CIC bioGUNE (the Cooperative Bioscience Research Centre) has signed an agreement with three leading Basque companies in the bioscience sector: Progenika, Noray Bio and Owl Genomics, to set up a series of Mixed Research Units with the aim of fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors, thereby improving both the technological and scientific capacity of the Basque Region.

The collaboration model proposed by CIC bioGUNE, which is located in the Bizkaia Technology Park, aims not only to foster greater coordination between different joint research projects, but also to offer alternative funding opportunities through participation in other projects.

Similarly, it also aims to increase opportunities for business development and knowledge transfer, one of the priorities established in the BioBasque Strategy 2010 by the Basque Government Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, which aims to develop a specific business sector in the Basque Country focusing on areas related to bioscience.

The three companies which together signed the collaboration agreement with CIC bioGUNE are all leaders in their respective fields and are already involved in research projects with the Basque Centre, with which they share a series of modern technological platforms located in state-of-the-art facilities. The three companies are: Progenika, a market leader in the field of the design, development and marketing of tools for customised medicine; Noray Bio, specialists in computer solutions for bioscience companies; and Owl Genomics, pioneers in the study and application of metabolomic analysis techniques to the field of health sciences.