Sea4Us, a marine resources biotechnology company and spin-off of NOVA Medical School, secured international funding from the European Innovation Council through Horizonte Europe's EIC Accelerator program, worth approximately 6 million euros.
The approved financing will allow the Sea4US team to work on the development and execution of the first clinical trials that will bring to the market a new, non-opioid, marine-inspired analgesic, highly effective for chronic pain, a problem that affects 1.6 billion people worldwide.
The analgesic developed by Sea4Us will allow patients to be treated very effectively, eliminating the side effects present in most current opioid-based medications.
Pedro Lima, CEO and Co-Founder of the biotechnology company, highlights that the funding from the EIC Accelerator program highlights Sea4Us' technological innovation and believes that his team will positively impact the lives of billions of people around the world.
The approved financing for Sea4Us is €2.5 million non-refundable, and an investment component that can sum up a total of €5.96 million.
The other two national companies that stood out in this financing are PICadvanced, TargTex. According to the National Innovation Agency, Portugal is the second country with the most funding approved in this Horizon Europe program, the EIC Accelerator.