In science, a hypothesis is not defended with arguments, it is demonstrated with data. Almost thirty years ago, the Parc Científic de la Universtat de Barcelona (PCB-UB) was founded on a hypothesis: that research and business activity could not only coexist, but reinforce each other. The data on the Parc's activity in the last fiscal year, published these days, are, in a way, the result of this long-term experiment which, as in the laboratory, has required constant monitoring, adjustments, and improvements. The companies in our ecosystem attracted 230 million euros in investment in 2025, a new historical high. In addition to the record figure, it is very significant that 44% of all investment registered in the life and health sciences sector in Catalonia has been attracted by spin-offs, start-ups and scale-ups from our ecosystem. A percentage that invites reflection on what conditions make this result possible and, above all, how to sustain them over time. The PCB-UB is, thirty years later, more useful than ever.
The PCB-UB was born in 1997 with the idea that research and business activity could share not only a physical space, but also a work culture. That between the laboratory and the market there was not necessarily an insurmountable frontier, but a territory worth exploring. For almost thirty years we have built this environment, where an emerging company can develop close to the research group from which it emerged, access specialized scientific infrastructure, connect with investors and establish links that in another context would take much longer to consolidate. The 2025 data suggest that this approach has borne fruit.
The two most recent cases that well illustrate the type of impact we are referring to are, first, SpliceBio, which closed a 118 million euro round in 2025 —the largest recorded in the Spanish biotechnology sector— to advance the development of a gene therapy for Stargardt disease, a hereditary retinal disorder with no approved treatment to date. Deepull, for its part, raised 50 million to boost UllCORE, an early diagnosis platform for sepsis, one of the main causes of hospital mortality worldwide. Both companies grew in the Park and, in both cases, the science that underpins them has a direct link to real and unresolved medical needs. When a company emerges from an environment where research, infrastructure, services, and the investment fabric coexist in the same space, the chances of it going far are greater. The ecosystem does not guarantee success, but it does reduce the distance between a good idea and its materialization.
The ecosystem does not guarantee success, but it does reduce the distance between a good idea and its materialization
Beyond the Catalan context, it is worth placing these data in a broader perspective. Europe has long been reflecting on how to strengthen its innovation capacity and reduce its technological dependence in strategic sectors. Life sciences are one of them. In this debate, science parks can play a role that goes beyond providing square meters of laboratory space; they are spaces where critical mass is generated, where research is transformed into companies, companies develop, and where talent finds reasons to stay. Barcelona is one of the European benchmarks in health and biomedical innovation, but maintaining it requires sustained decisions over time, not just isolated results.
The future of the Parc also points in this direction, with the expansion of its facilities. The Cub building will add 2,700 square meters of laboratory space, and the MIES-UB project promoted by the University of Barcelona will incorporate 10,000 more square meters in a new building to house the Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC), the Fraunhofer Institute and new research groups from the university, all within the framework of the Campus Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona project. These are concrete steps to respond to a growing demand for space that, in a way, reflects the vitality of the sector.
In science, when an experiment yields consistent results for thirty years, it stops being called an experiment. It's called evidence. The 2025 data is evidence that, when the right conditions are created, science and business drive each other, and the impact can transcend borders. Perhaps this is the most important reflection we take from this record year: not to celebrate the result, but to understand what made it possible to enhance it.