The PCB and PRBB have created the new functional unit "PCB-PRBB Animal Facility Alliance", pooling the resources of both institutions animal facilities from 1st January 2015.

The PCB Animal Facility is part of the technological offer of the PCB, born with the goal of being a key engine in the research using live models, both for their dedication to service, and its expertise in consulting, design and development of projects for third parties and its own research, in the fields of biomedicine and biotechnology. The Animal Facility (PCB-PRBB Animal Facility Alliance) introduces a new model of research supporting infrastructure, with three basic axes:

• Ensuring the health and welfare of animals used
• Providing optimal solutions to the needs of R+D+i projects
• Guarantying the performance of the legal framework concerning the use in research of live models

The PCB Animal Facility provides services in relation with Research, Development and innovation (R+D+i) of the UB Group and the companies located in the PCB, but also to other public research centers and companies in the private sector (pharmaceutical, veterinary, agricultural, chemical, food, Diagnostics, etc.). The lines of action of PRAAL are summarized in: (1) support for research from universities or public research bodies; (2) supply of high value added services for private companies; and (3) development of own projects or collaborative ones, to increase the Platform know-how.

The PCB Animal Facility services rely on 4 additional lines which generate large synergies:

• Management and maintenance of existing models in the scope of the research groups, and the rearing and care of either conventional models or genetically engineered models (GEM).
• Collaborative research projects, establishing Programmed Contracts and determining actions and goals with regard to the industrial and intellectual property of the results.
• Contract Research Projects (CRO), guarantying an environment of quality applied to processes and/or products that conform to international standards (ISO, GLP, EFQM, AAALAC).
• Design and generation of new models to increase the own know-how.

The PCB Animal Facility is presented as a live model related central services solutions, which guarantee safety and results, based on cutting-edge technology employed, the professional level of specialists who work there, the guarantee of quality and personalized service. The primary intervention sectors are: the pharmaceutical, biotechnological, farm, food, cosmetic, chemistry, veterinary, health care material and environmental management sectors.

The Platform is also part of the SGR-GENCAT (Consolidated Research Group 345), the SECAL (Sociedad Española de Ciencias para el Animal de Laboratorio) and the FELASA (Federation of European Association of Laboratory Animal Societies). The Platform collaborates and works with numerous research groups from different national and international universities, entities or public administrations, participating in a large number of public research projects (CENIT, Singular and Strategic Projects, 7PM, etc.), and, at the same time, provides support to companies who wish to develop new products by means of the transfer of technology.

Technological offer

IN VIVO EXPERIMENTAL MODELS

• Breeding models: design and execution and assessment of breeding programs
• Diabetes model generation: STZ, ALX, diet, genetically, surgically
• Cancer model generation: transplantation, genetically, surgically
• Parkinson model generation: MPTP, KA
• Obesity model generation: diets, genetically, nutrition, palatability assessment, metabolic studies
• Cardiovascular model generation: aortic and/or LAD stenosis, cardiac hypertrophy, partial and total ischemia and reperfusion, telemetry
• Central Nervous System model generation: stereotaxic surgery, intracerebral approaches and local artery occlusions
• Neurological diseases: schizophrenia, Alzheimer disease, learning (task learning), memory (object recognition), behavior assessment (Open Field, water Maze test, grip strength, Y and T labyrinths, PPI test, dark/white box test), catalepsy (aloperidol), locomotor (tread mill, rota-rod, voluntary wheel running), anostmia test,
• Histopathology: gross necropsy, sampling, immunohistochemistry, optical and electronic microscopy, biochemistry and hematology
• Wound healing: physical, chemical injury, surgery, radiation
• Macro and microsurgery: transplantation, tissue ablation, cannulation
• Treatments: short and long-term studies, dosing, surveillance and sampling
• GEM generation: microinjection transgenics, knock-in, knock-out, CRE-lox
• Drug delivery: administration, sampling, analysis, quantification, non-invasive methods, ADME
• Customized assays: regulatory or from the scratch development of adapted assays
• Available models: mice, rat, hamster, guinea pig, xenopus, zebrafish, rabbit, swine, dog, primate

TOXICOLOGY RESEARCH

 (See the available Technical sheets and the Sector sheets, Unitat de Toxicologia iEcotoxicologia - PCB)