CICECO - Instituto de Materials de Aveiro, was the big winner of this year's edition of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition for Technological Companies from Brazil and Portugal, held in Macau, on September 27th.Vítor Gaspar, the CEO, in an interview with the University of Aveiro, presented and explored the technology that served as the foundation for the creation of the company, as well as the importance of participating in such initiatives and the path to follow in the coming years.

The person responsible for the spin-off highlighted the excellent direct and indirect support that was present from the initial idea to the establishment of the deep tech spin-off, including ensuring intellectual property rights, as well as participating in activities to promote the company's activities. This support, particularly from the University of Aveiro, including CICECO and UACOOPERA, as well as PCI, has been crucial throughout the process of creating, empowering, and developing Cellularis.

Participation in the entrepreneurship competition in Macau was discovered through UACOOPERA, and it enabled the collaboration of various technology companies from Portugal and Brazil to enhance the expansion and dissemination of Biocellularis technology in the "greater Bay" area. Vitor Gaspar emphasized direct contact meetings with various institutions by business and research entities, which could be crucial for extending the use of Cellularis technology to different players in the business and academic world.

In the coming years, Cellularis anticipates developing models for diseases other than cancer, which are currently in high demand by the pharmaceutical industry and research centers. One of the main focuses will be on the bioengineering of new types of in vitro tumor models from tissues beyond Cellularis' current portfolio.

It's worth noting that Cellularis Biomodels' activity is centered around developing 3D models that recapitulate human diseases in the laboratory, in vitro, and offering technologies and services for manufacturing 3D disease models and in vitro testing of therapies for various human pathologies, with a special emphasis on cancer.

Cellularis Biomodels aspires to improve the efficiency of drug development by optimizing pre-clinical and clinical trials to identify effective therapies with greater precision, thus reducing the time required for validation and administration to patients.

The creation of Cellularis Biomodels, as a spin-off from the University of Aveiro and CICECO - Institute of Materials of Aveiro, is based on 12 years of technical and scientific knowledge in the fields of biotechnology, bioengineering, biomaterials, and biochemistry, which allowed them to develop the technology of in vitro 3D microtumors. After securing the intellectual property of the technology and participating in the UA technology entrepreneurship competition, a clear market need was identified, particularly among the industry and the scientific community.