The genomics company Veritas locates its international laboratory in Barcelona

Genomic medicine analyzes a patient's genetic map to predict what diseases they may develop over time, with the aim of preventing them with treatments that can reduce their incidence. The Madrid-based company Veritas Intercontinental specializes in performing this type of analysis, based on blood or saliva samples. From now on, it will analyze them from its new laboratory in Barcelona, the first it has in Spain and which will allow it to serve the 30 countries where it is present. Until now, it collaborated with the main hospital groups in Europe and Latin America.

Veritas Intercontinental's new facilities in the Catalan capital have involved an investment of more than four million euros, explains its CEO, Javier de Echevarría. For now, a dozen employees work there, but they expect to double that number throughout this year.

"From the very beginning, we were very clear that we would set up the laboratory in Barcelona," emphasizes De Echevarría. This decision is based on two reasons: the company's technical director, Dr. Vincenzo Cirigliano, lives in Barcelona and will direct it, and the city offered a greater capacity to hire trained personnel. "We have created a highly qualified team of professionals with a long track record in introducing new technologies into clinical routine according to the strictest quality management standards," explains Cirigliano.

The total area of the new laboratory, located in 22@, is around 500 square meters. The company expects to process more than 20,000 samples during this 2021, but De Echevarría assures that they have the capacity to grow and expect to be able to exceed 100,000 samples annually.

Objective: democratize precision medicine

For Cirigliano, the inauguration of the first laboratory consolidates and strengthens Veritas Intercontinental's project. "Undoubtedly, we now have the tools to democratize precision medicine and it is time to become a European benchmark by changing the way people's healthcare is approached," he adds.

Created in 2018, the company specializes in sequencing the DNA of healthy people who want to take preventive measures by knowing which diseases they are most predisposed to develop, such as cancers or cardiovascular pathologies. It also offers services to pregnant women, analyzing the DNA of babies to see if they are healthy.

Its headquarters are in Madrid, but it has offices in different countries around the world. Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Japan are its main markets. Its global workforce consists of 70 employees. The company completed an initial round of 25 million euros and has had the support of funds such as Charme Capital Partners and Amadeus Ventures.

Veritas Intercontinental was initially linked to Veritas Genetics, a US company founded in 2014 by Dr. George Church, a pioneer in DNA sequencing, which was the first to offer whole genome sequencing at an affordable price. In 2018, Veritas Intercontinental was born in Madrid to handle the expansion of the business in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.