The Fero Grants were awarded at a dinner in Barcelona sponsored by Andbank.

The 14th FERO (oncological studies and research foundation) Grant has been won by two studies seeking to find new cancer therapies. The studies, both led by female scientists and studying the metastasis process, will each receive 80,000 euros.

Barcelona, 14 May: The Fero Grants award ceremony took place in Barcelona at a charity dinner sponsored by Andbank and attended by the President of the Fero Foundation, José Baselga, the Chairman of Andbank, Manuel Cerqueda, the Honorary Chairman, Oscar Ribas and the Deputy Chairman, Oriol Ribas.

The Foundation has been able to increase the economic value of its awards thanks to contributions from the Ramón Areces Foundation and from the entrepreneur Sol Daurella, Vice President of the Fero Foundation.

The jury at the 14th edition of the Fero Grant decided to recognise two pioneering projects in the field of translational oncological research. The projects are focused on the metastasis process and led by the Spanish scientists Berta L. Sánchez-Laorden, of the Alicante Institute of Neurosciences, and Alena Gros, researcher at the Vall d´Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO).

Dr Alena Gros will receive 80,000 euros from the Ramón Areces Foundation to carry out trials with an innovative immunotherapy that may prove effective at inducing the regression of solid metastatic tumours.
With funding from Sol Daurella, Dr Berta L. Sánchez-Laorden will carry out a project aiming to find new ways of treating patients with cerebral melanoma metastases.

The President of the Fero Foundation, Josep Baselga, who is (amongst other positions) also the President of the American Association for Cancer Research and Medical Director at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, paid tribute to the work of the two winners and the high level of the rest of the grant candidates.

During the grant award ceremony, Baselga highlighted “the crucial role of private institutions whose support and effort are essential to ensure these types of project can continue in our country”.

The dinner was also a fundraiser for a childhood leukaemia project, with an initial goal to raise upwards of 6,000 euros. At 42,165 euros, the final amount raised was far greater than the organizers had anticipated.

As part of its corporate social responsibility plan, Andbank has focused its efforts on the fight against cancer. It is supporting various projects to make a difference in this field. The Fero Foundation is one of the main organizations supported by the Group’s corporate social responsibility division.