“The way to defend this heritage [Unicamp] is to make it serve people”, argued the rector of Unicamp, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, on a visit to one of the Embrapii (Brazilian Industrial Research and Innovation Company) units of the University, the Center for Medicinal Chemistry (CQMED). The visit took place last Tuesday afternoon (20) and the aim was to understand how an Embrapii unit works and how this type of institution attracts partnerships with the private sector. Embrapii units are research institutions accredited to establish partnerships with the industrial sector aiming to develop technological innovations.
“In Embrapii's financing model, all parties share resources, research and development activities and the risk inherent in the pre-competitive phase of innovation”, explains Katlin Massirer, coordinator of Cqmed. The objective is to encourage the industrial sector to innovate more and with greater technological intensity in order to enhance the competitive strength of companies both in the domestic and international markets.
CQMED is a laboratory linked to the Center for Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering (CBMEG) and also has the participation of professors Mario Bengtson and Fábio Papes, from the Institute of Biology (IB). The center's purpose is to understand how proteins related to human diseases work and find molecules with the potential to become new medicines. The center also develops biotechnologies and diagnostics based on protein production.
One of the examples presented during the visit was the mobilization that took place at CQMED in order to meet the national demand for supplies for saliva testing during the covid-19 pandemic. “We developed the test protein production protocol, produced the inputs and taught the company how to apply it, all this when the country was experiencing a lack of these inputs, during the pandemic”, explained Massirer. Another project related to public health is a new remote diagnosis technology for diseases such as dengue and chikungunya. “We are improving the diagnosis so that the company's equipment can read the tests with the reagents we developed”, explained the Cqmed coordinator. As soon as the equipment is ready to be used, the user will receive the laboratory report within 30 minutes, in any part of the country with internet access.
Furthermore, Meirelles learned about the process of investigating proteins related to human diseases – such as cancer and leishmaniasis – and the challenges involved in searching for and improving molecules that could become medicines.
CQMED was created in 2015 through a partnership with an international consortium that works to search for molecules to treat little-known diseases. In 2017, the Center became accredited as an Embrapii unit to facilitate partnerships with companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector and, in the same year, it became part of the INCTs (National Institutes of Science and Technology) program to advance the celebration of partnerships with other national and international research institutions.
To manage the entire research infrastructure and the management of approximately 30 people, including researchers, post-doctoral students, doctoral students, master's students and technicians, CQMED created its own team. The institute currently has a professional dedicated to prospecting new partnerships. There is a project and laboratory management area that covers the monitoring of agreements, the human resources and mixed financial resources sectors (public and private) and the purchasing and inventory control sector. The information technology area is responsible for the server infrastructure, backup, support and software. In addition, there is a communication area that develops scientific dissemination activities for different audiences.
For Meirelles, the big challenge is to disseminate experiences like those of CQMED. And not just at Unicamp, but at all universities, as a way to accelerate the innovation process, he added. One of the horizons highlighted by the rector is the HIDS project, which currently involves 14 institutions and has the support of the City of Campinas. “The idea is to create an innovation district, that is, to unite the university with the company. It is to create a hub that is focused on the issue of quickly transforming science and technology into innovation,” he added.
