INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA EXPERIMENTAL E TECNOLOGICA

Their core work

iBET is a Portuguese biotech research institute specializing in bioprocess engineering, biopharmaceutical production, and downstream processing technologies. They develop manufacturing processes for vaccines, gene therapies, and therapeutic proteins, while also maintaining strong capabilities in environmental biotechnology — particularly wastewater valorization and resource recovery. Their work bridges the gap between lab-scale biological discoveries and industrial-scale production, making them a go-to partner for scaling up bio-based products from pharmaceuticals to bioplastics.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2015–2018), iBET focused heavily on environmental biotechnology — wastewater treatment, resource recovery, and bioinformatics infrastructure — alongside foundational bioprocess work. From 2019 onward, the portfolio shifted decisively toward health and biopharmaceuticals: gene therapy, cell therapy, vaccine production, protein engineering, and advanced therapeutic manufacturing became dominant themes. This mirrors a broader European trend toward advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), and positions iBET as an increasingly health-focused bioprocess partner.

iBET is transitioning from a generalist biotech institute toward a specialized biopharmaceutical manufacturing hub, with growing depth in gene/cell therapy production and vaccine process development.

How they like to work

iBET overwhelmingly operates as a consortium participant (22 of 24 projects), contributing specialist bioprocess and production capabilities rather than leading projects. With 346 unique partners across 34 countries, they function as a highly connected node — a "go-to" partner that many different consortia invite for their manufacturing and scale-up expertise. Their single coordinated project (DiViNe) was directly in their core competency of vaccine downstream processing, suggesting they prefer to lead only where they hold deep domain ownership.

iBET has collaborated with 346 unique partners across 34 countries, giving them one of the broadest partner networks for a Portuguese research institute. Their reach spans all major EU research nations with no obvious geographic concentration beyond the typical Western European core.

What sets them apart

iBET occupies a rare niche as a research institute classified as an SME, combining academic-level scientific depth with the agility and applied focus of a small organization. Their core differentiator is end-to-end bioprocess capability — from upstream cell culture to downstream purification — for high-value biological products like vaccines, gene therapies, and recombinant proteins. For consortium builders, iBET offers a production-oriented partner that can bridge the gap between university discoveries and industrial manufacturing, something many academic partners cannot provide.

Highlights from their portfolio

• DiViNe
  iBET's only coordinated project and largest single grant (EUR 1.66M), focused on their core strength: nanobiotechnology-enhanced vaccine downstream processing.
• TRANSVAC2
  Major European vaccine R&D infrastructure project (EUR 917K to iBET), positioning them as a recognized node in Europe's vaccine development ecosystem.
• ARDAT
  Signals iBET's strategic pivot into advanced therapies (gene/cell therapy), a high-growth sector where their bioprocess expertise is directly transferable.