Bioga and CESGA Unite to Power Galicia’s Biotech Future Through Supercomputing

The Galician biotechnology ecosystem, represented by Bioga, and the Galician Supercomputing Center (CESGA) are strengthening their commitment to high-performance computing to develop the full potential of the biotechnology sector in Galicia and increase its competitive advantages.

The two entities demonstrate their commitment to a “firm and determined collaboration,” which began more than 15 years ago. That was reaffirmed by Bioga’s president, José Manuel López Vilariño, and CESGA’s director, Lois Orosa.

“We are a key and strategic ally for the biotechnology sector, and we work daily to identify needs that help improve its competitiveness,” emphasized the head of CESGA.

“CESGA is a lever of competitiveness for the biotechnology sector ; our collaboration will be key to advancing in a competitive environment with extremely high added value,” added Bioga’s president. Both entities are working to achieve, among other objectives, a reduction in the costs of designing new compounds and a reduction in the time required to find new drugs.

The collaboration between Bioga, an organization with more than 100 partners, and Cesga is presented as fundamental. Both actors are aware of this. Furthermore, this is outlined in the roadmap for the Galician Research and Innovation Plan 2025-2027, presented just a few days ago by the President of the Galician Regional Government, Alfonso Rueda.

In his opinion, “R&D opens doors, provides opportunities, generates peace of mind, wealth, employment, and accelerates the improvement of competitiveness.” The Regional Government’s project identified “biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies” as strategic areas, coinciding with the areas of work of Bioga and Cesga, which are committed to consolidating their ties to strengthen talent, specialization, and the transfer of knowledge to the productive sector.

Bioga: Responsibility and opportunity

The president of Bioga believes that ” it is a responsibility” that the Galician Innovation and Research Plan 2025-2027 “has focused on biotechnology, quantum technologies, and AI .” He considers it a “unique opportunity.” “This strategy is a success because it focuses on life sciences and supercomputing; and because it will help renew and modernize the Galician economy,” adds José Manuel López Vilariño.

Lois Orosa, for her part, pointed out that Cesga is working to meet these plan’s objectives. “We identify needs and move forward to implement new tools and services” that are available to the biotechnology ecosystem. She gives the example of a Data Space Demonstrator specialized in One-Health, which will facilitate the exploitation of information for research in the biomedical field by companies and public agents. Cesga is currently searching for qualified profiles to develop this initiative. She points out that at Bioga “there are companies and projects working in these areas” and that “will be able to work with this new tool.”

400 bioinformatics applications

Luis Orosa pointed out that one of the main focuses of the Galician Supercomputing Center is bioinformatics. “We have more than 400 applications installed in this area; and another 100 related to chemistry and materials,” noted the CEO of Cesga, who estimates that “the life sciences sector consumes around 30% of Cesga’s computing capacity.” “Our commitment to the biotech ecosystem is firm,” noteed the director of the Galician Supercomputing Center.

High-performance computing (HPC) is already an indispensable tool for the Galician biotechnology sector. “It is a fundamental driver for our companies to continue innovating and developing new projects,” says the president of Bioga. But in what practical examples can supercomputing or quantum technology help the biotech ecosystem? Cesga mentions, for example, High-Throughput Virtual Screening (HTVS), Advanced Molecular Modeling and Simulation, Structure-Based Drug Design, Large-Scale Data Analysis for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Bioga and Cesga plan to speed ​​up processes

Lois Orosa, in summary, highlighted that high-performance computing can help the Galician biotechnology ecosystem “drastically accelerate the drug discovery process; reduce research costs; explore new areas; obtain precise information on molecular interactions; predict new properties of compounds at early stages; and facilitate the rational design of compounds and drugs with greater efficacy and safety.” These are just a few examples.

The president of Bioga, for his part, reiterated that there is “enormous potential.” In his opinion, “collaboration between the biotechnology sector and supercomputing is strategic in a society committed to knowledge; and it will continue to grow in the coming years.” José Manuel López Vilariño recalls that “new tools and large databases are now available and accessible to researchers and sectors that were impossible to access just a few years ago.”

“We identify great potential in areas of work that require understanding the behavior of individual molecules in biological environments; therefore, the future of functional food and cosmetics also lies in this area,” noted the president of the Life Sciences Business Technology Cluster, a sector with an annual turnover of more than €1.6 billion and nearly 5,000 direct jobs.

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First published in 21NOTICIAS. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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