GILDED - Showcased at the Final Event of the Tecnimede Open Innovation Competition 2026
- ananobre2000
- May 27
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 2
The ACT Lab project was presented among the ten finalist innovations competing for the Jorge Ruas Award.
On May 27, 2026, the Final Event of the Tecnimede Open Innovation Competition 2026 took place at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento, in Lisbon, bringing together the ten finalist teams selected from an international pool of innovative projects in pharmaceutical technology.
Among the finalists was GILDED – GLP-1R-targeted ionizable lipid nanoparticle for miRNA delivery in diabetes, a project developed by the ACT Lab in collaboration with researchers from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra and clinical partners. During the event, the project was presented alongside the other finalist proposals, highlighting its innovative approach to protecting pancreatic β-cells through targeted miRNA delivery as a potential therapeutic strategy for diabetes.
The final event celebrated innovation in pharmaceutical technologies and provided an opportunity for researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry representatives to exchange ideas and explore future collaborations. The programme also included a keynote lecture by Yann Gaston-Mathé, Founder and CEO of Iktos, on the role of artificial intelligence in accelerating drug discovery.
The Jorge Ruas Award 2026, worth €100,000, was ultimately awarded to the SafeAlleleSCA project, a precision gene therapy approach for Machado-Joseph disease. The ceremony was attended by His Excellency the President of the Portuguese Republic, António José Seguro, who emphasized the importance of strengthening the connection between scientific research and industry to foster healthcare innovation.
Although GILDED was not selected as the winning project, being among the ten finalists represents an important recognition of the scientific excellence and translational potential of the research developed at the ACT Lab. The project builds upon the team's published work on the protective role of miRNA-642a-3p against glucolipotoxicity in pancreatic β-cells and reflects the group's commitment to developing innovative therapeutic strategies for diabetes.
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