Uppsala BIO announces four projects to receive support and funding under the latest BIO-X theme ‘New opportunities for existing drugs’.

Uppsala BIO confirmed today that four recipients in the Stockholm and Uppsala region have been selected to receive support and funding as BIO-X^® projects. Successful applicants had responded to the latest call for project ideas under the BIO-X theme ‘New opportunities for existing drugs’ – a topic identified as having potential to bring forward solutions that will fulfil market needs and benefit society.

As part of the BIO-X program, recipients will be supported by BIO-X project coaches and experts from academia, industry or healthcare. The objective is to take proposed solutions through to proof of concept – the first critical step towards potential commercialization – thereby creating attractive investment opportunities for national and international investors or companies.

Selected by an independent BIO-X advisory board, each project utilizes existing therapies or drugs in new ways or in new therapeutic areas. Funded by VINNOVA (the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems), the project receives up to 2 mSEK (€220k) over a two year period.

In the area of organ transplantation, Dr. Peetra Magnusson from the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, at Uppsala University aims to develop a solution that will maintain the quality of donor organs prior to transplantation. This should improve success rates, reduce post-operative hospital stays and minimize the risk of patients requiring another transplant.

In the same department, Dr. Sara Mangsbo will lead a project to develop more effective therapeutic vaccines, utilizing the patient’s own immune response, which could pave the way for development of new treatment strategies for many different types of cancer.

At Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Professor Cecilia Söderberg Nauclér’s group will evaluate a new use for an existing drug to combat cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. These infections, often found in immunosuppressed patients, such as those receiving organ transplants, are a significant contributor to the risk of organ rejection, extended hospital stays and can be life-threatening.

Back in Uppsala, Dr. Mats J Olsson’s team at ParkCell AB hope to develop a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease, based on transplanting a patient’s own skin cells into the brain.

Dr. Anna Ridderstad Wollberg, BIO-X Project Manager, Uppsala BIO, commented: “We were extremely pleased that this BIO-X call attracted a record number of applicants with many ideas for solutions that could benefit patients, general healthcare and society. The response not only confirms the relevance of the selected BIO-X theme, but also demonstrates the wealth of ideas from scientists and entrepreneurs within our region”

Additional information

Dr. Karin Agerman

Project Manager

+46 70 300 88 09

karin.agerman@uppsalabio.com