our story
2009
Dr. Hernando A del Portillo, ICREA Research Professor together with the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), and Hospital Clinic (HC), filed a patent protecting the use of reticulocyte-derived exosomes as a novel antigen discovery and vaccine platform against the human malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax parasites. In parallel, Dr. Francesc E Borràs, investigator of the “Gemans Trias I Pujol” Research Institute (IGTP), pioneered immunological studies of exosomes derived from dendritic cells. After personally meeting each other, the idea of creating a Spin-off devoted to the use of extracellular vesicles as new therapeutic agents (Innovex Therapeutics S.L. - ITSL), was born. A window-of-opportunity appeared when Dr. del Portillo was legally granted the rights of exploitation of the malaria patent, and ICREA, ISGlobal and IGTP decided to support the creation of ITSL.
2009
March 2014
The Company was legally constituted on March 19 of 2014 and is physically located at the IGTP building, Can Ruti Campus. Knowing that a mono-product on this competitive field was not a wise strategy, and identifying the opportunity to expand to the veterinarian sector, two new members were incorporated into ITSL, Dr. Maria Montoya, cellular immunologist working with viral diseases and Dr. Lorenzo Fraile, a veterinarian with ample experience in working with a viral disease, the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, PRRSV, responsible for huge worldwide economic losses. The Company receives non-diluting funding from different sources, governmental aid including a Torres Quevedo Postdoctoral Fellowship to develop the malaria vaccine and an Industrial Ph.D. fellowship granted to Sergio Montaner-Tarbes to work on the vaccine against PRRSV and from the European Regional Development Fund.
March 2014
2015
On 2015, ITSL, together with ICREA, ISGlobal and IGTP filed a new patent on the use of exosomes as vaccines. Recently, the use of this patent for developing vaccines against animal diseases of economic importance, has been sub-licensed to an anonymous Pharmaceutical Company who is funding the development of two different products, including a vaccine against PRRSV. ITSL has also been recently incorporated in the portfolio of promising projects of the EU Malaria fund, and funding has been requested to develop and test the malaria vaccine in Phase I/IIa controlled human malaria trials in an endemic region.
2015