Creation of the REDiEX Network Advances the Science of Personalised Medicine in Spain

Ten research centres in Spain working in the field of exosome research have formed a network of excellence (Network of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Exosomes—REDiEX), an initiative funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). The new network will advance the development of personalised medicine in Spain.

Practically unknown until recently, exosomes are cell-derived vesicles present in almost all bodily fluids. They play an important role in the intercellular transfer of information and molecules as well as in the regulation of many physiological and pathological processes. Exosomes are also selective carriers of biomarkers for certain diseases.

“These vesicles have great potential in diagnostics and for new therapeutic strategies in cancer and other diseases, such as parasitic infections” explains Hernando del Portillo, coordinator of the new network and ICREA Research Professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and the Germans Trias i Pujol Health Sciences Research Institute (IGTP). He goes on to spell it out, “Exosomes have opened the door to the medicine of the future, which will be totally personalized."

REDiEX was created to strengthen the relationships between the scientific groups, to increase mobility between the centres, to ensure optimum use of resources, and to attract funding for the study of these vesicles. The new network will develop and standardise methodologies and speed up the process of identifying and developing noninvasive biomarkers and therapeutic strategies for diseases such as cancer and parasitic infections. In fact, a biomarker associated with pancreatic cancer exosomes has already been identified. Other recent research has shown that tumour-derived exosomes are directly involved in the metastatic process and can be used to predict which tissues will be affected by malignant spread.

Hernando del Portillo says that the network “marks the beginning of a new chapter in biomedical research in Spain in a field now seen as a frontier in clinical research”. REDiEX represents a shift towards personalised medicine in search of products that will have social impact, generate economic returns, and will help us to achieve greater equity in global health.

The immediate predecessor of this new network was GEIVEX (Grupo Español de Investigación en Vesículas Extracelulares), a working group set up in 2012 by Spanish researchers specialised in the field of extracellular vesicles. Hernando del Portillo is also the current president of GEIVEX.

More information

Network of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Exosomes—REDiEX

Grupo Español de Innovación e Investigación en Vesículas Extracelulares

Press release