Last summer Umeå-based UmanDiagnostics was acquired by major US life science company Quanterix for $22.5 million. Now it is recruiting additional staff at its offices in Umeå to meet an expected rise in new orders.
“We’re continuing to invest and are confident we’ll come out of the Coronavirus crisis even stronger, despite the uncertainty being faced by many industries,” says Niklas Norgren, CEO of UmanDiagnostics.
Pro Test Diagnostics has developed a unique antidoping kit for blood doping, which will soon be out on the market. The company now takes in SEK 17 million in capital from Nascent Invest AB and the co-owner Fort Knox Förvaring AB.
“Sports federations all over the world, testing agencies and the International Olympic Committee all signal that there is a great need in the market. Thanks to new capital, we are taking a step in the fight against blood doping”, says Anders Mannelqvist, CEO of Pro Test Diagnostics.
Publicly listed Diamyd Medical is to open a new vaccine manufacturing facility in Umeå.
“This is fantastic news and demonstrates that Umeå is a growing life science hub,” says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator.
Umeå life science company QureTech Bio has received a SEK 3 million grant from the Swelife innovation programme (funded by the Swedish Government via Vinnova) to make antibiotic-resistant bacteria sensitive to different antibiotics again.
“We are delighted to receive this grant, as it will enable us to create a product that can help patients and save lives,” says Fredrik Almqvist, CEO of QureTech Bio.
Umea-based health technology company Instrube Health AB has developed a new communication app for the healthcare industry. Called Memotus, the new messaging app and platform is designed for both healthcare providers and patients, allowing them to manage consultations and follow-up visits digitally.
“We are now ready to supplement physical care by offering healthcare providers a digital communication tool”, says Mikael Östberg, CEO of Instrube Health.
Umeå-based Lipigon Pharmaceuticals has signed a new deal and taken over the patent portfolio for a number of drug candidates that could help treat cardiovascular diseases.
“The market in treatments for various blood fat disorders amounts to several billion dollars. This is a very important opportunity for us,” says Stefan K Nilsson, CEO of Lipigon.
Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) is strengthening its team once again with the appointments of a new Business Coach and Community Manager.
“The pressure is on! Right now we have a lot of ideas developing at our incubator and several of our companies are looking to take the next step. That’s why it is so important we have sufficient resources to handle this growth”, says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of UBI.
Dr Kristian Sandberg, Director of the Drug Discovery and Development platform at SciLifeLab, has joined the board of Umeå-based biotech company Lipum.
“Kristian has extensive experience in drug development. We are absolutely delighted to announce his appointment”, says Ulf Björklund, Chairman of the Board at Lipum.
In our new coworking space we have two conference rooms – help us name them!
Umeå-based Inficure Bio is expanding again, as yet another employee is hired to meet the growing demand for the company’s products.
“Things are going really well for us right now and it feels like the perfect time to expand our team,” says Sofia Mayans, CEO of Inficure Bio.
Chinese investment firm Ivy Capital is investing almost 3 million USD into Umeå-based biotechnology firm Betagenon.
“This investment is incredibly important to us and the development of our product. We hope to produce a cure for widespread diseases,” says Thomas Edlund, Co-Founder and CEO of Betagenon.
Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) is hosting two events in Stockholm later this week. Both the Meet Umeå Life Science and the Biotech Umeå Investment Day are expected to attract record numbers of participants.
“These events are a great way for us to connect life science companies from the Västerbotten region with national and international experts and investors. And this year a record number of participants have registered for the events, which feels amazing,“ says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator.
Life science company Lipigon Pharmaceuticals has recruited two new members of staff following the signing of a multi-million SEK agreement for its gene therapy project with listed Nordic company CombiGene.
The new appointments will bring additional knowledge and skills to the Umeå-based company that will help it reach project milestones in the years ahead.
“This agreement allows us to grow, which is great for us and for Umeå,” says Stefan K Nilsson, CEO of Lipigon.
Now Umeå Biotech Incubator is creating new business areas on Tvistevägen near Umeå University.
”It will be a new and modern co-working space for Umeå’s startups – where the companies can grow and collaborate,” says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator.
Researchers from the Umea pharmaceutical research company Quretech Bio have been granted SEK 5 million by the Erling-Persson Family Foundation to make resistant bacteria sensitive to antibiotics again.
“We are delighted and extremely grateful. This money is vital in allowing us to continue conducting critical experiments” says Jörgen Johansson, Professor of Molecular Microbiology at Umeå University and Co-founder of Quretech Bio.
Now Umeå company Lipum brings more expertise to the company. Professor Anders Fasth steps in as an advisor in the development of medicines for inflammatory diseases.
“It is very gratifying that he joins the team,” says Einar Pontén, CEO of Lipum.
Now the first company has left the incubator after going through all the steps in the incubator process – from Preincubate to Growth. Congratulations Inficure Bio – well done!
Life science company Lipigon Pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement for its gene therapy project with listed company CombiGene.
“If everything goes well this agreement could potentially be worth millions. But it also enables us to develop our business in the short term, not least because we can now employ highly competent staff in Umeå,” says Stefan K Nilsson, CEO of Lipigon.
The Umeå company Spinchem shares about 40 million SEK in an international research project funded by the European Union.
”This is good timing for SpinChem since our strategy is to create new environmentally friendly, bio-based processes for industry,” says Emil Byström, CEO of Spinchem.
MetaCurUm Biotech has won an innovation competition announced by Groth & Co. The price is an IPR consultation worth SEK 75,000.
”We are very happy and grateful for the prize. It is fantastic that the jury sees the potential in our idea and that they want to help us in our development,” says Lotta Berg, CEO of MetaCurUm Biotech.