Acne vulgaris affects more than 80 percent of people at some point in their life and frequently continues into adulthood. Recent data suggest that there are about 680 million people living with acne around the world. This case focuses on a novel approach to fighting acne without the hazards of antibiotic resistance development.
MetaCurUm Biotech receieved business support from UBI from 2017 until the autumn of 2025. The company is developing a novel antibody treatment for metastatic cancers. The company´s drug development program is focused on transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) driven cancers, with the aim to optimize the treatment paradigms in aggressive forms of cancer with high unmet medical need such as prostate, lung, kidney, and endometrial cancer.
QureTech Bio develops new first-in-class antibacterial agents to combat infectious diseases and the occurrence of antibiotic resistance. This is done either by a direct antimicrobial effect or by potentiating existing antibiotics and making them more effective without causing resistance. QTB was part of Umeå Biotech Incubator from 2014 to 2024.
During the first two months of the corona pandemic, researchers at the Department of Clinical Microbiology at Umeå University developed a sensitive test of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, to determine whether a person had covid-19. In May 2020, the antibody test was validated for clinical use in Region Västerbotten, Sweden. This was the start of the company Xerum, which was part of Umeå Biotech Incubator from 2020 to 2023.
HiloProbe was a research-based company in the field of cancer diagnostics. HiloProbe developed ColoNode® – a biomarker test for the accurate detection and characterization of cancer cells in the lymph nodes of colorectal cancer patients. At the beginning of 2025, HiloProbe shut down its operations.
InfiCure Bio offered advanced drug validation services for pharmaceutical companies developing drugs against fibrosis – or scar tissue formation in organs. The shortage of existing model systems that reflect human fibrotic disease conditions made it an attractive CRO-service for pharmaceutical developers. Due to the pandemic, the company experienced a significant decline in clients, ultimately leading to its closure in the fall of 2023.
Lipum develops a biological pharmaceutical for a novel mechanism of action in the treatment of chronic inflammations. The lead candidate drug (SOL-116) is a monoclonal antibody directed towards the protein bile salt-stimulated lipase, BSSL. One indication is as an orphan drug for the more severe forms of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), providing patients with an effective treatment alternative having less adverse effects than the drugs used today.
Lipigon is a lipid biology specialist company. It utilizes proprietary and unique know-how and technologies to discover and develop novel therapies for patients with lipid disorders and other cardio-metabolic risk factors.
Nordic Biomarker was founded in 2007 by the biochemist Dr Göran Aronsson and the clinical biochemist Dr Gunnar Pohl. Their business idea didn’t directly come from their research at the time at Umeå University, rather from a clear customer need that they identified after their research period. Today, Nordic Biomarker has the head office in Umeå, a site in Linköping – and customers all over the world.
HILICON is a world leading company in developing and manufacturing chromatography products for HILIC (hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography) separation of polar and hydrophilic compounds. They offer a broad range of HILIC products under the brand names of iHILIC®-Fusion, iHILIC®-Fusion(+), iHILIC®-Fusion(P), and iSPE®-HILIC.
The company has developed a unique and patented probe and method, Onzurf, which can be used to monitor the status of bodily organs from the surface of the organ in question. The probe provides critical life-saving information for patients, and saves resources for the health care sector.
Pro Test Diagnostics has developed a routine test to monitor and detect illegal use of one’s own stored blood to enhance performance in elite athletes. The ABT™-test can expose athletes who have used blood doping and the result is not affected by the athlete’s training intensity, the use of high-altitude training or the use of low oxygen tents.
Update August 2025: Pro Test Diagnostics has secured a significant grant from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
A natural compound-approach for neutralizing exotoxins from various gram-negative pathogens. Gobroxia AB has developed a novel method to treat pathogens causing diseases such as diarrhea, sepsis, tooth loss and whooping cough in humans, as well as bovine respiratory disease in cattle and pneumonia in pigs.
Our project goals aim at increased survival, improved quality of life and less suffering for cancer patients. Our novel chemical entities (NCE) can prevent over-activation of certain signaling pathways and are based on existing pharmaceuticals that are well tolerable and easy to produce. This will be a first in class drug with little side effects (known drug class), addressing cancer induced cachexia and suppression of the immune system.
Brain stimulation offer digital evidence-based virtual reality rehabilitation for improved quality of life for stroke patients. We offer an accessible treatment strategy for patients suffering from neglect with shorter stay at hospital and eventually less need of support in their daily life.
Eirium AB was founded in 2012 as a spin-off company from Umeå University, Sweden. The vision of the company was to develop novel antiviral therapies to address an unmet medical need – a treatment for immuno-compromised patients. The company is currently on hold.
By combining two different methods, Medsens AB aimed to offer a whole new tool for realtime microdiagnostics during prostate cancer surgery. Medsens, based on the work of Olof Lindahl och Kerstin Ramser, received support from UBI for three years. The company is put on hold but the research is ongoing.
Delayed or inappropriate treatment of anaerobic infections may result in severe disease or death. With knowledge levels dropping at many clinical laboratories, the need for anaerobic proficiency increases. Dianox is developing educational solutions to halt this trend in health care.
Periodontitis, or gum disease, is both painful and socially stigmatizing. Anders Johansson and his team identified a plant extract with the ability to neutralize the A. actinomycetemcomitans leucotoxin as a possible solution for a new treatment.
Cyanobacteria have significant potential as industrial biotechnology platforms to produce a wide variety of bio-products, such as polymers, sugars and powerful antioxidants such as C-phycocyanin. Our team have created a set of genetic tools that give significant advantages in the microalgae industry for save, efficient and specific bioproduction.