#NewAseBioMember | “AseBio is the perfect platform for company collaboration, research synergies, agreements and potential investment”

AseBio. What does your company's work bring to the table and what is its strength?

Mercedes Iriarte. Copal Scientific is a company with a particular business model. We make basic applied research to achieve new products or devices. Our goal is patent or industrial secrecy, to sell this knowledge and keep on going on new projects. Our strength is our objective: biotech basic research.

The alma mater of Copal Scientific is research in human and animal welfare and environment conservation. We develop antimicrobial bioproducts, nanotechnology applied to biosensors for ultralow detection, and new bio-friendly materials. We work in a Technological Center with three chemical laboratories, one of physics, and equipment of AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) Bruker, Raman Renishaw Invia, UV-VIS-NIR Shimadzu, fluorimeter, etc.

We work in our projects and for third companies, making basic applied research where other companies or foundations do not do it, because of a lack of qualified professionals or scientific facilities, or because is more profitable for them. With these third companies we stablish agreements for the intellectual properties or industrial secrecy.

AseBio. What is AseBio for you?

Mercedes Iriarte. AseBio is the perfect platform for company collaboration, research synergies, agreements and potential investment. Besides, we have the opportunity to disseminate our projects and make them available, and, thus, find professional to collaborate with.

AseBio. When did you first hear about AseBio?

Mercedes Iriarte. In the FPCM,Fundación Parque Científico de Madrid, through Carmen Gilabert, Responsible of Communication of the Foundation. She told us about the association as an excellent platform for partnerships, information, and communication.

AseBio. What do you expect from being part of an association like AseBio?

Mercedes Iriarte. Find and collaborate with a professional network of companies and professionals to work with in combined projects, share knowledge and get in touch with investors interested in biotechnology for our patents or industrial secrecy. We would like also to offer our capabilities to other companies interested in basic research.

AseBio. What is the biggest challenge facing the biotech sector (or your company)?

Mercedes Iriarte. There are few challenges in the biotech sector, but preventive medicine seems a great challenge to solve with huge benefits for human and animal welfare. Early-stage detection of aggressive diseases with biosensors or the prevention of fungi infections, which effects can be very hazardous, seems to us two important issues to deal with, where Copal is addressing now.