A spin-off of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), 60Nd, has secured one of the most significant innovation grants in Europe, the EIC Transition, to bring NeoMag to market, a portable device with technology based on smart magnetic materials. This system enables the study of tumor behavior, traumatic brain injuries and wound healing processes, among other applications, and also supports the development of new drugs.
NeoMag is one of 40 projects selected in 17 countries, from a total of 611 proposals, by the European Innovation Council (EIC) in the latest EIC Transition call for proposals. This Horizon Europe program aims to support the maturation and validation of breakthrough technologies to bring them to market through development and commercialization strategies.
In Spain, this is the only project stemming from research developed under European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept funding, as in the case of ISBIOMECH. The EIC Transition grant amounts to €2.4 million, although the company has also attracted private investors, bringing total funding to more than €3 million.
“This project allows us to translate all the basic science we have already developed in previous ERC projects into a commercialization phase with real societal impact,” says Daniel García González, researcher in the Department of Continuum Mechanics and Structural Theory at UC3M, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of 60Nd.
The technology developed by the company combines magneto-active polymers and artificial intelligence to apply programmable, non-invasive mechanical stimuli to 2D and 3D cell cultures. According to the company, this capability enables researchers and pharmaceutical companies to accurately replicate the physical behavior of various diseases and pathologies, identify new therapeutic targets, and even support the design of new drugs and therapies.
“The goal is that within three years we will have a fully commercial product that we can scale. During this time, the company will work with beta testers who integrate this technology to improve the prototype, which already enables pathologies to be reproduced in a far more efficient and scalable way than other solutions,” says Daniel García González from the company’s facilities at the Center for Innovation in Entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence (C3N-IA) at the UC3M Science Park – Leganés Tecnológico.
According to its creators, NeoMag can transform the way research is conducted in cancer, neurology and dermatology by offering high-precision in vitro models that accelerate therapy discovery. By integrating it into their workflow, researchers can anticipate therapeutic failures before reaching clinical phases, resulting in massive cost savings and a drastic reduction in animal experimentation.
For example, NeoMag can simulate the mechanical microenvironment of tumors to study invasion and metastasis processes in real time, as well as assess the effectiveness of new drugs under mechanical stress conditions. The platform can also recreate dynamic forces associated with traumatic brain injuries or stroke, enabling neuroscientists to study the response of neurons, astrocytes and microglia in a contact-free manner. In addition, it facilitates the modeling of wound healing, fibrosis and dermal remodeling processes, providing far more predictive models for regenerative medicine and dermocosmetic screening.
Transferring basic science to society
Many pathologies develop or worsen due to mechanical alterations in tissues, and many therapies fail because these factors are not considered during their design or evaluation. “The technology we have developed makes it possible to identify these mechanical responses at very early stages, opening new avenues to understand key biological mechanisms and improve drug discovery processes,” explains Daniel García, who founded 60Nd to take this innovation beyond the laboratory and turn it into a product with real impact.
“This spin-off has allowed us to expand capabilities that were already outstanding from a scientific standpoint with capabilities from the business world, such as being able to sell and explain the impact of this technological solution to potential clients, including other scientific researchers and the pharmaceutical industry,” says Ricardo de la Torre González, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 60Nd.
“This project will require additional funding in the future to scale globally, enabling research teams around the world, both in public and private institutions, to access our solution. The support we have received from the European Commission validates our ability to lead the predictive biology market with NeoMag, which has already earned the trust of world-class laboratories such as the Institut Pasteur in Paris and Imperial College London”, he concludes.
More information:
60Nd website at:
https://www.uc3m.es/ss/Satellite/InnovacionEmprendimiento/es/TextoMixta/1371403497966/
Video: https://youtu.be/ETLIHqHD2h4