Q&A Interview – Innovative Pharmaceuticals

In our latest Q&A interview, Dr Fernando De la Calle Verdu, the Microbiology Project Manager at Pharmamar, shed light on the company’s significant expertise in marine-derived medicines. Pharmamar, a Spanish biopharma company with over 35 years of experience, specializes in bioprospecting marine organisms to develop innovative oncology treatments. Their proficiency encompasses drug discovery from marine microorganisms, including genome mining, bacterial isolation, culturing, and molecular characterization.

Within the SECRETed project, Pharmamar plays a crucial role, providing deep-sea bacterial extracts for biosurfactants and siderophores screening, raw data of sequenced marine bacteria, and cultivation know-how. Collaborating with partners like Accuplex Diagnostics and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, they adapt their techniques to meet the project’s objectives, exploring the potential of marine deep-sea bacteria for new applications. Despite their primary focus on cancer drug discovery, Pharmamar aligns with SECRETed in technology and methodologies, underscoring the importance of collaborative efforts in advancing marine-derived pharmaceuticals.