Driven by researchers from the ai2 Institute at UPV, the company is working on the development of a fully automated insulin pump designed to simplify the daily routines of people with type 1 diabetes. Patients will no longer need to estimate carbohydrates at each meal or report physical activity.

The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) adds a new spin off to its entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem: Colibri Biomed, a pioneering European company whose main goal is to improve the quality of life and well-being of people with diabetes.

To achieve this, Colibri Biomed is developing a fully automated insulin pump that simplifies the daily routines of people with type 1 diabetes. Current systems on the market require significant patient intervention throughout the day—when eating, exercising, and more.

“With this new insulin pump, our goal is for people with diabetes to largely forget about their disease, freeing them from the mental pressure of all the decisions they have to make every day—which are countless—even if they currently use automatic insulin infusion systems. We want the patient to intervene only as much as they wish, finding the right balance between glycemic control and quality of life. Our system is designed to work as plug & play: you put it on, and the system pumps insulin as needed, without requiring any information beyond glucose measurements,” says José Luis Díez, CTO of Colibri Biomed and researcher at ai2 UPV.

Additionally, the system developed by Colibri Biomed stands out for a safety feature not found in any other device on the market, which will prevent failures caused by insulin occlusion. “Our goal is to make life as easy and as safe as possible for people with diabetes,” emphasizes José Luis Díez.

How it works

Colibri Biomed’s insulin pump is based on a patented control algorithm to achieve a fully automated insulin delivery system. This algorithm automates insulin dosing in real time based on glucose readings, without manual intervention—even during meals and physical activity.

“The patient does not need to estimate carbohydrates at each meal or report physical activity. To make insulin administration safer, a new sensor detects any obstruction or anomaly in the system’s flow, optimizing therapy and treatment,” Jorge Bondia, CSO of Colibri Biomed

“The patient does not need to estimate carbohydrates at each meal or report physical activity. To make insulin administration safer, a new sensor detects any obstruction or anomaly in the system’s flow, optimizing therapy and treatment,” explains Jorge Bondia, CSO of Colibri Biomed and also a researcher at ai2 UPV.

The launch of this new spin off is the result of more than 25 years of research by a group at the ai2 Institute of UPV, led by José Luis Díez and Jorge Bondia, and the Prisma project, funded by the Horizon Europe – EIC Transition Open program, in which ai2-UPV researchers also participated.

Alongside ai2 UPV researchers, Colibri Biomed includes a team of experts from the Startup Builder Day One SRL (Italy), former partners in the Prisma project, particularly Paolo De Stefanis (CEO), Guido Panfili, Agnese Denzi, and Leonardo Molinari, who bring extensive business experience to Colibri Biomed.

UPV Rector José Capilla highlighted that this new company “demonstrates the enormous impact science can have when applied to serve people. At UPV, we research to transform knowledge into well-being, and Colibri Biomed is a clear example of how university innovation can improve the lives of millions of patients worldwide.”

Capilla also stressed the importance of spin offs as vehicles for technology transfer and drivers of social change: “Our commitment is to continue supporting scientific entrepreneurship from the university. Each new company born from our laboratories represents an opportunity to create value, jobs, and real solutions that bring science closer to society.”

With Colibri Biomed, UPV now has 31 active spin offs, 23 of which have direct participation from the institution. This growth consolidates the university as a national leader in scientific entrepreneurship and strengthens its model of knowledge transfer to the productive sector, based on research excellence and collaboration with technology companies.