On 29 April, Navarrabiomed hosted the second technical meeting with the Fast Green Consortium (UTE Fast Green), comprising representatives from the technology research and development center Tecnalia, Applus+ Laboratories, and Vivotecnia Research, the entity awarded the contract for the INNOVAP3M Innovation Procurement Project. The meeting, organized by Navarrabiomed’s Innovation Service, was also attended by María Ángeles Montes, Head of the Innovative Public Procurement Section at the Directorate-General for Science, Technology and Innovation of the Government of Navarre, as well as professionals from Science & Innovation Link Office (SILO), which serves as the project’s Technical Office.

The meeting began with a visit to the laboratories of the Oncoimmunology Unit and the Proteomics Scientific-Technical Service. During the visit, the heads of these units, David Escors and Joaquín Fernández, presented their main research activities, the equipment available in their facilities, and the services they provide to research teams and healthcare professionals within the Navarre Health Service (Servicio Navarro de Salud-Osasunbidea), as well as to other institutions and companies.

Progress in Platform Design

The project is currently in the initial phase of designing a platform for the production of clinical-grade small molecules. During the meeting, the Fast Green Consortium presented the progress achieved so far, along with upcoming milestones and development phases. Key topics discussed included the extraction and purification process for oleuropein, where participants reported that potential sources of raw materials had been successfully identified. Technical aspects of the pharmaceutical formulation were also reviewed. The description of critical material attributes, critical process parameters, and the control strategy for the pharmaceutical product were reported to be at an advanced and well-established stage of development.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to further define the strategy for regulated preclinical development, identify the cell lines to be used in in vitro studies, discuss techniques for characterizing the molecule’s mechanism of action, and advance the definition and design of in vivo efficacy models.

More Information About INNOVAP3M

INNOVAP3M is being developed within the framework of the Innovation Procurement Promotion Line (FID), launched by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under Spain’s 2021-2027 Multi-Regional Programme. The project has a total budget of €5 million, including €2 million in ERDF co-funding awarded through the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

One of the project’s main objectives is the development of a platform capable of producing clinical-grade small molecules under quality and purity conditions that ensure their safety for subsequent use in clinical trials. To validate this platform, the project has selected oleuropein as its use case. This choice is based on research carried out by Navarrabiomed’s Oncoimmunology Group, which has demonstrated the molecule’s effectiveness in patients treated with PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies.