FUNDACION PUBLICA GALEGA DE INVESTIGACION BIOMEDICA INIBIC

Their core work

INIBIC is a public biomedical research foundation based in A Coruña, Galicia, serving as the research arm of the regional hospital system. Their work spans infectious disease biology — particularly bacteriophage-based alternatives to antibiotics — and inflammatory disease therapeutics targeting cellular communication pathways (pannexins and connexins). They also contributed to Europe's COVID-19 vaccine trial infrastructure as a clinical trial site. Their strength lies in translating microbiology and molecular biology insights into potential therapeutic strategies.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

INIBIC's early H2020 work (2019-2020) focused on fundamental microbiology — Salmonella genomics, bacteriophage defence systems, and cellular communication mechanisms in inflammation. Their later activity (2021) shifted toward pandemic response and public engagement, joining the VACCELERATE vaccine trial network and participating in science outreach (G-NIGHT). This trajectory suggests a research centre moving from bench-level discovery toward clinical translation and broader health system contributions.

INIBIC appears to be expanding from basic biomedical research into clinical trial participation and health system readiness, making them increasingly relevant for translational medicine and infectious disease preparedness consortia.

How they like to work

INIBIC operates primarily as a contributing partner rather than a consortium leader — they coordinated just one of four projects (SaPhaDe, an MSCA fellowship). Their involvement as a third party in VACCELERATE suggests they serve as a clinical or technical resource that larger consortia draw upon. With 45 unique partners across 24 countries from only 4 projects, they connect into broad European networks rather than working in tight, repeated clusters.

Despite a small project portfolio, INIBIC has built a surprisingly wide network of 45 partners across 24 countries, largely through participation in large-scale health consortia like VACCELERATE and PANACHE. Their geographic reach is pan-European with no strong bilateral concentration.

What sets them apart

INIBIC brings a rare combination of phage biology expertise and clinical trial site capacity within a single institution — valuable for anyone developing antimicrobial alternatives that need a path from lab to patient. As a hospital-affiliated research foundation in Galicia, they offer access to the Spanish clinical landscape outside the Madrid-Barcelona axis. Their dual capability in bioinformatics-driven discovery and in vivo/clinical validation makes them a practical partner for translational infectious disease projects.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SaPhaDe
  Their only coordinated project — an MSCA fellowship investigating Salmonella phage defences, signalling genuine in-house leadership in bacteriophage research.
• PANACHE
  Their largest funded involvement (EUR 353K) in a multi-partner effort developing next-generation therapeutics for inflammatory diseases via pannexin/connexin modulation.
• VACCELERATE
  Participation in this major pan-European COVID-19 vaccine trial platform (as third party) demonstrates clinical trial site capability and pandemic response readiness.