A scientifically validated technological solution for the production of medicated gums for oral dosing of substances in laboratory animals won this year’s edition of the Poliempreende regional competition of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra (IPC).
The project entitled “HaPILLness” has developed an “innovative and non-invasive solution” for oral administration of drugs to rodents used in pre-clinical laboratory tests and which may “represent the end of a painful process for guinea pigs”, said the IPC, in a press release sent to the Lusa agency.

Laboratory animals now have small colored gums that they ingest voluntarily, instead of being administered the precise dosage of the compound to be tested through a gastric tube.

The work team is made up of Sofia Viana, Sara Nunes and Pedro Vieira, in a project that results from a partnership between the IPC and the University of Coimbra (UC).

“HaPILLness” will now compete at national level with the winners from the other Polytechnics of the Poliempreende network.

This project will participate in the Entrepreneurship Week, to be held from the 12th to the 15th, in Braga, organized by the Instituto Politécnico do Cávado e Ave.

The promoters also receive a monetary prize worth 2,000 euros and 12 months of incubation at INOPOL – Academia de Empreendedorismo do Politécnico de Coimbra, to support the development of the project and the formation of the company.

According to the note, the regional competition took place on Wednesday, in the INOPOL auditorium, before a jury made up of representatives of the CEC – Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Centre, IAPMEI – Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation, National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE), Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) and IPC.

The presentation session of the ‘pitches’ of the contest finalists featured a total of 11 projects, with 24 business ideas from different scientific areas being submitted.

The “Luxifer” project, developed by a team of students and teachers from the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra (ISEC), won second place.

“It is an IoT solution for the intelligent control and monitoring of LED luminaires [acronym in English for light emitting diode], by adapting its operation to the hourly, environmental needs and/or will of the users”.

In third place was “ARMedLearn”, an augmented reality (AR) software for simulating non-surgical invasive procedures, created by a team of ISEC students.

In addition to monetary prizes, both jobs will also have access to incubation services at INOPOL, as well as a network of contacts and partners in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, to leverage projects and give rise to new companies.