The future CaixaResearch Institute obtains 80 million from the EIB

The CaixaResearch Institute is strengthened. The European Investment Bank (EIB) and CriteriaCaixa, holding of La Caixa Foundation, have signed an 80 million euro loan to finance the construction and commissioning of the future biomedical research center, the first in Spain to be dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of immunology. The global investment of the project, which will be located in front of Cosmocaixa, will be 110 million euros.

CriteriaCaixa will receive the financing and will transfer the funds to its sole shareholder, La Caixa Foundation, as needed to develop the center. The loan has a five-year maturity. The Director General of Operations for the European Union (EU) of the EIB, Jean-Christophe Laloux, the General Director of La Caixa Foundation, Antonio Vila, and the CEO of CriteriaCaixa, Ángel Simón, have been in charge of formalizing the operation. "The agreement with the EIB allows us to take a step forward in the materialization of the CaixaResearch Institute. Being able to have first-class collaborators like the EIB makes the project even bigger," Vila values.

Under the scientific direction of Dr. Josep Tabernero, the facility will be dedicated to advancing knowledge about the immune system and its role in global health and autoimmune, infectious, oncological, metabolic, and neurological diseases. Not only will it be a pioneer in Spain, but it will also become one of the first in Europe to be dedicated to this issue. "The Covid pandemic was a harsh reminder for all of us of the importance of immunological research and this institute should contribute to strengthening Europe's capacity to prevent diseases and face future public health challenges," Laloux emphasizes. A transversal approach will be taken to the different scientific and technological disciplines involved in the study of the immune system, also focusing on the transfer of results to society.

With an area of more than 20,000 square meters, the CaixaResearch Institute will have capacity to house more than 500 professionals and 40 research groups. Located on the grounds where La Soci, the former sports complex for CaixaBank employees, was situated, the institute will have areas and equipment dedicated to scientific research such as, for example, dry and wet laboratories, in addition to offices and spaces to organize events and offer training.

The construction of the center will also include the redevelopment of the space that separates it from CosmoCaixa, above the Ronda de Dalt, where a new public square will be created to connect both facilities. After the works began in June 2022, it is expected that the construction of the first module of the center ---the one closest to the highway--- will finish in 2025, at which point the first researchers will be able to start moving in.