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The ceremony, held on October 3 at the LATU Innovation Campus, was attended by the Secretary of the Presidency, Alejandro S\u00e1nchez; the Minister of Education and Culture, Jos\u00e9 Carlos Mah\u00eda; the Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Alfredo Fratti; the Deputy Minister of Transport and Public Works, Claudia Peris; and Fernanda Nozar, General Director of Health at the Ministry of Public Health, among other authorities.<\/p>\n
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In addition to the startups linked to the Institute, the 10 recognized projects also included the Montevideo Fertility Center, Kinzbio, Polymera, Marfrig + INIA, Eduvaluer, Eldest, and MagicBox.<\/p>\n
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During the event, representatives from all the projects took part in panel discussions where they answered questions and shared insights. Gonzalo Moratorio, representing Guska, explained that the project\u2019s main motivation is \u201cto increase the chances of developing new therapies\u2014new ways to truly fight cancer.\u201d He shared that the name of the project is a tribute to a friend who died at age 40 from the disease. \u201cIt\u2019s a very paradoxical story because a few years later, here I am in the same place, fighting the disease,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Speaking on behalf of Scaffold Biotech, Agust\u00edn Correa explained that the goal was to put lab research into practice\u2014a challenge he took on in 2022. \u201cIt\u2019s a problem that translates into annual losses of US$95 million and creates risks of environmental contamination due to the tick\u2019s resistance to chemical treatments,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
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This edition of the Nova Awards also presented two special distinctions: the Gold Nova and \u201cLa 10 de la innovaci\u00f3n.\u201d The Gold Nova symbolizes the impact, transformative power, and international projection that Uruguayan innovation can achieve. Selected by a committee of ecosystem leaders and institutions\u2014and endorsed by ANII\u2019s Board of Directors\u2014the award represents how far national science can go. The prize, presented by ANII president \u00c1lvaro Brunini, went to Eolo Pharma. Co-founder P\u00eda Garat accepted the award and highlighted that \u201cthrough entrepreneurship\u2014through companies\u2014we can also produce high-quality science.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cLa 10 de la innovaci\u00f3n,\u201d the award voted by the public through the website, went to Guska, with more than 34,000 votes. Paula Perbolianachis, a researcher at the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo and the Faculty of Sciences and a member of Guska, received the award alongside other representatives of the startup. She emphasized that the driving force behind the project\u2019s work is \u201cturning the pain we\u2019re going through into motivation\u201d to keep moving forward as a team.<\/p>\n
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