Hi-tech sectors

“High-tech” companies are involved in the development and production of goods and services with a high technological content.

Those established in Sardinia are generally very young companies, made up of individuals with previous experience in high-tech companies or research centres. Other companies, with the same characteristics, originated outside of the region but have recently established all or part of their development and production laboratories in Sardinia. These are almost always in the two centres (Pula and Alghero) of the Sardinian PST.

The “high-tech” sectors covered by Porto Conte Ricerche are those associated with the development and application of biotechnologies to industrial research and to the experimental development of new products and processes.

More specifically, these include:

In vitro diagnostics

Biotech companies are a now a rapidly growing sector in Italy. In particular, new diagnostic systems based on biotechnological methods are one of the main businesses in this sector.For Porto Conte Ricerche, the development of diagnostic systems is a natural progression from the results obtained through the technologies developed in the park and available for biomarker discovery. In the biomedical field, an effective diagnostic system offers the advantage of early detection, with immediate consequences for human and animal health, as well a substantial reduction in costs for the national health system.For this reason, the goal of Porto Conte Ricerche is to develop technologies enabling to create diagnostic systems for human and veterinary medicine (immunodiagnostics and biosensors).In the area of agri-food production, innovative diagnostic systems allow the monitoring of nutritional and/or technological quality indicators (Foodomics). Through its workshops and experimental activity, Porto Conte Ricerche has developed several products in the field of in vitro diagnostics, some of which are protected by patents, and others, without patents, are in advanced stages of prototyping and ready to be put to use in industry.

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Nanotechnology products

The Porto Conte Ricerche technology platform supports activities for the preparation of nanostructured systems for various applications, including the study of biocompatible and biodegradable nanomaterials for medical use and the development of nanosystems functionalised to direct bioactive molecules and diagnostic probes towards specific biological targets.These activities are oriented towards several areas of nanomedicine (therapy, immunoprophylaxis, diagnostics and nano-toxicology) and other areas of application (i.e. nanopackaging) through closely integrated operational activities involving the NMR Imaging, Proteomics, Packaging and Shelf Life laboratories. Particular attention is paid to the creation and potential application of inorganic nanoparticle systems for use in the diagnosis of tumours.Porto Conte Ricerche also supports and collaborates with the research conducted in the Nanomedicine laboratory of the University of Sassari. The laboratory has established itself in the technology park with the aim of designing and developing innovative nanoprototypes with programmable features, capable of “smart” interaction at a subcellular and/or molecular level for the release of chemopreventive and/or chemotherapeutic agents (or to carry out diagnostic or theranostic activities) for the purpose of treating various types of cancers and other diseases.In general, the activities conducted at Porto Conte Ricerche in the field of nanobiotechnology are mainly directed towards the development of new nanodevices for use in biomedicine, with major focus on the creation of systems capable of recognising specifically targeted diseased cells, in order to increase the therapeutic efficacy and bioavailability of the active ingredients they carry, or to optimise their characteristics as diagnostic probes.

New molecular markers

The aim of biomarker research is to discover and validate molecules with potential applications in the biomedical sector and in the food industry.In the former, these can have potential for diagnosis, staging and therapeutic monitoring, as well as for characterising the mechanisms of action of drug candidates in drug development. In the latter, molecules that indicate nutritional quality in foods or the technological quality of raw materials are considered as biomarkers.Biotechnologies open up countless possibilities for discovering molecular markers associated with changes in cellular functions, with various conditions in tissues and in different types of biological matrix, either of animal, vegetable or microbial origin.Porto Conte Ricerche has a strong background in the discovery of new markers of interest for human and veterinary medicine, agri-food, and the nutrition and health sector. The research centre is experienced in developing methods for biomarker discovery by means of the cutting-edge technologies in the fields of proteomics, genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and imaging (MRI).