Available Technologies

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer mortality in developed countries. The detection of polyps in precancerous phases can reduce incidence and mortality by CRC by 30% and 50%, respectively. Currently, colonoscopy is the most accurate test for the early detection of CRC, but it has the disadvantage of causing a low level of adherence of patients to these risk exams because of the discomfort of the test and its preparation.

The social rejection of colonoscopy added to the low sensitivity of current non-invasive biomarkers for the early detection of colon cancer requires the identification of new non-invasive biomarkers with greater sensitivity and specificity.

In this aspect, metabolomics has opened new opportunities to identify these biomarkers, and also understand the mechanisms involved in the development of physiological and pathological processes.

Fabry Disease (FD) is considered a rare disease (incidence ~1:7.000 calculated in neonatal screening) included in the group of Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSD) and new treatments for these pathologies are generally designated as orphan drugs.

FD (OMIM # 301500) is a hereditary pathology linked to the X chromosome and caused by a deficiency of α-GalA, a hydrolytic enzyme expressed in the lysosomes. The current treatments of FD, Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT), have important limitations, such as a high cost of production, the bioavailability, the immunogenicity, or the administration. Pharmacological Chaperones (CPs) are the most promising alternative to improve treatments in FD and LSDs. PCs are small molecules, for possible oral administration, useful in patients with mutations that affect the folding of the protein.

However, the main limitation of the only CP authorized for the treatment of FD (Galafold®) and other CPs under study is that these compounds are only useful with enzymes mutations that affect the stability of the protein compromising its correct folding, and its effectiveness may be higher or lower depending on the specific mutation.

Also, the current available CFs have a narrow range of therapeutic concentration, since in excess they can act as inhibitor of α-GalA competing with its natural substrate.

Major Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, affecting between 10% – 20% of the general population. Globally, it is estimated that more than 264 million people of all ages suffer from depression. Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and is a major
contributor to the overall global burden of disease.

The diverse etiopathogenesis and the absence of biomarkers that can be used in the diagnosis of the disease and, above all, that can be used for early diagnosis (when the treatment may be more effective since it has not yet been produced an irreversible deterioration in the brain), make difficult a correct diagnosis and treatment, making this challenge one of the priority lines of research in current psychiatry.

Therefore, achieving a blood-based biomarker that helps Psychiatry to make the correct diagnosis and select the appropriate treatment for each patient in the less possible time is crucial for the patient’s complete recovery.

In order to achieve this, it is necessary the use of new technologies, for example, Nanotechnology that allows the ultra-detection of biomarkers in complex biological fluids, such as the blood, for the diagnosis and prognosis of many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases

Patients with mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder, or patients with sequels from head trauma often present deterioration of social cognition such as emotional and communication skills necessary to successfully interact in a social level, including perception of emotions, interpretation of social keys, and the capacity to attribute intentions in a correct manner.
These patients often isolate themselves due to their difficulty in establishing contact with other people and keeping a conversation.
e-Motional Training ® has been designed to rehabilitate these functions based on scientific evidence.

The 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D (1,25D) exerts its biological effects through binding to a specific intracellular receptor (Vitamin D Receptor, VDR) present in target cells. Numerous studies have demonstrated that 1,25D plays a major role in maintaining calcium/phosphate homeostasis. In addition, it regulates other physiological and pathological processes, including cell proliferation and differentiation. Nevertheless, its use in therapy is limited because of its hypercalcemic side effects. Given that Vitamin D inhibits proliferation and increases cell differentiation, the use of non-hypercalcemic Vitamin D analogues could be a therapeutic alternative in cancer and hyperproliferative disorders such as psoriasis, for which there is no oral treatment.

This technology describes the synthesis of new compounds with a certain affinity for the Vitamin D receptor, and are active similarly to 1,25D, with the advantage of presenting a lower level of hypercalcemia or zero hypercalcemia.
Based on previous in vitro and in vivo tests, the best candidate of this family of compounds, PG-136, is a potent anti-proliferative drug without hypercalcemic activity. Besides, PG-136 shows anti-tumoral activity in human breast cancer cells and mouse xenograft tumor models.

A new species of Streptococcus has been isolated from healthy mouths of patients, CECT 9174, which has demonstrated significant bactericidal activity. CECT 9174, or bioactive compounds derived from the strain, within the probiotics and/or prebiotics composition or as part of different pharmaceutical compositions, could be used in the treatment of infections in the oral cavity, such as caries and periodontal disease.

In the last years, there were big steps in the treatment of Head and Neck Cancer (HNC), but local relapse rates are still very high. For this reason, multicentric research is needed to overcome them, focused on quantifying tumour response of HNC patients by functional images like Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Multimodality imaging offers much more information about tumour behaviour than the individual datasets on their own (malignancy, oxygenation or tumour density).
A software has been developed that allows the correction of the distortion caused by diffusion through the usage of reverse gradients and thus the program allows the combination of the images obtained with MRI and PET.
Therefore, this software enables the identification of the metabolically most active areas in the tumour and those with a higher level of oxygenation. These two parameters are useful to identify the tumour areas in which radiotherapy is less effective and adjust the radiotherapy plan to concentrate it on such areas.