Banco Sabadell invests in the biotechnology company Gate2Brain

New investment from Bstartup Health, the program dedicated to health startups from Banco Sabadell. The entity has just invested in the Catalan startup Gate2Brain, created by researchers from IRB Barcelona, the University of Barcelona, and the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute.

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Gate2Brain has developed an innovative technology to transport drugs to the brain using shuttle peptides that could be revolutionary. Its technique allows bypassing the so-called blood-brain barrier, which hinders the access of most drugs to the brain. According to the company, the global pharmaceutical industry has invested millions of euros in drugs for the central nervous system, but 98% of them fail by not being able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier.

Bstartup Health, which provides an initial investment of 100,000 euros, is convinced that Gate2Brain "can play a major role in the treatment of brain diseases." Apart from the money, the startup will be able to benefit from a support and mentoring program by highly prestigious experts such as doctors Montserrat Vendrell (Alta Life Sciences) and Clara Campàs (Asabys Partners) or investor Carlos Gallardo (CG Health Partners).

"The brain is a precious organ, which is strongly protected by a kind of wall. We have managed to develop some "keys" that facilitate entry, and which we believe could allow the access of different drugs to treat brain diseases," explains IRB Barcelona researcher Meritxell Teixidó, promoter and CEO of Gate2Brain. She highlights that BStartup's investment will help them advance in studies on how to improve drug transport to the brain to fight pediatric tumors.

Gate2Brain was born with an initial investment of 500,00 euros from the Mind the Gap program of the Botín Foundation. In its previous stage, the research line received support from the CaixaImpulse program, from Fundació La Caixa, and funding from the Agency for University and Research Management and Aid (AGAUR). Gate2Brain is the 46th spin-off created from Fundació Bosch i Gimpera-UB.