Sabadell Assegurances grants €75,000 to 9 biobanks in Catalonia to further Covid-19 research
Sabadell Assegurances has donated €75,000 to help fund the technological infrastructure needed to do scientific research to find a Covid-19 vaccine. The donation will allow 9 Catalan biobanks to get equipment like special freezers or liquid nitrogen tanks, to store samples used to research the pandemic.
The Catalan Ministry of Health Department of Research and Innovation (DGRIS), in collaboration with Biocat, established the criteria for the donations and advised Sabadell Assegurances on the operation in order to support the facilities that need it the most. The Catalan Ministry of Health helped process the donation, through individual agreements between Sabadell Assegurances and each research institute.
Director of BancSabadell Seguros Claudio Chiesa affirmed, “This is an initiative we are proud to be part of because it will have an impact not only nationally, but globally. For the first time ever, information from every biobank in the world is being shared and scientists are working on the data together to stop this pandemic. And that’s not all. These biobanks will continue to be extremely useful in the future to help research other diseases, like cancer, and tackle new ones that may arise, like Covid-19.”
Increased demand for Covid-19 research facilities
Right now, Catalonia is carrying out dozens of research projects and clinical trials, which is why demand is expected to rise for the machinery biobanks use to store biological samples correctly and ensure they are properly managed and traceable. With the Sabadell Assegurances donation, the 9 biobanks will be able to acquire special freezers that keep samples at -80°C, liquid nitrogen tanks and centrifuges to process the samples.
This investment will allow the biobanks to not only cover the needs generated by this pandemic, but also facilitate the centers’ research into future pandemics and other medical needs in the middle and long term.
The biobanks that will receive the donations are at research centers located throughout Catalonia and belong to IRISCAT (Health Research and Innovation Institutes of Catalonia), a strategic alliance promoted by the Catalan Ministry of Health to consolidate and boost research at Catalan public centers. Specifically, the centers receiving donations are: Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), Institute for Health Science Research Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida (IRBLleida), Pere Virgili Institute (IISPV), Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IdiBGi) August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (IR Sant Pau) and Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM).
