News

Study linking outcome in acute coronary syndromes to anti-PC published in International Journal of Cardiology

Solna, Sweden, February 7th, 2012 – Scientists conclude that measuring antibodies to phosporylcholine (anti-PC), using a simple blood-test, may provide important and independent information on the prognosis of heart attack patients, in a study just published on-line in International Journal of Cardiology. The testing was performed using Athera Biotechnologies CVDefine® kit

Magnus Doverskog appointed as new CEO for Umecrine Cognition

Solna, February 1, 2012. Magnus Doverskog has been appointed as new CEO for Umecrine Cognition AB, one of Karolinska Development AB’s portfolio companies. His most recent position was as CEO for the Biotechnology Company IMED AB in Stockholm.

ProNoxis AB has secured SEK 4.0 million in a new round of financing

Akinion Pharmaceuticals appoints Carl Harald Janson as CEO

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - January 9, 2012. Akinion Pharmaceuticals AB, a Karolinska Development AB portfolio company, announced today the appointment of Carl Harald Janson as new CEO. Carl Harald Janson, MD, PhD and CEFA, has over 25 years of experience in medicine, pharmaceutical development and asset management.

Aprea strengthens its board

Stockholm, Sweden – December 22, 2011. Aprea AB announces that Peter Buhl Jensen has been elected as a new member of the board. Peter Buhl Jensen is Professor in Clinical Oncology at Copenhagen University, MD, DMSc and former Chief Oncologist at the Department of Oncology, Ålborg Hospital.

Athera Forms New Scientific Advisory Board – Professors Libby, Simoons, Wallentin and de Faire join

Solna, Sweden, November 11th, 2011 – Athera Biotechnologies, part of the Karolinska Development portfolio, announced today that the new Scientific Advisory Board is formed, including professors Peter Libby, Maarten Simoons, Lars Wallentin, and Ulf de Faire.

Oncopeptides AB appoints Jakob Lindberg as CEO

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - October 21, 2011. Oncopeptides AB, a Karolinska Development AB portfolio company, today announced the appointment of Jakob Lindberg as new CEO. Mr. Lindberg holds a Med. Lic. in Molecular Immunology a MSc in pre-clinical medicine from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and a BA in Finance and Administration from the Stockholm University. He started his career as an analyst with Merrill Lynch in London and moved to consultancy with McKinsey in Stockholm, followed by a period in Gothenburg as CEO and co-founder of Cellectricon AB. For the last six years, Jakob has been Vice President and Venture Partner at Investor Growth Capital in Stockholm.

NeoDynamics innovative cancer treatment featured on US news channel

STOCKHOLM - October 6, 2011. The US news channel ABC 7 recently featured NeoDynamics’ innovative and cost-effective treatment of breast cancer. The concept has been proved simple and reliable and a first clinical study with excellent results has been conducted at Capio St. Görans and Danderyds Hospital in Stockholm where 58 patients have been treated. NeoDynamics is partly owned by Karolinska Development.

Aprea secures funding for further development of the anticancer compound APR-246

Stockholm, Sweden – September 9, 2011. Aprea AB today announced that it has secured SEK 20.4m (EUR 2.1m) which will allow the company to complete its planned continuation of its clinical study with APR-246 in patients with hematologic malignancies. The company also announced that Torbjörn Bjerke has been elected as a new member of the board.

Athera receives allowance of key patent for CVD antibody therapy

Solna, Sweden, August 23th, 2011 – Athera Biotechnologies, part of the Karolinska Development portfolio, announced today that the US Patent Office intends to grant a key patent related to the Company's intellectual property covering its therapeutic antibody candidate PC-mAb. Following subsequent grant, the patent will provide strong protection for pharmaceutical uses of PC-mAb for the treatment of atherosclerosis and prevention of ischemic cardiovascular diseases. The corresponding European and Australian patents have already been granted and further applications are pending worldwide.

Torbjörn Bjerke appointed Chairman of Pergamum AB

Torbjörn Bjerke, Chief Executive Officer, Karolinska Development AB (publ), was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors following the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in Pergamum AB on June 22, 2011.

Karolinska Development portfolio overview 2011

STOCKHOLM - July 1, 2011. Today, Karolinska Development has published the 2011 portfolio overview. The document can be downloaded from www.karolinskadevelopment.com.

ProNoxis AB raises SEK 4 million in directed new share issue

June 17, 2011 with operations proceeding as planned, ProNoxis AB has secured SEK 4 million in a new round of financing. Signalling confidence in ProNoxis development to date, lead investor LU Bioscience invested SEK 2.5 million and Karolinska Development SEK 1.5 million. They now hold 29.7 and 17.6 percent of ProNoxis, respectively. Redoxis AB holds the remaining 52.7 percent. At the end of last year, ProNoxis strengthened the board of directors with the appointments of Tomas Leanderson and Ulf Björkman, who both have extensive industry experience.

Study mapping genetic and environmental links of anti-PC published in Atherosclerosis

Solna, Sweden, 30 May 2011 – Scientists suggest an independent role of anti-PC as a biomarker in cardiovascular disease in a study just published on-line in Atherosclerosis. The testing was performed using Athera Biotechnologies CVDefine® kit.

Corrado Sablone joins Pergamum AB as Chief Financial Officer

Stockholm, May 30, 2011. Pergamum, a Swedish biotechnology company with focus on the development of new treatments for wounds and skin infections, today announced the hire of Corrado Sablone as Chief Financial Officer. Mr Sablone joins Pergamum from Coca Cola Enterprises Sverige AB, where he has been the Commercial Controlling Manager since 2006. Prior to Coca Cola, Corrado Sablone has served as business controller in several companies, including public international corporations such as Tetra Pak and Tradimus.

Dilafor transfers the rights for sevuparin to Dilaforette

STOCKHOLM - May 17, 2011. Dilafor AB announces transfer of the rights for sevuparin, to Dilaforette AB. Sevuparin is being developed for the treatment of severe malaria and has successfully completed a clinical Phase I study. Karolinska Development is the majority owner of Dilafor with 54 percent of the company. Dilaforette is fully owned by Dilafor.

Lena Wikingsson new CEO of Dilafor

STOCKHOLM, May 16, 2011. Lena Wikingsson has been appointed CEO of Dilafor AB. She has several years of experience from pharmaceutical development in leading positions within the pharmaceutical industry. She has, among others, been assessor of biotechnology products at the Swedish Medical Products Agency and CEO of Independent Pharmaceutica.

Pergamum appoints Jan Nilsson as Chief Marketing Officer

Stockholm, May 13, 2011. Pergamum has appointed Jan Nilsson as Chief Marketing Officer and as Managing Director of the LL-37 program – Pergamum’s program for wound healing in chronic leg ulcers. Jan Nilsson has previously held a number of executive leadership positions within international life science companies. Also, he has worked as an executive consultant and advisor for a number of smaller biotechs.

Athera to present at AngloNordic Biotech Conference in London

Athera presents at the first International Pharmacy Engineering and Biotechnology Forum in St. Petersburg

NeoDynamics’ innovative cancer treatment featured in Swedish science television program ”Vetenskapens Värld”

In ”Vetenskapens Värld” April 4, 2011, there was a NeoDynamics feature showing its innovative and cost-effective treatment of breast cancer. The concept has been proven simple and reliable in in-vitro tests, and a first clinical study with excellent results has been conducted at Capio St. Görans and Danderyds Hospital in Stockholm. As of today, around 50 patients have been treated.

Promimic named as one of Sweden's hottest technology companies

Stockholm - Sweden – March 31, 2011, Promimic, 25 percent owned by Karolinska Development, has been chosen by the papers Affärsvärlden och Ny Teknik as one of Sweden's 33 Hottest Young technology companies for 2011. Promimic has been chosen for the company's nano-thin synthetic bone surface, which is considered to be unique and to have a large international market potential.

Axelar’s AXL1717 to be presented at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) 102nd Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida

Stockholm - Sweden – March 29, 2011. Axelar AB today announced that study results from the Phase I study evaluating AXL1717 for the treatment of squamous cell lung carcinoma will be presented at the American Association of Cancer Research annual meeting being held in Orlando, Florida. Axelar is part of the Karolinska Development portfolio of companies.

Emerging Biotech Company Athera and Lonza Sign Development and Manufacturing Agreement

FDA approval for surface based on synthetic bone

Gothenburg 10th February 2011 The biomaterial company Promimic has received 510(k) clearance for the implant surface HANANO™ Surface. The approval allows the company to market and sell the surface in the United States within the field of dental implants.

XSpray receives innovation grant for nanoparticle technology

Stockholm - Sweden – December 06, 2010. XSpray Microparticles announced today that it has received a grant of SEK 2.3 million from Vinnova, the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems. The grant will be used to expand the company’s RightSize™ nanoparticle technology for the development of innovative pharmaceutical formulations.

Akinion Pharmaceuticals AB has presented the New Anticancer Agent AKN-028 at The American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, USA

Oncopeptides AB has presented the New Anticancer Agent J1 at The American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, USA

Aprea to Present Preclinical Data about APR-246 at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, in Orlando, USA

Stockholm - Sweden – November 8, 2010. Aprea AB today announced that encouraging data from its preclinical studies with APR-246 will be presented in a poster session at the upcoming 52nd ASH (American Society of Hematology) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando, FL, USA, December 4-7, 2010.

XSpray strengthens patent portfolio for breakthrough particle production technology

Stockholm, Sweden – November 04, 2010. XSpray Microparticles today announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent relating to the company’s particle production technology. XSpray’s RightSize™ Particle technology provides complete control over particle production, enhancing drug formulation options and optimizing the performance of challenging drug substances, such as poorly soluble compounds, inhaled compounds, and biomolecules.

Bengt Å Johansson takes role as acting CEO of Dilafor. Anders Åsell is elected board member of Dilafor.

STOCKHOLM, October 25, 2010. Dilafor CEO Anders Åsell has decided to leave the company to assume the role as General Manager for Grifols in the Nordic countries. Bengt Å Johansson, chairman of Dilafor, takes on the role as acting CEO of Dilafor during the search for a replacement. Anders Åsell has been elected as new Dilafor board member.

Gunilla Lundmark appointed as new CEO for Dilanest

STOCKHOLM, October 25 2010. Gunilla Lundmark has been appointed new CEO for Dilanest AB, a Karolinska Development portfolio company. She is currently Vice President at Q-Med, and will assume the position in January, 2011. Gunilla succeeds Anders Åsell who has decided to leave the company to assume the role as General Manager for Grifols in the Nordic countries.

Ulf Björklund new CEO at Aprea

STOCKHOLM - Sweden – September 30, 2010. Ulf Björklund has been appointed new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aprea. Ulf Björklund is today the CEO of OxyPharma. He will take up the position in October; the previous CEO Thomas Uhlin has in September left Aprea to join the Swedish Medical Products Agency. Ulf Björklund has a long extensive experience from the pharmaceutical industry, including small start up companies and big pharma. Prior to joining OxyPharma 2002 Ulf spent more then 15 years with Pharmacia. Aprea is now in the end of a Phase I study with their candidate drug APR-246 and is planning to start a Phase II study during the fall 2011.

First clinical study started with BAN2401, a novel antibody targeting the neurotoxin believed to cause Alzheimer’s disease

STOCKHOLM - Sweden and Tokyo, Japan, September 2nd, 2010. Swedish biopharmaceutical company BioArctic Neuroscience AB (Headquarters: Stockholm, CEO: Dr. Pär Gellerfors) and Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Hauro Naito), announce today the start of the first clinical study with BAN2401 in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. BAN2401 is an antibody that targets the toxic amyloid aggregates believed to cause degeneration of brain cells leading to Alzheimer’s disease. The new treatment approach is expected to halt progression of the disease

Athera signs distribution agreement in Scandinavia

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – August 27, 2010. Athera Biotechnologies and Electra-Box Diagnostica, announced today that they have signed an agreement for distribution of ”CVDefine” kit. CVDefine measures a new biomarker in blood, a specific anti-body, that has been linked to increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Athera Biotechnologies is part of the Karolinska Development portfolio