What Fundación Pablo Cassará does

Fundación Pablo Cassará is a private nonprofit scientific research foundation headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, founded in 1984-1985, with 51-100 employees. The foundation operates a multi-disciplinary biotechnology R&D platform covering vaccine development, advanced therapies, biofarmaceuticals, and plant biotechnology, serving pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, and government agencies both domestically and internationally. It coordinates a network of 600+ professionals across 24 public and private institutions through its co-hosted ICT Milstein institute and long-standing partnership with CONICET, Argentina's main scientific research agency. The foundation is closely affiliated with Laboratorio Pablo Cassará, which handles industrial-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing.

The foundation's flagship product is ARVAC Cecilia Grierson, a recombinant protein bivalent COVID-19 vaccine that became the first vaccine fully developed and produced in Argentina to receive ANMAT approval in October 2023. Underlying technology platforms include Vero cell-based viral vaccine production, MVA recombinant virus technology, recombinant protein technology (similar to HPV and Hepatitis B vaccine approaches) with the ability to update against new variants within approximately four months, tissue engineering for skin substitutes targeting difficult-to-heal wounds, plant micropropagation for native species environmental restoration, and an oligonucleotide therapy for chronic pain in preclinical development. GMP-certified manufacturing infrastructure delivers capacity for up to 5 million monthly vaccine doses through the affiliated Laboratorio Cassará.

Revenue is generated through a mix of scientific services fees, technology transfer, grant funding (notably €8.4 million from the European Union for the CRUZIVAX Chagas disease vaccine project in 2023), and licensing arrangements with affiliated pharmaceutical and biotech entities. Pricing is negotiated directly with institutional clients and not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market model is institutional and partnership-driven rather than commercial sales-led, with distribution channels routed through government agencies, research consortia, and pharmaceutical partnerships. Planned regional expansion includes ARVAC export to Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Chile, and Uruguay, with potential inclusion in the PAHO Revolving Fund.

Name

Fundación Pablo Cassará

Legal name

Fundación Pablo Cassará

Website

https://fundacioncassara.org.ar

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Fundación Pablo Cassará is an Argentine nonprofit scientific research foundation that develops vaccines, advanced therapies, biofarmaceuticals, and plant biotechnology. It serves pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, and government agencies, operating GMP-certified manufacturing through affiliated Laboratorio Pablo Cassará.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biotechnology Research and Vaccine Development

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Infectious Disease & Pandemic Preparedness Vaccines (emerging pathogens) (HLAAAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Vaccine Clinical Development & Regulatory Affairs (HLAIAEAM), Travel & Tropical Disease Vaccines (HLAIAEAE)

Keywords

• Biotechnology research
• Vaccine development
• Advanced therapies
• Scientific services
• Tissue engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Buenos Aires

HQ country

Argentina

HQ region

Latin America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Scientific services: Providing research services and technological services of high added value to international institutions in medical and biological sciences
2. Vaccine development services: Services covering different stages of vaccine development from design, production and quality control to other biotech companies and institutions
3. Industrial scale-up and manufacturing: Partnership with Laboratorio Cassará for industrial scaling of biotech products including vaccines, with capacity to produce for local and international markets

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Fundación Pablo Cassará is a scientific research foundation dedicated to biotechnology R&D in medical and biological sciences. It develops viral vaccines (including the ARVAC Cecilia Grierson COVID-19 vaccine), advanced tissue-engineering therapies (skin substitutes), biopharmaceutical production, and plant micropropagation, while providing GMP-standard scientific services — cell/viral bank preparation, analytical development, technology transfer, and production processes — to international research institutions and pharmaceutical companies.

Product overview

Fundación Pablo Cassará is a scientific research foundation focused on medical and biological sciences. The organization operates as a multi-product biotechnology research institution with several distinct offerings: (1) ARVAC Cecilia Grierson - a recombinant protein bivalent vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the first vaccine fully developed and produced in Argentina; (2) Viral Vaccines - human and veterinary vaccine development including rabies vaccine using Vero cell platforms; (3) Biofármacos - cellular substrate and bioprocess development for biological products; (4) Scientific Services - comprehensive vaccine development services including cell/viral banks, analytical development, training, and production; (5) Advanced Therapies - tissue engineering for skin substitutes; (6) Micropropagación Vegetal - plant biotechnology for native species restoration; (7) Iota-Carrageenan Nasal Spray - respiratory virus prevention product. Key institutional partners include ICT Milstein (CONICET-FPC), CIRES respiratory research center, and collaboration with UNSAM, CONICET, and Laboratorio Pablo Cassará.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ARVAC Cecilia Grierson Vaccine Bivalent recombinant protein vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the first vaccine fully developed and produced in Argentina. Designed as a booster dose for already-immunized adults over 18, with capability to be updated against new virus variants within approximately four months.
• Viral Vaccines R&D Research and development of human and veterinary viral vaccines using modern biotechnology tools, including rabies and Babesiosis vaccines, plus platforms based on Vero cells and MVA recombinant virus technologies. Targets pharmaceutical companies and animal health firms.
• Advanced Therapies (Tissue Engineering) Development of tissue substitutes using tissue engineering techniques that combine patient-derived cells with biomaterials. Current focus on skin substitutes for treating difficult-to-heal wounds, burns, and chronic ulcers.
• Scientific Services (Vaccine Development Services) Comprehensive services covering all stages of vaccine development: cell and viral bank preparation and control, cellular derivative elaboration and purification, technical-scientific training, analytical development, technology transfer, and production processes. Delivered under international GMP standards to international institutions and biotech companies.
• Biofármacos (Biopharmaceutical Development) Development of cellular substrates and bioprocesses for the production of biological products, including part of the ARVAC vaccine development collaboration with UNSAM and CONICET.
• Plant Micropropagation (Micropropagación Vegetal) Biotechnological reproduction of plants from minimal plant tissue fractions under sterile conditions. Focused on native plant species of Buenos Aires for urban green-area restoration and environmental restoration of ecoparks and ecological reserves.
• Iota-Carrageenan Nasal Spray Nasal spray containing iota-carrageenan (a polysaccharide from Atlantic red algae) for the prevention of respiratory viruses including SARS-CoV-2. The only product of its kind manufactured in Argentina, with ANMAT approval and no adverse effects.
• Oligonucleotide Therapy for Chronic Pain Synthetic oligonucleotide therapy developed by ICT Milstein researchers for chronic pain treatment. Uses small single-strand DNA fragments to activate cellular immune response mechanisms, producing prolonged analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. In preclinical safety trials and preparing for clinical evaluation.
• Neokit COVID-19 Rapid Test Molecular rapid test for SARS-CoV-2 detection that provides results in less than two hours with sensitivity similar to PCR. Developed by ICT Milstein scientists in partnership with NEOKIT SAS.

Quantifiable outcome

• ARVAC vaccine demonstrated 30x increase in neutralizing antibodies against Omicron and other variants in Phase I clinical trials
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing institutional partnership with CONICET, Argentina's main scientific research agency. Joint hosting of ICT Milstein institute and co-organization of Premio César Milstein. Researchers from CONICET work within Fundación facilities.
• Laboratorio Pablo CassarácoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated pharmaceutical company handling industrial production and scale-up of biotech products. Partner for ARVAC vaccine production with capacity for 5 million monthly doses. Shares management (Jorge Cassará, Jorge Cassará h.) and premises.
• Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey research partner for ARVAC vaccine development. Led by Dra. Juliana Cassataro's team at Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Provided initial vaccine research and development that was later industrialised at Fundación.
• Universidad del Salvador (USAL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through ICT Milstein USAL sede at Instituto de Investigación en Medicina y Ciencias de Salud (IIMCS). Agreement signed between CONICET, FPC and USAL in 2022 to expand research capacity and enable young researchers.
• INTA (Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration in phytopathology research and agricultural biotechnology development. Project with Dra. Silvina Wilkowsky on hemoparasites.
• INBIRS (Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y SIDA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration on nasal spray COVID-19 prevention study, working with Universidad de Buenos Aires researchers.
• SENACYT Panamá (Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint virtual seminar series on Latin American vaccine development experiences. Aimed at sharing knowledge and establishing collaborations between professionals across Latin America.
• Agencia Nacional de Promoción de la Investigación, el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación (Agencia I+D+i)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary government funding agency providing financial support for ARVAC vaccine development and other research projects through MINCyT.
• IIMT (Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration with Universidad Austral on chronic pain treatment through Dr. Marcelo Villar and Dr. Pablo Brumovsky.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bio-Manguinhos / Fiocruz: Brazilian federal immunobiological producer affiliated with the Ministry of Health. Highly comparable as a foundation/government-affiliated entity delivering recombinant and viral vaccines to national and PAHO procurement channels, with similar GMP scale-up partnerships.
• Bavarian Nordic: Danish biotech specializing in MVA-based viral vaccines (JYNNEOS/Imvanex for mpox/smallpox, rabies programs). Closest direct peer to Fundación Cassará's MVA recombinant virus platform, with comparable vaccine development services and government procurement exposure.
• Instituto Butantan: Brazil's premier public vaccine and biopharmaceutical producer, with end-to-end capabilities from R&D through GMP manufacturing. Directly comparable to Fundación Pablo Cassará as a sovereign LatAm vaccine platform, particularly as a fellow producer of viral vaccines (influenza, HPV, dengue) for public health programs.
• Novavax: US biotech built on recombinant protein nanoparticle vaccine technology (NVX-CoV2373 for COVID-19, HPV, influenza). Strongest direct peer to ARVAC's recombinant protein platform, particularly given the shared 4-month variant adaptation model and HPV-style development approach.
• Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología (CIGB): Cuban biotech research institute with full vaccine R&D-to-manufacturing pipeline (Hepatitis B, meningitis, COVID). Highly comparable as a publicly-funded, multi-platform vaccine producer in Latin America serving both national and export markets.

Emerging players

• Biological E. Limited: Indian vaccine and biologics manufacturer producing recombinant and viral vaccines at large scale. Comparable emerging-market peer with a similar platform approach (recombinant protein, viral vaccines) and similar end customers (public immunization programs).
• Bharat Biotech: Indian vaccine manufacturer with a broad portfolio including inactivated, recombinant, and viral-vector platforms (Covaxin, Rotavac, Typbar). Comparable as a multi-platform emerging-market vaccine developer producing for national immunization programs and international procurement.

Regional players

• mAbxience: Argentine biopharmaceutical company developing biosimilars and biologics at GMP scale. Closest regional biotech peer operating in Argentina with similar GMP manufacturing ambitions and bioprocess expertise.
• Sinergium Biotech: Argentine biotech focused on vaccines and biological products for domestic and regional markets. Operates as a direct regional peer in the LatAm vaccine/biologics manufacturing space with similar GMP capabilities.

Others

• Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI): Global partnership funding vaccine development against epidemic threats. Relevant as a potential funding and partnership counterparty for Fundación Cassará's pandemic preparedness vaccine programs (CRUZIVAX, ARVAC platform).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/fundacionpablocassara

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Fundación Pablo Cassará