The 2024 call for the CaixaImpulse Innovation program of the ”la Caixa” Foundation supports 29 new biomedical projects from research centers, hospitals, and universities in Spain and Portugal. In total, the organization will allocate 3.4 million euros to this initiative, which aims to accelerate the arrival of these innovations to the market and bring them closer to the patients who may need them. CaixaImpulse Innovation fosters the creation of new products, services, and companies related to life and health sciences.
This year, one of the selected projects is led by Dr. Ramon Brugada, head of the Cardiovascular Genetics Research Group at the Girona Biomedical Research Institute Dr. Josep Trueta (IDIBGI) and head of the Cardiology Service at the Trueta and Santa Caterina Hospitals. The project will receive 49,000 euros from CaixaImpulse Innovation to validate a tool for predicting the genetic risk of myocardial infarction and sudden death in young people.
Coronary artery disease, also known as coronary heart disease, is the most common cardiovascular disease worldwide. The obstruction of a coronary artery can lead to a myocardial infarction. Several risk factors can trigger this disease, such as poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, or high alcohol consumption, which are preventable and well-known. However, there are also hereditary genetic factors that can increase the risk of developing this condition. These factors especially affect young people, who may suffer from an acute myocardial infarction leading to sudden death. Genetic inheritance is crucial in these cases. It is believed that genetic factors associated with thrombosis, i.e., the blockage of a blood vessel, may predispose individuals to this complication.
Over the past five years, the team leading this project has studied, clinically characterized, and collected genetic material from a cohort of young people who had suffered a type 1 myocardial infarction. This has allowed the identification of new genetic markers associated with thrombosis complications.
In this project, the team aims to validate these findings with a second cohort of individuals who have suffered an acute myocardial infarction and a third cohort that has experienced sudden cardiac death. The goal is to create a polygenic risk score that determines an individual’s probability based on genetic and personal factors. The work developed by this project could have significant implications for detecting the risk of myocardial infarction and sudden death in young people and could provide a tool to facilitate prevention and the adoption of therapeutic strategies for individuals at risk.
CaixaImpulse Innovation 2024 Call Results
The 29 winning projects —selected from over 400 applications— have been evaluated by a panel of international experts and professionals in life and health sciences.
By business area, 12 of the total selected projects belong to therapies, 9 to diagnostics, 7 to medical devices, and 1 to digital health. In terms of funding, the winners receive, depending on the project's maturity level, between 50,000 and 500,000 euros to develop it over the next 2 years. In this call, 16 projects have reached phase 1 (up to 50,000 euros); 11, phase 2 (up to 150,000 euros), and 2, phase 3 (up to 500,000 euros). The program allows projects to advance to later phases with higher funding when they meet specific development milestones, as evaluated by the assessment committee.
