Navarre will invest €2.5 million in 2027 to become a leading European hub for synthetic biology and biotechnology.
The Government of Navarre has authorized, at today’s meeting, an investment of €2.5 million to strengthen the capabilities of the IRIS Hub, with the aim of creating a next-generation biofoundry (automated biomanufacturing facility) that will position Navarre as an international leader at the forefront of synthetic biology and biotechnology. This equipment will be installed both at the IRIS Hub headquarters in Sario and at Navarrabiomed.
“From the Department of University, Innovation and Digital Transformation, we are taking decisive steps to promote Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology, and we are doing so with a concrete budget commitment such as the one we are presenting at today’s meeting. For us, Synthetic Biology is a field destined to play a key role in Navarre’s economic and industrial development in the coming years,” explained Minister García.
Navarre, an international leader in synthetic biology
A biofoundry is a centralized facility that uses robotic automation, artificial intelligence and synthetic biology to design, build and test biological systems at high speed. All of this is aimed at providing industrial solutions in the fields of biotechnology, healthcare and agri-food.
In the case of Navarre, these infrastructures are being incorporated within the framework of the Navarra Digital Innovation Hub (IRIS Hub), managed by Nasertic. The new equipment will be installed at the IRIS Hub headquarters in Sario and at the biomedical research centre Navarrabiomed, which will receive the necessary investments to make a qualitative leap in their scientific and technological capabilities.
These investments form part of the activities included in the IRIS Navarra Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology Master Plan, promoted by the Government of Navarre, in which Nasertic and CIMA are key stakeholders. “This boost we want to give to the Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology strategy means that Navarre aspires to become the first Spanish biofoundry recognized at the national level, placing the region at the forefront of synthetic biology and advanced biotechnology in Europe,” García emphasized.
Investments in 2026 and 2027
In the case of the IRIS Hub, plans have been made to strengthen its capabilities in synthetic biology and biotechnology through the incorporation of new systems that improve automation and expand the scope of scientific and industrial applications.
This initiative will be accompanied by the renewal and expansion of the computing infrastructure and the incorporation of an advanced robotics system. The former will enable the management and exploitation of large volumes of data, while the latter will facilitate the automation of experimental processes and the study of the interaction between artificial intelligence and physical systems.
For its part, Navarrabiomed will install an advanced proteomics platform capable of carrying out proteome analyses that are currently not available with existing technology. Proteomics is the large-scale study of the proteome, which is the complete set of proteins produced or modified by a cell, tissue or organism at a specific time and under specific conditions.
About IRIS Navarra Hub
The IRIS Navarra Innovation Hub is an initiative promoted by the Government of Navarre and managed by the public company NASERTIC. IRIS Navarra brings together the 40 most relevant public-private entities in Navarre’s innovation ecosystem and serves as a one-stop shop for digital transformation in the region. It is a leading space for supporting, guiding and advising companies, professionals and the general public on their innovation and digital transformation projects.
The best way to discover all its services is by visiting its catalogue or contacting the Hub team directly.
Source: navarra.es
