The new building 502 in
Bizkaia Technology Park

Building 502 in the Bizkaia Technology Park is rapidly turning into the new meeting point for biosciences. In the last few months four biocompanies, OWL Genomics, Innoprot, Idoki and Genetadi Biotech, as well as the CIC bioGUNE technological platform for genome analysis, have all moved their headquarters to this space, showing how the sector is growing.

Owl Genomics is a specialist in metabolomics applied to the development of biomarkers for the diagnosis of renal diseases, and it has moved from building 801 of the Park to its new offices (500 m2, of which more than 170 m2 are given over to the new machinery room and another 40 m2 are for the sample preparation laboratory). This move coincides with the launch of their first in vitro diagnostic product, owl liver.

Genetadi Biotech is making the move from the Biokabi bioincubator, also located in the Technology Park. This company specialises in new services and tests for human genome diagnosis in gynaecology, paediatrics and oncology, and it now has more than 400 m2 of R&D&I labs with equipment for genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. Among its prime objectives is to boost the offer of analytical services in two areas; the identification of non-invasive biomarkers in gynaecological diseases and the analytical quantification of proteins and metabolytes in paediatric illnesses.

The growth of Innoprot and Idoki has also meant a move to new installations, in this case from the Zitek incubator of the University of the Basque Country.

Innoprot designs cell-based test kits for pre-clinical testing of new drugs, and it completed the move to the new building in October. The installations include two new P-2 laboratories for biological security, molecular biology and microbiology labs and a screening lab with the latest technology in cell culture automation and the acquisition and treatment of images. This installation allows the company to move into a competitive position in the High Content Screening market.

Idoki develops new products and processes using supercritical fluid technology. In the new building, they have 350 m2 of office space, mostly given over to the large central labs which fit in with the needs of the company’s business lines. Among other projects, Idoki has pilot plants for solid and liquid matrices at lab scale for supercritical extraction.

These four companies will share building 502 with the new CIC bioGUNE genome analysis platform, which includes technology for high-yield genotyping, differential gene expression, methylation and high-yield sequencing, as well as storage and data analysis capacity.

This platform, led by Ana María Aransay, offers services to all researchers and has set up partnerships with research groups in hospitals –Cruces Hospital and Basurto Hospital in Bizkaia, the Central University Hospital in Asturias-, universities – the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and the University of La Laguna (Tenerife)-, companies –OWL Genomics, Pharmakine – and other centres and institutions such as the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research (BIOEF), or the Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (BCBL).

Soon these companies will also be joined by Laboratory 1, directed by Jokin Castilla from the Proteomics Unit of CIC bioGUNE, which will be dedicated to the study of prions.