Cic Biogune

What Cic Biogune does

CIC bioGUNE is a non-profit research association (Asociación) founded in 2003 and headquartered in Derio, Basque Country, Spain, operating at the interface of chemistry, structural and molecular biology, and biomedicine. It functions as a translational biosciences research institute, generating knowledge, IP, and spin-off companies rather than commercial products, and serves academic, hospital, and pharmaceutical R&D customers through service platforms and collaborative research. Core technology infrastructure includes a 600 MHz NMR spectroscopy platform (operated under a Bruker technology partnership), electron microscopy, proteomics, metabolomics (including proprietary 31P-NMR methodology), genome analysis, and an animal facility accredited by AAALAC. The institute holds Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation (renewed 2023-2027), is a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), and maintains ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and ISO 56001 certifications.

The institute's outputs include peer-reviewed research, proprietary software (e-COMETA, ISO 13485-certified for newborn congenital metabolic error diagnosis), and spin-off companies including ATLAS Molecular Pharma (pharmacological chaperones for rare diseases, with Orphan Drug Designation) and Adaptam Therapeutics (cancer immunotherapies, founded 2023). The Scientific Advisory Board includes Nobel Laureate Richard Henderson. Revenue mechanics are not publicly disclosed; the institute appears to operate on a mix of competitive public grants (Spanish national, Basque regional, EU), service contracts (NMR, EM, proteomics, metabolomics, animal facility), and equity/value capture from spin-offs. Customer segments include Spanish hospital networks and international academic collaborators (Imperial College, Cambridge, Lübeck, Vanderbilt, Newcastle, Cedars-Sinai, Murdoch, University of Florida, Washington University, Milan).

Name

Cic Biogune

Legal name

ASOCIACIÓN CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIÓN COOPERATIVA EN BIOCIENCIAS – CIC bioGUNE

Website

https://cicbiogune.es

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

CIC bioGUNE is a non-profit biosciences research institute in Derio, Spain, operating NMR, electron microscopy, proteomics, metabolomics, and animal facility platforms. It serves academic, hospital, and pharmaceutical R&D customers through service contracts and collaborative research, and translates discoveries into spin-off companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Bioscience Research Services

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Clinical Research & Trial Central Laboratories (HLAFAMAL)

Keywords

• Bioscience research services
• Metabolomics platform
• NMR spectroscopy
• Proteomics analysis
• Electron microscopy

Headquarters

HQ city

Derio

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CIC bioGUNE is a non-profit bioscience research center that provides fee-based analytical and research services through six core technology platforms: Electron Microscopy and Crystallography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Metabolomics, Proteomics, Genome Analysis, and an Animal Facility. It also develops certified medical software (e-COMETA) and licenses proprietary therapeutics such as pharmacological chaperones for rare diseases.

Product overview

CIC bioGUNE is a Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences providing research services through six core technology platforms (Electron Microscopy and Crystallography, NMR, Proteomics, Metabolomics, Genome Analysis, and Animal Facility). The center also develops and manufactures the e-COMETA software for newborn congenital metabolic error diagnosis, and has spun off companies including ATLAS Molecular Pharma (pharmacological chaperone therapies) and Adaptam Therapeutics (cancer immunotherapies).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• e-COMETA software ISO 13485:2016-certified software designed, developed, and manufactured to aid in the diagnosis of newborn congenital metabolic errors using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis. Supports early detection of congenital metabolic disorders in the earliest stages of life. Built by the Precision Medicine and Metabolism Lab led by Óscar Millet.
• Technology Platforms — Electron Microscopy, NMR, Proteomics, Metabolomics, Genome Analysis Six core technology platforms providing fee-based analytical research services to external academic institutions, hospitals, and industry clients. Includes: Electron Microscopy and Crystallography (transmission electron microscopes for sub-nm 3D reconstruction); NMR (IVDr 600 MHz spectrometers); Proteomics; Metabolomics (population-scale profiling of 10,000+ individuals); Genome Analysis; and an Animal Facility. Services governed by General Terms and Conditions of Sale.
• Animal Facility AAALAC International-accredited animal research facility supporting in vivo studies for the center's research programs, providing humane care and use of animals in research.
• Pharmacological Chaperone for Congenital Erythropoietic Porphyria Out-licensable therapeutic compound identified by the Precision Medicine and Metabolism Lab for treating congenital erythropoietic porphyria, a disorder of the heme biosynthetic pathway. Has received Orphan Drug Designation status. Further developed commercially through the spin-off ATLAS Molecular Pharma.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Adaptam TherapeuticscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 October 2025Adaptam Therapeutics was founded in 2023 as a spin-out from CIC bioGUNE. The company focuses on developing cancer immunotherapies targeting immunosuppressive myeloid cells, with particular emphasis on glyco-immune checkpoint modulation for solid tumors. The spin-off is advancing antibody-based therapies including ADCs and bispecific antibodies.
• ATLAS Molecular PharmacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpin-off company created from CIC bioGUNE's Precision Medicine and Metabolism Lab. The company is developing pharmacological chaperones for rare diseases, including a treatment for congenital erythropoietic porphyria that has received Orphan Drug Designation status.
• Murdoch University (Jeremy Nicholson & Julien Wist)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational research collaboration in metabolomics and NMR spectroscopy applications for precision medicine.
• Lübeck University (Ulrich Guenther)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration in NMR spectroscopy and metabolomics methodologies.
• Vanderbilt University (Simon Mallal & Markus Voehler)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational collaboration in NMR spectroscopy and metabolomics research.
• Imperial College London (Gary Frost & Elaine Holmes)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration in metabolomics and metabolic research for precision medicine applications.
• Bruker (Manfred Spraul & Harmut Schaeffer)majorTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partnership with Bruker for NMR spectroscopy equipment and methodologies, including IVDr 600 MHz spectrometers.
• Newcastle University (Quentin Anstee)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration in liver disease research and metabolomics applications.
• Cedars Sinai (Shelly Lu & Mazen Noureddin)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational research collaboration in liver disease and metabolism research.
• University of Florida (Kenneth Cusi)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolomics.
• Washington University (Nicholas Davidson)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational collaboration in liver metabolism and metabolic disease research.
• Cambridge University (Toni Vidal)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration in metabolic research and precision medicine.
• University of Milan (Luca Valenti)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration in metabolic liver disease research.
• Hospital Network CollaborationsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborations with multiple Spanish hospitals including Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Hospital de Basurto, Hospital de Galdakao, Hospital de Txagorritxu, Hospital Príncipe de Asturias, and Hospital Valme for clinical research translation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG): Barcelona-based international life sciences research institute with genome analysis, proteomics, and advanced microscopy platforms. Direct peer given overlapping omics platforms, biomedical research mandate, and similar public-grant funding structure in the Spanish research ecosystem.
• CIC nanoGUNE: Sister Basque cooperative research center also under BRTA, focused on nanoscience and nanotechnology with electron microscopy capabilities. Direct peer given shared institutional structure, BRTA membership, and electron microscopy platform overlap.
• Helmholtz Munich: German research center with internationally recognized metabolomics and NMR capabilities for population-level health research. Direct peer given strong overlap with CIC bioGUNE's metabolomics, NMR platform, and biomarker discovery mandate.
• Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry: Leading German research institute with deep NMR spectroscopy and structural biology expertise (Christian Griesinger, SAB member at CIC bioGUNE). Direct peer for NMR methodology development and biophysical chemistry research.
• CIC bioMAGUNE: Sister Basque Country cooperative research center also operating under the BRTA umbrella, specializing in molecular imaging and NMR-related biomedical research. Directly comparable as a peer non-profit research institute in the same regional science and technology park ecosystem with overlapping NMR and structural biology capabilities.
• IRB Barcelona: Spanish non-profit biomedical research institute conducting frontier research in molecular and cellular biology, with similar size, talent composition, and public grant funding model. Direct peer given comparable research mandate, technology platform strategy, and Severo Ochoa-tier status in Spain.
• Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO): Spain's leading national cancer research center, also a peer on the CIC bioGUNE Scientific Advisory Board (Dr. Marisol Soengas). Direct peer in life sciences research with comparable Severo Ochoa-tier recognition and a strong spin-off / industry translation track record.

Broad incumbents

• European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL): Pan-European intergovernmental life sciences research organization with multi-site operations and broader scope covering structural biology, genomics, and chemical biology. Larger and broader incumbent operating in adjacent scientific domains with overlapping technology platforms.
• Francis Crick Institute: Large UK biomedical discovery institute with broad research programs across cancer, immunology, neuroscience, and structural biology. Larger incumbent peer given comparable research mandate, technology platform focus, and public-grant-backed operating model.

Emerging players

• Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) Mainz: German research institute focused on epigenetics, DNA repair, and quantitative proteomics with advanced genomics and proteomics platforms. Emerging player peer with overlapping life science research mandate and technology platform focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cicbiogune

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Cic Biogune