Mediante la publicación y difusión de este monográfico dedicado a la Planta Piloto de Bioprocesos, queremos presentar la instalación, los equipos y la instrumentación que la integran, los diversos servicios que podemos ofrecer a la industria y el equipo humano sin el cual el proyecto no sería una realidad.
We are celebrating the publication of issue number 25 of our Newsletter with a special dedicated entirely to presenting the IQS Bioprocess Pilot Plant, which has been fully operational since January.
We are pleased to share with all you that this historic project has now come true. The idea to build a bioprocess pilot plant to provide a service to companies arose years ago, coinciding with the growth of industrial biotechnology in our local environment. Therefore, this infrastructure has been designed to respond to the industry's needs and is aligned with the European Commission's strategy to strengthen the Bioeconomy. Over recent years we have worked on observing our surroundings, the knowledge of the market, and on detecting current and future needs. This has made it possible for us to design a pilot plant suitable for the needs of companies, focusing on the functions that it must fulfil, the services to be provided and also on the project's economic viability. We have met with companies, we have shown them our proposal and gathered their opinions and recommendations. All this has allowed us to reach where we are today.
By publishing this special issue dedicated to the Bioprocess Pilot Plant, we want to present the facilities, the equipment and the instrumentation that form the Plant, the different services that we can offer to the industry and the team without which the project would never have come true.
The Bioprocess Pilot Plant is one of the units found in the new Process Transfer and Integrative Technologies Centre (CTPTI). The building features 1,150 m2which, in addition to the Bioprocess Pilot Plant also includes a Nanotechnology Laboratory, an Advanced Materials and Biomaterials Laboratory, and lastly, a Continual Flow Chemistry Process Laboratory.
The building and equipment of the CTPTI has relied on cofinancing from the European Regional Development Fund, awarded by the Ministry of Business and Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia, through the General Directorate for Research (Decision 2015 ERDF S-05). This contract is within the call for grants to select singular institutional projects to construct, acquire, renovate and/or substantially expand buildings for R+D infrastructures that make it possible to generate excellent research, attract talent and conduct knowledge transfer and appraisal activity which may receive co-funding from the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).
The construction and equipment of the Bioprocess Pilot Plant has also received support from Grifols S.A., a member of the Fundación Empresas IQS. We greatly appreciate Grifols, not only for its economic donation but also for its commitment to IQS in its academic and research activity.
IQS has a solid background in fundamental and applied research activities, technological development, technology appraisal and knowledge and technology transfer to its industrial surroundings. This is our way of helping to make Catalonia more competitive and expand its international presence. We firmly believe that the synergies and links between businesses and universities are essential for economic growth in Catalonia.
I trust that this issue will be of interest to you.
Dr Núria Vallmitjana
Director of IQS Tech Transfer