A piece of news
Minister of Science and Innovation, Cristina Garmendia, presided over the inauguration of the new Oryzon building in Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona), which has a total of 2,300 square meters, triple that of the space the company previously occupied in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB). This move is the result of the company’s notable growth –2008 turnover of more than 7 million and a team of 80 international scientists–, above all with their acquisition of Crystax Pharmaceuticals last March.
Their building in Cornellà, which required an investment of 1.24 million euros, has a clean room twice as large as the one they used at the PCB, where they will carry out their Protein Chip and DNA Chip activities. Additionally, they have invested 1.3 million in cutting-edge instruments: two full HTS robotic systems, instruments to design experimental Protein-Arrays and Real-Time PRCs, among others.
Despite the move, Oryzon will continue to be closely tied to the PCB, “one of the most important centers of scientific knowledge in Spain, where we will keep a laboratory for crystallography and fragment screening procedures for our medical chemistry programs. We will also continue to collaborate with them on various CENIT research programs”, said the company’s CEO, Carlos Buesa.
The modernization and expansion of their facilities will allow the company to spend the next 5 years working on their presence in international markets. Their immediate future will focus on “speeding up the drug development processes that are currently underway,” said Buesa. The company is optimistic about fulfilling their promise to have programs in the clinical trial phase by 2012.
Founded in 2000, Oryzon was the first biotech company to be set up in Catalonia and among the first in Spain. Since then, they have focused on developing and marketing diagnostic and prognostic solutions for oncologic and neurodegenerative diseases. In 2008, their turnover surpassed 7 million euros and they currently employ a team of 80 international scientists.
Photo: Minister Cristina Garmendia; Minister of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise, Josep Huguet; Interim Mayor of Cornellà de Llobregat, Antoni Martínez; Cornellà City Councilor for Economy and Society, Sergio Fernández; CEO of Oryzon, Carlos Buesa; Chief Scientific Officer at Oryzon, Tamara Maes; and other authorities.
