About
IDM (Instituto Interuniversitario de Investigación de Reconocimiento Molecular y Desarrollo Tecnológico) is a joint research institute of the Universitat de València and the Universitat Politècnica de València, based in Valencia, Spain.
IDM positions itself as a multidisciplinary center combining chemistry, pharmacy and electronic engineering to deliver health innovation across two main lines: precision diagnostics & sensing (early detection and disease monitoring devices) and advanced therapies & drug delivery control (smart systems for selective drug release and treatment optimization).
Core technological capabilities include:
- Nanomedicine and molecular gates: stimuli-responsive mesoporous nanomaterials, lipid nanoparticles, liposomes, giant unilamellar vesicles, metallic nanoparticles, and related nanosystems. These systems act as "smart containers" that release drugs or genetic material (DNA/RNA) only in response to specific triggers (enzymes, light, pH), reducing systemic toxicity.
- Precision diagnostics and liquid biopsy: next-generation sequencing (NGS) and digital PCR for biomarker analysis in minimally invasive samples.
- Biosensors and wearables: optical, electrochemical and label-free holographic biosensors for real-time detection of pathogens, allergens and clinical biomarkers.
- Pharmacometric modeling: physiologically-based PK/PD simulation to predict efficacy and safety before complex clinical trials.
- Advanced biological models: 3D cultures, spheroids and patient-derived organoids for personalized medicine, plus specific animal models (transgenic rats, Drosophila) for neurodegenerative disease, addiction and inflammation research.
Technology outputs include hospital pathogen detection sensors (TRL 6), metabolomic cancer diagnostics for prostate, bladder and glioblastoma (TRL 5), mRNA lipid nanoparticles for oncological immunotherapy (TRL 4), antibacterial biofilm-targeting nanomotors (TRL 5), and rapid chromo-fluorogenic sensors for drug-facilitated crime detection (TRL 6).
IDM is part of CIBER-BBN and the NANBIOSIS scientific infrastructure network, and runs joint research units with Hospital La Fe and the Príncipe Felipe Research Center, with access to validated biobanks.
The institute holds over 75 patents, has completed 120+ direct contracts with companies including Pfizer, L'Oréal, Cinfa and Kern Pharma, has generated several spin-offs (Match Biosystems, Celentis, Senolyntx), and participates in European excellence funding programs (ERC Advanced Grant EDISON, ERC PoC ONCOFLAG, ERDERA rare disease alliance).
IDM is looking to join or support consortia for the Eureka Biotech Call 2026, particularly around diagnostics, biosensing, nanomedicine and drug delivery.
Next-generation therapeutics and modalities
Innovative cancer treatment modalitiesTargeted radiopharmaceuticalsmRNA-based vaccinesMicrobiome-based therapies and diagnosticsExosome-based therapies and delivery systemsInnovative antibiotics (new mechanisms of action, antimicrobial peptides, phage therapy, and alternatives to traditional antibiotics)
Agricultural and veterinary innovations
Agricultural biotechnology
Advanced diagnostics and data technologies
On-site molecular diagnosticsIn-situ biosensors for monitoring soil, pathogens, and water stress