This May, the bio-tech company Histocell has been awarded the 21st Enterprise Prize for the Basque Country. The prize, given by La Caixa and the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade and promoted by the Basque Association for Development Agencies Garapen, rewards the innovation and potential for growth that this company, part of the Noray BG group, has shown.

As well as receiving the cash prize of 10,000 euros, Histocell has also been given a grant to participate in the ‘Ignite 2009: Fast-Tracking Innovation’ course promoted by Cambridge University (UK) which will mean attending one of the most important innovation centres in the world and will enable the company to make contact with other international companies and get direct business opportunities for collaboration and innovation.

As winner in the autonomous regions category, Histocell will go on to compete with the winners from the other autonomous regions of Spain. A jury made up of representatives of all the autonomous communities will select three companies from the regional winners to go forward to the final and compete for the national prize, to be awarded in Barcelona on 16 and 17 June.

Histocell is a bio-tech company based in the Technology Park of Bizkaia, and it specialises in tissue engineering and cell therapy for application in regenerative medicine in human health care. This new field has caused a revolution in the present health-care sector, making it possible to develop new treatments and therapies that enable doctors to repair or even replace tissues that have been damaged by degenerative illnesses or traumatic injuries that currently lack effective treatment. At the moment, the company is immersed in a new expansion plan that includes a capital increase that will allow them to develop its R&D, and increase profits to 16 million euros by 2012.