Rafael Navajo: “The participation of VHIR in the structure of companies derived from its research, development and innovation activity is an essential element to guarantee the sustainability and impact of innovation and technology transfer”.

Rafael Navajo, bachelor’s in computer science and software engineering, with a postgraduate degree in management development from ESADE, has more than 25 years of professional experience in the field of technological innovation, especially applied to the health sector. His career has been focused on leading the digital transformation and strategic management of innovative products and solutions in the field of healthcare, holding management positions in various multinational companies in the sector. He is currently Director of Innovation and Business Development at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), where he leads the strategy of innovation, knowledge transfer, business and public-private collaboration, connecting science, technology and market to generate real impact on society and patients’ lives.

Since you became Director of Business Development and Innovation at VHIR, what would you say have been the most relevant milestones you have led or promoted?

In line with the strategic objectives of the management, a series of initiatives have been launched with the aim of transforming the management and consolidating the institute as a benchmark in innovation and transfer in health.

One of these objectives is to strengthen public-private collaboration, building bridges with start-ups, SMEs and large biotech companies. To this end, a new business development unit has been created, made up of professionals with experience in the industry. This unit’s mission is not only to act as a catalyst to transfer the assets generated at VHIR to the market, relying on the institute’s research excellence and the industry’s ability to bring innovative solutions to patients, but also to develop new solutions in close collaboration with the business community.

On the other hand, given the high volume of activity, it was necessary to make a series of changes in the way innovation portfolio assets were managed, with the aim of prioritising and proactively accompanying high-potential projects in a more structured way, for which a new innovation process was designed. Experience shows that the success of technology transfer depends not only on the scientific quality of the asset, but also on many key aspects such as  asset protection strategy, market analysis, business model, management of regulatory barriers, financing and team capacity; areas in which researchers do not usually have the necessary training, and this is where VHIR’s innovation unit plays a key role: offering specialised support and acting as a bridge between science, business and regulators. To respond to the challenge of a dynamic ecosystem with a high volume of projects, a lean innovation process was designed. This approach allows for a comprehensive assessment of all critical dimensions of a project, ensuring that the projects with the greatest potential receive the necessary support to maximise their impact.

In this line, once the new innovation process has been launched, this year has been key to obtain the ISO 56001:2024 certification in Innovation Management, which makes VHIR the first research centre in Catalonia and Spain, and one of the first in the world, to achieve this certification. This recognition reinforces our credibility with partners and investors, improves the allocation of resources, promotes more efficient risk management and consolidates a culture of continuous improvement and sustainable innovation.

Last but not least, we have launched several programmes to foster an innovative culture. Among them, the Raising Innovators programme, which offers internal training in innovation and entrepreneurship for VHIR researchers, and the new Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Health (UAB-VHIR), which will start in 2025-2026. This master’s degree, designed in the unique setting of the Campus Vall d’Hebron, will allow students to acquire skills in innovation applied to real health projects.

Together, all these milestones reinforce VHIR’s commitment to excellence, innovation and transfer to generate a real impact on patients and society.

How has VHIR contributed to the promotion of research and innovation in the Vall d’Hebron Campus environment?

The Vall d’Hebron Research Institute is a reference centre in research and innovation at international level with more than 1300 researchers and 63 research groups, leader in many fields and pioneer in the field of medicine and biotechnology as well as in innovation and transfer, developing a scientific production of excellence that is reflected in its numbers: with participation in more than 600 active competitive projects per year, more than 1500 publications per year, more than 1100 active clinical trials, 174 active patents, more than 54 licences transferred, more than 50 innovation projects per year and participation in the creation and consolidation of 23 companies with the creation of more than 80 jobs, make the VHIR a real factory of knowledge and scientific production, products and health solutions.

In your opinion, what are the main obstacles that an institution like VHIR faces in promoting technology transfer among its researchers?

Despite having a consolidated structure at VHIR, there are significant obstacles that limit the impact of knowledge transfer and that need to be addressed. Among them, I would highlight the lack of clear and tangible incentives for researchers to prioritise innovation in their activities, the scarcity of resources for scaling up prototypes from the most preliminary stages in the laboratory to more advanced clinical phases, and the lack of entrepreneurial culture, which hinders the creation of companies or new business initiatives. To all this, we could add the strict regulations of the biotechnology sector, which lengthen the timeframes and increase the complexity of achieving a successful transfer.

Do you consider that the position of the VHIR in favour of entering the share capital of spin-offs is a real incentive to encourage the involvement of researchers in Knowledge-Based Companies (KBCs)?

The participation of the institution in the structure of the companies derived from its research, development and innovation activity is an essential element to guarantee the sustainability and impact of innovation and technology transfer. Having a shareholding allows the centre to align the interests of all parties involved, ensuring that the scientific results contribute both to business development and to the institutional mission of generating knowledge and social impact. It also makes it possible to obtain an economic return on the investment made in R&D&I, facilitating the reinvestment of these resources in new lines of research. This relationship also strengthens the strategic links with spin-offs, promoting continuous collaboration in the co-development of technologies, the training of talent and the generation of shared intellectual property. Finally, this practice encourages an entrepreneurial culture among the research community and ensures its capacity to influence strategic decisions that may affect the continuity and impact of technological developments, mainly in the initial phases of the company’s constitution.