Thanks to its development of a biosensor to detect sulphites in shellfish, Biolan will be one of the 42 European SMEs to obtain funding, chosen from hundreds of candidates.

The European Commission backs a project by Biolan, a Basque Biosensor Company, for its high level of innovation.

The European Commission has reaffirmed its commitment to BIOLAN, the biosensor company located in the Zamudio Technology Park, thanks to the backing that places it among the leading innovative companies in Europe. Biolan has been selected during the process to approve Phase 2 of the SEM Instrument of the SO2SAFE projects. The highly competitive SME Instrument Programme, which is part of the European H2020 strategy, seeks to back SMEs with a high level of innovation and great potential for growth.    

The SO2SAFE project, which had already been previously funded in Phase 1 of that Programme, was awarded an excellent score (14.48 points/15 points) yet again.  The impact, excellence and quality of the project was particularly rated in a selection process with a high level of requirements and expertise among the entries.

In this latest call of the Programme only 42 out of the 614 entries in Phase 2 have obtained funding, 7 of which were Spanish companies and 2 specifically from the Basque Country, one of which is BIOLAN.

This recognition of BIOLAN is even more important as it was the only biotechnology company, out of the 14 projects entered, to obtaining funding in this latest call in the  “BIOTEC-5b-2015 – SME boosting biotechnology-based industrial processes driving competitiveness and sustainability” area, which positions it as one of the leading companies in the market in terms of competitiveness and technological differentiation.  

SO2SAFE aims to develop a new miniaturised biosensor based on pre-calibrated and disposable electrodes to rapid detect sulphites in shellfish, along with its advanced manufacturing to be able to meet a market demand that is forecast to be very high. This biosensor will be a user-friendly, accurate and quick analysis tool, which will offer an alternative to the conventional methods to analyse sulphites in shellfish. 

From now and until September 2017, BIOLAN  will face the challenges of meeting the targets set within SO2SAFE and thus consolidate business growth based on a strong technological innovation company that that company has always implemented since it was set up.

The European Commission’s continued support for the SO2SAFE project is going to help BIOLAN to embark on a new generation of advanced products that are high-tech but which will meet the real needs of the customer.  This is going to consolidate the company as a benchmark of the biotechnology industry focused on the world agri-food sector.

The implementation of SO2SAFE will lead to important growth for the company, in terms of job creation and growing the business.