Today marked the second edition of the BASF-ICIQ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Awards, which reward excellence in the field of chemistry. The biomedical company Nanobots Therapeutics S.L., led by Prof. Samuel Sánchez, from IBEC, has been awarded for its potential to transform broad-spectrum treatments for diseases with medical need. Nanobots Therapeutics is a spin-off created by IBEC and ICREA that proposes to develop a technology based on nanorobots with unique penetration capabilities in tumors.
Today took place the award ceremony of the second edition of the BASF-ICIQ Awards for innovation and entrepreneurship that, endowed with € 9,000, recognizes the best doctoral thesis, patent and entrepreneurship project. The event, which arises from the collaboration between the company BASF and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), rewards excellence by highlighting the transformative potential of research and entrepreneurship in the field of chemistry.
The biomedical company Nanobots Therapeutics S.L. led by Prof. Samuel Sánchez of IBEC has been awarded a € 4,000 prize for its potential to transform broad-spectrum treatments for diseases with medical need.
Sánchez began his speech by thanking and congratulating BASF and ICIQ for creating these awards and being a good example of public-private collaboration, which helps to translate the knowledge from research institutions into clinical applications and the market. He also expressed gratitude towards the various institutions that have contributed to the establishment of the company, as well as his colleagues who are part of it.
He further emphasized the significance of the IBEC research team, which “has been dedicated to the project for the past 7-8 years, facilitating the advancement of these mobile nanoparticles and bringing them closer to clinical implementation.”
The spin-off Nanobots Therapeutics was established on January 17, 2023 with the participation of IBEC, ICREA and private partners and, last week, closed its first investment round with a capital of € 400,000.
Its objective is to develop and commercialize the technological platform Therapeutics-in-Motion, conceived in the laboratory of Samuel Sánchez of IBEC, a world pioneer in using nanorobots for medical applications. This platform, which has different applications, includes innovative, more effective, and safer strategies to treat cancer and would initially focus on non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). The technology developed, which had the support of the “la Caixa” Foundation for its development and validation, covers one of the greatest demands of the pharmaceutical company, which is to have strategies to cross the biological barriers of tumor tissue and increase the selectivity and effectiveness of oncological drugs.
Dr. Samuel Sánchez, the academic founder of the company, is an ICREA research professor at the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), where he leads the Smart nano-bio devices group. Sánchez has received numerous awards for his pioneering work in the biomedical application of nanorobotics and has been awarded some of the most competitive projects at the national and the European level, including four ERC Grants and prestigious awards such as the Banco Sabadell research award, National Research Award for Talent Jove, Innovator of the Year by MIT TR35, or the Princess of Girona Award for research, among others.
