The newspaper “El Mundo” devotes an extensive report to Friedreich's Ataxia through the testimony of Marta, a 13-year-old girl, who began to show the first symptoms of this rare disease when she was only five years old.
The report highlights the research performed by IRB Barcelona aimed to develop an injectable frataxin treatment that can reach the brain. Frataxin is the protein that is reduced in those affected by this disease.
Meritxell Teixidó, the researcher behind the project, which also involves Macarena Sánchez and Ernest Giralt, stresses: "I believe that in 10 or 15years there will be a therapy that turns Friedreich's Ataxia into a chronic disease." And she adds, “the dream would be to stop it completely or, at least, to slow down its progress.”
Link to El Mundo
Biocat news channel interviews Oscar Flores, co-founder and CEO of Made of Genes. An IRB Barcelona alumnus, Oscar did his PhD in Biomedicine at IRB Barcelona and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC).
Gonzalo Fernández-Miranda, associate researcher at IRB Barcelona, leads this therapeutic project selected by CaixaImpulse to facilitate its development towards the market.
IRB Barcelona, along with another 30 Catalan companies and organisations, is participating in the four-day convention in San Diego.
The BIO International Convention (BIO) is the top partnering fair for the biomedical sector.
The Institute’s spin-offs Iproteos and Nostrum Biodiscovery are also visiting the fair.
