The unit conducts development projects for industry, and valorises technologies from ICIQ’s research groups to enhance their market accessibility, technology licensing or the creation of spin-offs, making them available for the whole society
Incorporated in the Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) department, the Innovation & Valorisation unit, created in 2010 and recently renamed ICIQ – Innovation & Valorisation Laboratory (formerly CSOL), intends to fulfil one of the major missions of the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ-CERCA): transferring the institute’s technologies to the society, addressing significant social and economic challenges through knowledge and technology transfer, thus contributing to the creation of a knowledge-based economy.
ICIQ – Innovation & Valorisation Laboratory’s expert team aligns its research and technology focus on ICIQ’s main lines: health, catalysis and sustainability. Indeed, research in the unit varies from drug discovery to new materials by way of process development. The success of Innovation & Valorisation projects is also correlated to the strong connections established with units within the KTT department, such as ICIQ-Crysforma, specialized in solid state properties, or the ICIQ-Medicinal Chemistry unit, as well as with other ICIQ’s departments and units, such as High Throughput Experimentation unit, the Reaction Technologies Department, or the Characterization Technologies Department.
Knowledge and Technology Transfer is carried out at ICIQ-INNOVALAB through two main strategies: offering services, contract research projects and collaborations to industrial partners; or by valorisation and innovation of ICIQ’s own technologies.
The essentials of chemistry for health
At ICIQ, the health area represents an essential field of research, explaining why, for many years now, collaborations with renowned pharmaceutical companies and partnerships with institutions in biology and medicine have been put in place. ICIQ – Innovation & Valorisation Laboratory contributes to progress small molecules through the drug development phases, focusing in various pathologies, such as cancer, malaria or viral diseases. A particular topic of interest for ICIQ – Innovation & Valorisation Laboratory is to support process development and CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control) applications.
The philosophy of the unit is to incorporate enablers in the synthetic process, so that the next process of optimisation and scale-up does not face delays. Beyond small molecules, ICIQ-INNOVALAB also incorporates expertise in the synthesis of biologically-active macromolecules, such as peptides.
Without chemistry, no sustainability
Sustainability has become a major concern in our modern society that ICIQ wants to address. In order to comply with the challenge to contribute to preserving the planet, as well as reducing our environmental impact, ICIQ – Innovation & Valorisation Laboratory is focusing on topics such as new biosourced materials, biodegradable polymers, green hydrogen production, sustainable fuels, or CO2 capture and valorization.
ICIQ – Innovation & Valorisation Laboratory, a springboard to the market
ICIQ – Innovation & Valorisation Laboratory valorises ICIQ’s own research in order to approach the technology to the market and secure intellectual and industrial property protection. After protection, subsequent technology transfer can take the shape of licenses or even the creation of spin-off companies, offering their disruptive technology directly to industries and society. As examples, the unit has incubated the technologies of the three ICIQ’s spin-off companies before their creation, which gives a clear illustration of the successful technology transfers made possible by the unit.
