The CDTI Innovation has allocated more than 230 million euros since 2018 to R&D projects to advance the fight against cancer

Cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and a major health challenge that requires technological responses based on innovation. R&D&I research is essential to advance the prevention, early detection and effective treatment of this disease.

Aware of this challenge, since 2018 the CDTI Innovation has allocated more than 230 million euros to the financing of about 300 business R+D+i projects related to the fight against cancer, promoting that Spanish companies develop technologies with clinical, social and economic impact.

Among these projects are solutions with a high impact potential. This is the case, for example, of Protein Alternatives, which develops a test for the detection of lung cancer from saliva or blood samples; of Zataca Systems, which works on artificial thermal vision technology and machine learning for the detection of breast cancer; or of MiMARK Diagnostics, a company that develops an innovative device to improve diagnostic efficiency in high-risk women and optimize clinical flow in the detection of endometrial cancer, contributing to more accurate and early diagnostics.

Beyond business initiatives, the CDTI Innovation also participates in projects of high technological complexity, such as the development of the first hadrontherapy research infrastructure in Spain, based on a compact linear carbon ion accelerator, with an investment of 21.8 million euros. This cutting-edge therapeutic technology presents a high potential for the treatment of certain types of cancer through high-precision therapies.

In addition, the CDTI Innovation promotes advanced health technologies through risk capital-based financing instruments, such as the INNVIERTE program, aimed at promoting business innovation by supporting investment in technology-based or innovative companies. A recent example is the co-investment in the company Ona Therapeutics, dedicated to the development of innovative therapies for the treatment of advanced cancer through antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

With these actions, the CDTI Innovation reinforces its commitment to the promotion of technologies of high social and health impact, channeling public resources so that Spanish companies transform scientific knowledge into effective clinical and commercial solutions, accelerate the transfer of knowledge to the market and contribute to the development of disruptive solutions against cancer, in line with the priorities of the Spanish system of science, technology and innovation.