nir-vana innovation network

Croatian incubation centre for biosciences, licensed as a scientific research institution, provides research and development support to pharmaceutical and biotech companies as well as for scientific institutions. The Company provides services necessary for the growth and development of early-stage biotech companies and facilitates collaboration between academic institutions and the industry. It enables technology transfer and commercialization through the incubation of new companies and through process development services. It is a “one-stop shop” where users can rent laboratories, use all necessary equipment and other supporting facilities, get the advice they need for their company to grow and train their employees in order to develop their biotech companies and make them more competitive. It creates a network of contacts with institutions, companies, and individuals directly or indirectly involved in biosciences. Services: • Transfer of knowledge and technology It enables technology transfer and commercialization through the services performed in the Central lab units: Microbiology • Plasmid construction, bacteria/yeast transformation and clone selection • Optimization of biomass and/or protein production on a laboratory scale (0.5 L and 2 L bioreactors) and scale up to a pilot production scale (30 L bioreactors) • Identification of microorganisms in products or as a part of environmental monitoring • Growth promotion test, bacterial endotoxins test, MIC and other microbe-related assays • Testing protein-protein interactions in vivo and in vitro • Homogenization and product extraction Cell Biology • Culturing human and animal cell lines • Cell viability/cytotoxicity and proliferation assays • Production of transgenic cell lines • PCR and qPCR analysis of nucleic acids, biomarker discovery • Microbe and pathogen detection • Flow cytometry analysis of surface and intercellular proteins • Optimization of cell culture cultivation and/or protein production on laboratory scale (from 0.5 L to 2 L) • and scale up to a pilot production scale (30 L bioreactors) Downstream processing • Isolation and purification of target bioactive molecule • Chromatographic media selection for capturing, purification and polishing of final product • Tangential flow filtration for concentration and diafiltration • Method development and optimization at lab-scale and scale-up to pilot scale Bioanalytics - chemistry • Small molecule identification and quantification: chromatography (UHPLC, GC), mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS) and spectroscopy (UV/Vis, FLD) • Analytical method development, validation and transfer • Research and development support for pharmaceutical and food industry as well as for scientific institutions Bioanalytics - proteomics • Protein identification and quantification in complex mixtures • Protein characterization: peptide mapping (LC/MS), N- and C- terminal sequencing, N- glycosylation site occupancy, amino acid composition, higher order structure and folding • Concentration determination: amino acid analysis and LC-MS/MS MRM analysis • Providing laboratories and offices for rent. Modern laboratory space comprises 20 variable modules, each about 50 m2 in size, where users can easily set up their equipment and organize the laboratory space according to their own needs. Rented laboratories can be accessed 24/7. Offices, meeting rooms, lecture halls, and other infrastructure are also available for rent. • Customized education The education program provides specific technical and business training that is tailor-made to meet the needs of our clients. Clients can choose from a wide variety of courses on business and technical competencies important for their success. Technical training includes workshops, seminars and hands-on training for groups and individuals in the Central lab. Our experienced researchers organize training courses in collaboration with leading experts from academia and the industry.