The Institute for Research in Biomedicine ( "http://www.irbbarcelona.org/index.php/en" IRB Barcelona) and the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) have signed a collaboration agreement for the development and implementation of projects in oriented basic research and translational investigation, as well as the subsequent commercial exploitation of the results that may be generated. This three-year extendable contract has been signed today by IRB director Dr. Joan J. Guinovart and VHIR director Dr. Joan X. Comella. The joint project will involve establishing collaboration strategies for specific areas of interest for the groups working at these two biomedical research centres of excellence, both recognised by the CERCA Institution. The final goal of this alliance is to translate knowledge and breakthroughs produced in the lab to the patient, especially by promoting the commercialization of the results generated by this collaboration agreement. The agreement also envisages the development of a plan for the clinical evaluation and assessment of projects that come about at IRB, a shared training programme, and the organisation of scientific sessions and exchanges. In addition, the two centres will follow the recommendations of the new EU Framework Programme for Research and innovation Horizon2020, as the agreement contemplates the presentation of joint applications for European projects. For the director of VHIR, Dr. Joan X. Comella, these kinds of alliance “are initiatives that the national biomedical sector seeks to promote in order to tackle current and future challenges, as they are essential for the development of a new model of sustainability and scientific collaboration that generates wealth, innovation and applied answers to the health challenges faced by society”.The director of IRB, Dr. Joan J. Guinovart, states that “this is the direction we have to take in order to make research performed in Catalonia, and especially biomedical research in Barcelona, an international reference. Partnerships between basic research institutes and hospital research centres are crucial to boost the area of Barcelona as a biomedical hub. Together we will be stronger and more competitive”.Three examples of IRB-VHIR collaborationOne of the collaboration projects currently underway—which has been running for 6 months—is headed by Dr. Salvador Aznar Benitah, ICREA researcher and head of the Stem Cell and Cancer Group at IRB. This line of research seeks to identify and characterize the cells that trigger metastasis in squamous cells of oral cancer. The research, which has been funded by the last campaign of the “La Marató de TV3”, will be done over three years using tumour samples from patients treated in the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and in collaboration with the Biobank of this same hospital. Furthermore, the Metabolic Engineering and Diabetes Group, headed by Dr. Guinovart at IRB Barcelona, collaborates in two projects undertaken by VHIR. The first, a study coordinated by Dr. Tomàs Pinós, researcher with the Neuromuscular and Mitochondrial Pathology Group, seeks to enhance the muscular phenotype of mice with McArdle disease. The VHIR provides this group of mice and the knowledge on the pathology, while IRB Barcelona contributes glycogen synthase-deficient mice and the expertise on its related diseases. The second project, led by Dr. Rafael Simó, head of the Diabetes and Metabolism Group at VHIR, has, for the last two years, studied the mechanisms that cause diabetic retinopathy, especially the role of glycogen accumulation.