2025/02/18

CIC bioGUNE celebrates its twentieth anniversary

More than 500 researchers from over 35 countries have worked at CIC bioGUNE over the last twenty years, contributing to making the center an international benchmark in cutting-edge research in Life Sciences.

The research center CIC bioGUNE, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), today officially celebrated its twentieth anniversary with an event that has provided it with the opportunity to showcase its standing as an international benchmark in cutting-edge research at the interface between chemistry, structural, molecular and cell biology, and biomedicine.

The event, held at the headquarters of CIC bioGUNE in the Zamudio-Derio Campus of the Basque Country Technology Park, was attended by representatives of various organisations from the academic, scientific and technology sectors, and featured speeches by José M Mato, General Director of CIC bioGUNE, at the opening ceremony, and by Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, Basque Government Minister of Science, Universities and Innovation, at the closing ceremony.

Over the last twenty years, CIC bioGUNE has consolidated its position internationally as a cutting-edge scientific research center, generating advanced knowledge in the field of life sciences. The center's research is focused on the study and understanding of the molecular basis of disease, with the end goal of developing new concepts and methodologies that contribute to the well-being of society by translating basic research into improved disease diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Consequently, the center has seen hundreds of scientific articles published in prestigious international journals, has been granted patents, has secured competitive funding and has been instrumental in setting up companies. The mission of the center also includes collaboration with Basque, Spanish and international organisations, both public and private, while making the knowledge it has generated, its technological equipment and its scientific personnel available to the scientific community and the business sector in the Basque Country.

At the event, José M Mato, General Director of CIC bioGUNE, said in his speech that “this twentieth anniversary of the center not only celebrates the achievements that have made CIC bioGUNE a benchmark in scientific research in Spain and beyond, but also encourages us to look to the future with a clear, ambitious and transformative vision. It’s now up to the new generation of scientific leaders, with their capacity to innovate, collaborate and adapt to emerging challenges, to take on the responsibility of making the strategic decisions required to keep us at the forefront of knowledge and to enable us to continue contributing significantly to scientific and social progress.”

Since the center opened in January 2005, more than 500 researchers from over 35 countries have conducted their research work at CIC bioGUNE. Over these twenty years, the center, headed throughout by José M Mato and with Jesús Jiménez Barbero as Scientific Director since 2014, has received 272 million euros in funding, 139 million of which have come from various Basque Government programmes, mostly from the Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability but also from the Departments of Education and Health, and 14 million from the Bizkaia Provincial Council. More than 50 million euros have been secured through competitive project funding from the Spanish government, a little over 15 million through international projects, including 6 StG, CoG and AdG projects from the European Research Council (ERC), while over 53 million euros have been generated through invoicing, partner contributions and private entities. At the same time, the center has contributed to local economic growth by contracting with Basque companies for over 81 million euros and generating over 16 million euros in revenue from service contracts. It has also played a role in the creation of six companies.

In the purely scientific domain, more than 2,200 articles have been published in international scientific journals, accumulating over 60,000 citations. More than 50% of these articles have been produced in collaboration with international scientific institutions. Additionally, over 60 patents have been granted.

Unique Scientific and Technical Facility (ICTS)

From among the scientific and technological equipment at CIC bioGUNE, one stand-out example is the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) platform, certified as a Unique Scientific and Technical Facility (ICTS) by the Spanish Government. NMR is an advanced and versatile technique that enables the detailed and precise study of molecular properties, with applications in chemistry, materials science, food science, biotechnology and biomedicine. Within this context, CIC bioGUNE's research includes the design of new drugs and identifying biomarkers that may be correlated with pathological states.

The recent acquisition of a 1 GHz spectrometer puts CIC bioGUNE at the forefront of European NMR research, with a focus on personalised and precision medicine. This instrument, together with the equipment already being used at the center, contributes to high-level research aimed at designing new drugs, identifying diagnostic biomarkers for rare diseases in both neonates and adults, studying prevalent diseases such as cancer, liver diseases, and bacterial and viral infections, characterising the ageing process in detail, and improving disease prognosis. This research is conducted in collaboration with many Spanish and international organisations from the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) and the Basque Science and Technology Network, from both the private and public sector.

New generation of scientific leaders

The event included a panel discussion entitled "The State of Science in Spain and the Basque Country", and a debate on "Challenges in Science from the Perspective of New Generations", in collaboration with the Health Sciences Foundation. The panel discussion, moderated by Jesús Jiménez Barbero, Scientific Director at CIC bioGUNE, featured contributions from Nazario Martín, member of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences; Carlos Diéguez, President of the Biomedicine Scientific Area of the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI); Fernando Cossío, Scientific Director of Ikerbasque; and Laureano Simón, CEO and founder of ONCOMATRYX.

The debate, moderated by José Mato, General Director of CIC bioGUNE, was held at 14.30 in the afternoon, on the subject of "Challenges in Science from the Perspective of New Generations", with the participation of researchers representing a new generation of scientific leaders in the Basque Country and Spain. Participants included Aitziber López Cortajarena (CIC biomaGUNE-Nanobiotechnology), Arkaitz Carracedo (CIC bioGUNE-Preclinical Oncology), Lucy Anne Parker (Miguel Hernández University-Public Health, Epidemiology), María Mittelbrunn (Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Centre-CSIC-UAM-Immunometabolism and Ageing), and Javier Santos (Pompeu Fabra University-Synthetic Biology). This round table is part of a series coordinated by José M Mato, a trustee of the Fundación de Ciencias de la Salud (Health Sciences Foundation), aimed at exploring the future of biomedical research through interviews with some of the most renowned young scientists in the fields of chemistry, biology, medicine, mathematics and physics.

The videos from the February 18th event are now available: the first part of the session and the second panel discussion.

About CIC bioGUNE
The Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) and based in the Zamudio/Derio Campus of the Basque Country Technology Park, is a biomedical research organisation conducting cutting-edge research at the interface between structural, molecular and cell biology, with a particular focus on generating knowledge on the molecular basis of diseases, for use in the development of new diagnostic methods and advanced therapies.

About the BRTA
The BRTA is an alliance of 4 collaborative research centers (CIC bioGUNE, CIC nanoGUNE, CIC biomaGUNE and CIC energiGUNE) and 13 technology centers (Azterlan, Azti, Ceit, Cidetec, Gaiker, Ideko, Ikerlan, Leartiker, Lortek, Neiker, Tecnalia, Tekniker and Vicomtech). The main objective of the BRTA is to develop advanced technological solutions for Basque companies.

With the support of the Basque Government, the SPRI Group and the Provincial Councils of the three regional provinces, the alliance seeks to promote collaboration among its centers and to strengthen the conditions required to generate and transfer knowledge to companies, contributing to their competitiveness and promoting Basque scientific and technological capacity in and beyond the Basque Country.

The BRTA has a staff of 3,500 professionals, accounts for 22% of R&D investment in the Basque Country, generates an annual turnover of over 300 million euros and files 100 European and international patents per year.

Spanish version