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Founded in 2010, the biotech company Inbiomotion is specialized in the development of markers for the prediction of bone metastases from the analysis of the primary tumor.
Ysios capital, a venture capital firm focused on biomedicine, heads the funding round, which also involves the Fundació Vila Casas and JVRisk Technologies. This operation, the ninth since the start up of Ysios, is also the first made by this company in a spin-off from a public, basic research centre.
The increase in share capital is aimed at promoting the development of diagnostic tools for metastasis based on technology that the company licensed from IRB Barcelona and ICREA.
Ysios Capital announces the closure of the first financing round – for a value of € 2M – in Inbiomotion, a spin-off from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and the Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA). Ysios Capital is supported by coinvestments from the Fundació Vila Casas and JVRisk Technologies.
Located at the Barcelona Science Park and founded by Dr. Roger Gomis, Inbiomotion focuses on the development of an assay to validate the capacity of its marker to predict future metastases to bone in cancer patients using technology developed at IRB Barcelona. The proceeds of the financing will be used to fund the validation of this marker in various clinical studies in Barcelona and England and to advance its development in order to achieve official approval.
At present, there are no diagnostic tools to predict a patient’s risk of bone metastasis. Inbiomotion’s product represents a further step that will allow patient stratification on the basis of risk and probability of metastasis. It has been validated in separate assay involving 900 patients using two independent techniques (gene expression and immunohistochemistry) and has shown a predictive value of 95%
The possibility to achieve early detection of patients at risk will lead to a change in clinical practice that will improve the quality of lives and management of cancer patients, and consequently lead to the efficient use of economic resources in the health care system.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Roger Gomis cofounder of Inbiomotion and ICREA Researcher at the IRB Barcelona, said, “This financing round marks a significant milestone in the promotion of Inbiomotion because it involves risk capital enterprises devoted to the life sciences sector. However, in addition to providing capital, these investors bring essential know-how for business development and immediate visibility in the sector.”
“Inbiomotion has arisen from one of the leading laboratories in metastasis research. Its technology confirms that cutting-edge innovation and science can effectively give a solution to unmet medical needs, especially regarding cancer diagnosis and prognosis, thus helping to determine the most efficient treatments to prevent metastasis. Ysios will provide the experience and industrial contacts to build a reference company, together with the founders of Inbiomotion”, said Joël Jean-Mairet at Ysios Capital.
“This is the first time that a capital risk enterprise such as Ysios Capital has invested in a biotech company that has arisen from basic research. This achievement indicates that at IRB Barcelona we are performing cutting-edge science that is attractive to investors and that has the capacity to improve patients’ quality of life”, explains Joan J. Guinovart, director of the institute.
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
