The ibs.GRANADA and the UGR participate in the European project NABIHEAL, which will generate biomaterials to heal complex wounds
They will collaborate by contributing their knowledge in the manufacture and 3D bioprinting of human skin models
The Horizon Europe NABIHEAL project, coordinated by the Network Biomedical Research Center (CIBER) at the Barcelona Institute of Materials Science (ICMAB, CSIC), began on January 11 and 12, 2023 in Barcelona with a first meeting of the international consortium, made up of 14 partners from 7 countries, including research centers, universities and private companies.
Researchers from the Biosanitary Research Institute ibs.GRANADA of the group “Advanced Therapies: differentiation, regeneration and cancer“, from the “Cutaneous Oncology” group of the UGR and the Excellence Unit of the UGR Modeling Nature: from nano to macro, participate as one of the partners in this consortium. Professor Juan Antonio Marchal Corrales leads the project at the UGR and is part of the steering and executive committees of the coordinated project, which will be developed at the Singular Laboratory of Biofabrication and 3D (bio)printing (BioFabi3D) located at the Biomedical Research Center (CIBM) of the Health Technology Park.
NABIHEAL “Antimicrobial Nanostructured Biomaterials for Complex Wound Healing” is funded by the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation program with a total budget of almost 5 million euros for four years. NABIHEAL aims to address two medical needs that are still unmet today in complex wound healing: on the one hand, affordable treatments for wound infections and the prevention of complications during healing; and on the other, a strategy to optimize the composition and efficacy of drugs and dressings to heal wounds.
The project launch meeting, held at the CSIC Research Residence in Barcelona, was inaugurated by the project coordinator, Nora Ventosa, a CIBER and ICMAB-CSIC researcher, and by institutional and political representatives, including Riccardo Rurali, vice director of the ICMAB-CSIC; Ramon Martínez Mañez, scientific director of the CIBER-BBN; Jordi Aguasca, director of the Technological Transformation and Disruption Unit, ACCIÓ, and Xavier Aldeguer, general director of the Knowledge Society, Transfer and Territory of the Generalitat de Catalunya. The meeting was a good opportunity to interact in person with all the partners of the consortium and establish the first collaborative activities to guarantee a good planning of the progress of the project.
global health problem
The NABIHEAL project wants to advance the synthesis of advanced biomaterials as an alternative to the commonly used silver-based materials. “The project will work on the production of multifunctional materials for the treatment of complex wound healing, which has become a global health problem. For example, in developed countries it affects the quality of life of more than 2% of the population”, says Nora Ventosa, project coordinator.
Complex wounds, such as chronic ones, are very susceptible to microbial infection and the formation of biofilms, which are difficult to treat. The most common antimicrobial products to treat these infections are based on silver. However, they present various economic, environmental and safety drawbacks. The biomaterials developed in the framework of the NABIHEAL project will offer a safer, more sustainable and profitable alternative.
The project wants to obtain innovative multifunctional biomaterials for wound healing using affordable EU-based manufacturing technologies. The UGR researchers will collaborate by contributing their knowledge in the manufacture and 3D bioprinting of human skin models based on components of the matrix of each of the layers of the skin.
The matrices and hydrogels that will be contributed to the project are described in the patents P202230432: "Hydrogels for use in skin tissue engineering", the result of the collaboration of the UGR with the company Bioibérica SA, and P202130097: "Hydrogel based on decellularized extracellular matrix and its uses”. “These bio-inks and biocompatible matrices generated at the UGR, together with the rest of the contributions from the partners, will make it possible to obtain various therapeutic products with antibacterial and regenerative properties ready for testing in patients affected by these complex skin wounds” affirms Juan Antonio Marchal. In the long term, NABIHEAL could become a revolutionary alternative to silver in wound healing dressings.
international consortium
The objectives of the project will be addressed by an interdisciplinary consortium of 7 countries, which combines specialized knowledge in different areas, such as synthesis and characterization of biomaterials, biocompatibility and safety, regulatory aspects and ethics, or development and scaling of products for wound healing. “We are excited about the launch of this project, in which 8 academic institutions and 6 private companies will join forces to tackle the challenging problem of treating complex wounds”, adds Professor Ventosa.
In addition to the University of Granada, the international consortium is made up of the following centers and companies: on the Spanish side, the Center for Networked Biomedical Research (CIBER) of the Barcelona Institute of Materials Science (ICMAB), as coordinator, the Network Biomedical Research Center (CIBER) of the University of Extremadura and the University of Cantabria, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Nanomol Technologies SL (NT), Bioiberica SAU (BIO), Histocell S. L (HCELL) and Asphalion (ASPH); from Germany, MyBiotech GmbH (MyB) and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin (CH); from Croatia, the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health (IMI); from Denmark, the University of Aarhus (AU); from Israel, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (IT); from Austria, BioNanoNet Forschungsgesellschaft mbH (BNN); and from Slovenia, the University of Maribor (UM).