The ThermoShot&trade,-FlashShot&trade, project: New technology to combat multiresistant infections or those produced by medical devices that produce biofilms is part of the 23 works selected in the third call of the http://bit.ly/2tmbosK" CaixaImpulse program. It is led by Dr. Joan Gavaldà Santapau, coordinator of the Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory of the http://bit.ly/2sX0nyF Research Group on Infectious Diseases of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) and Assitant Doctor of the http://bit.ly/2tlT56T" Infectious Diseases Service of the Vall d'Hebron Hospital. This Project will receive 70,000 euros of aid to facilitate the transfer of its final technology to the market.ThermoShot&trade,-FlashShot&trade, is a technology tool that does not exist in the clinic and combines nanotechnology, antibiotics and physical-chemical strategies to treat antibiotic-resistant infections and those produced by medical devices."The proof of concept of these technologies have been tested in vitro and are being protected by international patents. They are an innovative technology, easy to apply and with a very competitive cost-effectiveness relationship", explains Dr. Gavaldà. During the duration of the CaixaImpulse Program, the definitive prototypes of industrializable devices will be designed and validated. However, the technology recovery plan will be made in all its aspects.The transfer of this technology to society can reduce costs, morbidity and mortality related to hospital nosocomial infections. It is a technology designed by doctors and for doctors who face this problem every day, and who are urgently looking for a solution for many patients."The strength of the project lies in its multidisciplinary aspect with experts from such diverse areas as nanoscience, engineering of biomaterials and electrochemistry, business and entrepreneurship combined with the integrative medical vision of infectious diseases, microbiology and one of the end users of the product, the orthopaedics," emphasizes Dr. Gavaldà. Led by Dr. Gavaldà the team is made up of Dr. Víctor Puntes, head of the http://bit.ly/2upIFrR CIBBIM-Nanomedicine Pharmacokinetic Nanoparticle Research Group of VHIR, Dr. Pablo Coronas, Deputy Physician of the http://bit.ly/2sWIH6b" Orthopaedic Surgery Department of the Osteoarticular Infection Unit of the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, Santiago Pulido and Marisa Guitart, "business-angel" and entrepreneurs, Dr. Eduard Torrents of IBEC, Dr. Sergi Colominas, Electrochemical engineering of the Sarrià Chemical Institute, and Dr. José María Manero, Biomaterials Engineering and Director of Research and Technology Services at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Infections and antibiotic resistanceResistance to antibiotics is a health and economic threat in the global sphere, with an estimated mortality of 700,000 patients a year worldwide and costs of 1.5 trillion euros per year in Europe. And, what is worse is that we do not have new antibiotics or investments to face this challenge. This kind of antibiotic-resistant infections occur, mainly within the hospital setting. These are the so-called intrahospital infections.Of the people who enter Europe every year in a hospital, about 4 million develop an infection. Many of these hospital-induced infections are associated with invasive medical devices such as catheters, joint prostheses or assisted breathing tubes. These devices are colonized by bacteria that grow up forming biofilms that are very difficult to eradicate. These infections cause about 100,000 deaths in Europe annually and costs to health systems around 4 billion euros annually.ThermoShot&trade,-FlashShot&trade, is a paradigm shift within the treatment of these infections. since so far we only had antibiotics.Third call for the CaixaImpulse ProgramIn the third call of CaixaImpulse, 80 initiatives have been presented, 73 of them from 57 research centres, universities and hospitals in Spain and the other 7 in Portugal.Once the projects are valued, the expert committee has selected 23. Since the launch of the program, in 2015, they have allocated 5.5 million euros and have promoted 58 initiatives, two of which have become spin-offs and five more are under construction.