Great Swedish innovations: Eye treatment became a feather in Pharmacia’s cap

From complicated and sometimes risky surgery to a routine procedure. Pharmacia’s injectable Healon revolutionised the field of eye surgery - and is considered by us one of the most important contemporary Swedish innovations in the field of medicine.

Dags för ”ett av våra mest efterfrågade möten”

He is zooming in on topical preparations

According to Zelmic CEO David Sagna, topical products in drug development is a growing market, and to keep pace with the development, the company is awaiting approval for its new GMP facility.

Swedish breakthrough in Alzheimer’s: “We can finally present great data”

Treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are currently among the hottest topics in drug development. Two Swedish research companies with high ambitions and successes in the field participated in Bioscience 2022 conference at Life City in Hagastaden, Stockholm.

Läkemedelsjättar i gemensam kraftsamling för miljön

Sju av världens största läkemedelsbolag, bland dem Astra Zeneca, går ihop om gemensamma åtgärder för att reducera utsläppen av växthusgaser.

He is heading a new company for the development of Coegin’s cancer drug

The biotechnology company Coegin Pharma places the development of its drug candidate AVX420 in a newly formed company, Avexxin Oncology, based in Norway, and John Zibert will be the CEO.

The pandemic caused a reshuffle among the world’s vaccine giants – here is the new top list

Fuelled by the pandemic, the power balance in the global vaccine market has completely changed in recent years, a survey from Fierce Pharma shows

She is Sweden´s new Minister of Healthcare

Today, Tuesday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who leads the Moderate Party and the centre-right coalition in Sweden, presented the government's new ministers. Christian Democrat Jakob Forssmed gets the role of Minister for Social Affairs and Acko Ankarberg Johansson (also of the Christian Democrat Party) becomes Minister for Health Care.

Promising Alzheimer’s study data sends Bioarctic stock soaring

The drug candidate lecanemab from Swedish company Bioarctic significantly slowed down the deterioration in patients with early on-set Alzheimer’s, according to preliminary results from a phase III study.

Biosimilars bring price pressure, but are they sufficiently used?

When biosimilars were introduced just over 16 years ago, hopes were raised that they would give many more patients access to effective but otherwise extremely expensive treatments with biological drugs. So, how well has Swedish healthcare used biosimilars? The answer partly depends on whom you ask.

Business Sweden’s new team is rolling out the blue-yellow carpet

According to Business Sweden’s life science team, the combination of substantial medical know-how and an ever-flourishing tech sector is a success factor for Sweden. “It’s a perfect storm, a beneficent, perfect storm,” says Programme Manager Britta Stenson.

Bought a tablet factory – and built his own empire

In 1995, Thomas Eldered was CEO of one of Pharmacia’s factories in the Stockholm area when the Swedish pharmaceutical giant, after a takeover, decided to move its production abroad. 34-year-old Thomas was facing an imminent risk of losing his job. However, instead, it actually turned out to be the starting point for one of the biggest success stories in Swedish life science.

Lugnande besked om nya omikronvarianten BA.2.75. – "Ungefär samma känslighet mot antikroppar"

Den nya omikronvarianten BA.2.75, som nyligen upptäckts i Sverige, tycks inte vara mer resistent mot antikroppar än tidigare omikronvarianter, enligt en studie vid bland annat Karolinska institutet.

Lucy Robertshaw: Did you know Stockholm wants to be in top 5 in the world for Life Sciences?

Karolinska Institutet Solna Campus has certainly become the next “Kendall Square”, writes Lucy Robertshaw in a column.

Sweden is heavily criticised for not ordering Covid vaccine

Valneva and the EU Commission have entered into an agreement for 1.25 million doses of the company’s Covid vaccine, but Sweden has not placed an order.

Amorphous materials take centre stage when Orexo develops new formulations

Swift resolution but with maintained stability. Orexo’s new drug delivery platform tackles the problem of amorphous materials. “Our technology has the positive properties of the material, and it also cracks some of the problems,” says the company’s Research and Development Manager Robert Rönn.

Marie Gårdmark: New incentives for orphan products on its way

"Let’s hope that the learnings from development of new therapies for rare diseases will spill over to more common conditions, orphan products paving the wave for drug development in a broader context", writes Marie Gårdmark in a column.

Noxious parasite forms hybrids and deceives the immune system

The small parasite Trypanosoma cruzi has a nasty ability to cause serious illness. Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet have now mapped its ability to deceive the immune system by forming new variants that are mixtures of different strains.

New rules for diagnostic products, but who will certify them? “An extreme shortage area”

In less than two weeks, new and stricter EU rules will enter into force for thousands of products used in important diagnoses of, among other things, cancer and Covid-19. However, not one single institute in the entire Nordic region is able to certify the diagnostics companies’ products according to the new regulations. “In the end, it risks affecting patients,” says Anna Lefèvre Skjöldebrand, CEO of Swedish Medtech.

Otrevlig parasit bildar hybrider och lurar immunförsvaret

Den lilla parasiten Trypanosoma cruzi har en otäck förmåga att orsaka allvarlig sjukdom. Nu har forskare vid Karolinska institutet kartlagt hur den lurar immunsystemet genom att bilda nya varianter som är blandningar av olika stammar.

Tougher competition as the Novo Nordisk Foundation broadens its programme

Søren Nedergaard has worked with innovation at the Danish Government Offices and the University of Copenhagen. Today, he is COO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which has recently broadened its programme for leading innovators in medical research to apply to the entire Nordic region.

Hansas läkemedel för njurtransplantation når även tyska marknaden

Hansa Biopharma har nu fått klart med pris och subvention i Tyskland för Idefirix, ett läkemedel som är till för patienter som är i behov av njurtransplantation, men inte kunnat få det på grund av särskilt stor risk för avstötning.

Så mycket tjänar naturvetare inom life science

Naturvetare inom den privata life science-sektorn hade dubbelt så bra löneutveckling i fjol som arbetsmarknaden i stort. Men de som jobbar i den offentliga sektorn har halkat efter rejält, visar nya siffor från fackförbundet Naturvetarna.

Bioarctic gör flera tunga rekryteringar: "Tid att växla upp"

Bioarctic, som utvecklar en behandling mot Alzheimers sjukdom, gör flera rekryteringar inför en kommande ansökan om marknadsgodkännande. – Bioarctic tar nu det första steget för att etablera sig som ett komplett biofarmabolag, säger bolagets vd Gunilla Osswald.