sector.

With the creation of this institute, Donostia Hospital has become part of a select group of less than 20 hospitals in the whole of the State that have a consolidated research structure. Furthermore, this new centre hopes to soon gain the accreditation of excellence awarded by the Carlos III Institute of Madrid, which is part of the Ministry of Health. This benchmark will mark a turning point which will open doors to finance for a large number of research projects. The consequence of this process will be the development of treatments and diagnostic tests, and the primary beneficiaries will be the patients at this hospital in San Sebastian.

The creation of the BioDonostia Institute is part of the BioBasque Strategy fomented by the Basque Government for the development of bioscience in the Basque Country and it is also backed by the Gipuzkoa Regional Government and the San Sebastian Technology Park.