• During the meeting, she learned about some of the most innovative infrastructures at this mixed biomedical research centre, such as the White Room for advanced therapies and the experimental operating room.

The Regional Minister for Universities, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Patricia Fanlo, visited Navarrabiomed, a joint biomedical research centre of the Government of Navarra and the Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA), this morning as part of her round of meetings with the entities that make up the R&D&I System in Navarra (SINAI). Maite Mendioroz, director of Navarrabiomed, was responsible for welcoming her and showing her the facilities, highlighting the new equipment, the projects in personalized medicine and innovation, as well as the synergies with the UPNA and the Hospital Universitario de Navarra (HUN) that reinforce the position of Navarra as a community at the forefront of biomedicine in the public health field.

Personalised medicine and innovation

During the day, the minister chaired a meeting with research staff from the Genomic Medicine Unit in which she was able to learn about the progress of the NAGEN Program projects that the centre has been carrying out since 2016 and the Precision Medicine Infrastructure associated with Science and Technology (IMPaCT), which is coordinated at the national level by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and in Navarra is coordinated by Navarrabiomed.

The minister, who was accompanied by the director general of Universities, Ana Burusco, highlighted the work of Navarrabiomed as a pioneering entity in the field of personalized medicine and innovation in Health: “Navarrabiomed has been a pioneer and continues to be a key agent in positioning Navarra as a reference region at a national and European level, thanks to its various initiatives. The Government of Navarra fully intends to facilitate the translation of these projects into healthcare practice, with the aim of providing all the knowledge that has been generated and implementing the methodology and circuits developed to the fullest,” noted Fanlo.

In line with this commitment, the Department of Universities, Innovation and Digital Transformation has awarded 540,000 euros to Navarrabiomed in its latest calls for tenders to carry out three collaborative projects, and nearly 90,000 euros from the MRR Investigo program to support the incorporation of talent at this centre. “This investment reflects the firm support of the Government of Navarra for Navarrabiomed, a benchmark in public research, with the aim of placing people at the centre of health care,” said the minister.

At this meeting, she was also able to learn about the progress of the Innovation Unit as regards Public Innovation Procurement. The centre is currently managing two processes that will allow innovative technological developments: one aimed at promoting public research in the field of treatments such as the implementation of immunotherapies, and the other aimed at facilitating access to emergency ultrasound from the Servicio Navarro de Salud-Osasunbidea.

Visit of the new installations

The minister was also able to visit the laboratory area and, specifically, the new facilities at the centre dedicated to the White Room for Advanced Therapies (CellMa), a highly specialized facility intended for the manufacture of sterile medicines for human use based on cells, genes or tissues. This service, following the guidelines of the European regulatory framework, is in the last stage of the implementation of the Pharmaceutical Quality System for Good Manufacturing Practices (NCF/GMP) and is expected to be accredited by the Spanish Medicines Agency in 2024. CellMa will allow the development of innovative therapies in the SNS-O, such as cell therapy, gene therapy or tissue engineering, in the context of the practice of Personalised and Precision Medicine.

Currently, Navarrabiomed is undergoing the last phase of the renovation works of the Scientific/Technical Proteomics Department, the only laboratory of its kind in the Autonomous Community. The cutting-edge equipment purchased over the last two years will facilitate the performance of larger clinical studies involving a larger number of patient samples, and will generate more in-depth molecular information.

Finally, Fanlo visited the facilities of the Biomodels and Experimental Operating Room service. This area is a point of reference for the specialised training of surgical medical professionals of the SNS-O. Within the framework of the Teaching Plan of the Department of Health, this service hosts numerous courses and conferences aimed at both medical residents and medical professionals who want to try innovative techniques in their hospital services.

Press release published in www.navarra.es