It is Pill.Ar, a startup dedicated to the development of equipment for printing medications using 3D technology. It received USD 250,000 from a national investment fund, which is also already evaluating three other biotech ventures from the Casa de Trejo portfolio.

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Pill.Ar is a startup developing equipment that will enable the decentralized, automated, and personalized production of medications using 3D technology. The goal is for pharmacies to be able to sell medicines with formulas tailored to each patient’s needs—much like what used to happen decades ago, but in a more efficient and precise way.

This venture is led by Juan Pablo Real, PhD in Chemical Sciences and researcher at UNC and CONICET; Daniel Real, PhD in Chemical Sciences; communications specialist Enzo Moriconi; and Santiago Palma, a scientist with extensive experience at CONICET and UNC.

After a rigorous training and selection process, the SF500 accelerator decided to invest USD 250,000 in this startup, which develops equipment capable of printing tablets that can combine more than two active ingredients. With this equipment, advanced medications can be produced faster and with higher quality, through a very simple process that involves inserting a cartridge into the printer and pressing a button.

Juan Pablo Real, one of the founders, highlights that receiving this investment validates all the research work they have been carrying out for quite some time. “On the other hand, it is the key that opens the door to the next step, which is technology transfer and making it available to the population,” he said.

“This investment will basically allow us to scale the technology. That is, to turn the current prototype—which produces 3D prints at a laboratory scale—into a more robust platform, capable of producing high-quality, personalized medications in any pharmacy, regardless of who is operating it,” Real added.

The founder estimates that, with the investment received, they will be able to validate the technology within 18 months to ensure it can produce safe, high-quality medications for the public. “Once this period is over, the technology will be ready to be commercialized on a massive scale,” Real emphasized.

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Science-based company

Scientists who decide to venture into the world of entrepreneurship face a number of challenges. Unlike entrepreneurs in information and communication technologies (ICT), who are expected to validate their projects within a six-month timeframe, science-based entrepreneurs are immersed in much longer cycles.

Initially, they enter a phase focused on building knowledge, which is later followed by technological development. Andrés Colombo, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UNC, explains this process: “Turning pure scientific knowledge into a technological product involves conducting research activities, feasibility assessments, and scaling processes, all of which take a long time. UNC, through its Secretariat of Innovation and Technological Linkage, supports entrepreneurs by providing guidance on intellectual property, funding management, the creation of networking opportunities, and communication.”

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This is followed by the stage of securing the funding needed to cover the costs of the first phase of these initiatives. To this end, the Secretariat promotes connections with accelerators (or company builders) that closely follow university-based startups.

The National University of Córdoba already has its first company funded by a company builder. Pill.Ar would be the second company funded by an investment fund, and SF500 is expected to finance three more.

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What is SF500 and what does it do?

SF500 is a company builder based in Rosario, Santa Fe, created through an alliance between the company Bioceres and the government of the province of Santa Fe. It was founded to strengthen interactions between the scientific system and the productive sector through new public-private partnerships.

Its goal is to foster co-creation between researchers and entrepreneurs of innovative products and services with global impact. Its focus is on biotech ventures, and it operates under an open innovation model that brings together universities, companies, and the state.

Their objective is to increase the number of biotech companies in Latin America. To achieve this, they manage a USD 300 million fund, of which USD 7 million has already been invested in 19 biotech startups.

More information at https://sf500.com.ar/