Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) is arranging a recruitment day with life science companies this May – and already 19 companies have signed up to take part.
“We want students to get in touch with us. Recruitment opportunities are everything for life science companies”, says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator.
The life science industry in the Umeå region is on track to triple its turnover and double the number of people it employs by 2030. To help it reach this target, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth has awarded Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) a grant of SEK 9.5 million.
For the next 18 months, UBI will develop meeting places and create the conditions for the continued growth of the life science industry in northern Sweden.
“We are delighted that our application has been approved! This gives us the opportunity to continue to develop the industry and contribute to the appeal of northern Sweden”, says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of UBI.
Umeå-based QureTech Bio AB receives support from the Swedish Research Council’s major investment ENABLE-2, which in collaboration with Vinnova gives small and medium-sized companies access to the ENABLE-2 platform to continue development of new antibiotics.
Companies and alumni from Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) raised SEK 301 million in capital investment and grants in 2021 – a huge increase of SEK 243 million compared to the previous year.
“It’s an absolutely fantastic amount. We work hard to help companies attract investment, so it is clear that our incubator process is working. Of the companies that raised money, 50 percent have a female CEO, which is extra gratifying”, says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of UBI.
Umeå-based pharmaceutical company Vakona has signed an agreement with French company GTP Tech to initiate the first manufacturing steps of its acne medicine.
“Production is at a level of quality that enables the medicine to be used in human clinical trials. If all goes well the medicine should be on the market within five to seven years”, says Mats Strömqvist, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Vakona.
Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) has strengthened its team with the appointment of two new business coaches – Lisandro Bernardo and Tobias Tovedal.
“There’s significant demand right now for business support, both in the early and late phases of development. We are extremely happy to welcome these two stars to our team”, says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator.
Ylva Elias has been appointed Business Development Manager at Swedish life science company UmanDiagnostics. She formerly took up her new position in January this year, and is responsible for selling and marketing UmanDiagnostics products throughout Europe.
“This is an incredibly important recruitment for our company. Ylva has the perfect background to be able to help us reach out to new customers in our European markets”, says Niklas Norgren, CEO of UmanDiagnostics.
Inficure Bio a life science company focused on preclinical development and validation of drugs that target chronic inflammatory and fibrotic conditions co-presented with CymaBay Therapeutics positive data at the American Association for the study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) using the company’s proprietary NIF mouse model.
The northern Sweden’s first networking pub for people working in the life science industry will open its doors in Umeå on November 23rd. Behind the initiative is Umeå Biotech Incubator, which has previously been named Europe’s most innovative life science incubator.
“In Umeå we think it is important to ‘pay it forward’. We want to help and support one another and create a strong sense of unity and community. In order to succeed, we need to get to know each other”, says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator.
Three investors are backing Umeå-based pharmaceutical company Vakona with funding worth millions of SEK.
“We are absolutely delighted and proud to have attracted this investment. It’s a reward for many years of hard work and takes us one step closer to clinical human trials”, says Gabriella Persson, CEO of Vakona.
Swedish-based UmanDiagnostics, a Quanterix company, has developed a new type of product that makes it easier to detect neurological diseases. Called NF-light ™ serum ELISA, it was officially launched on October 12th and will now be sold worldwide.
“Our product can be used for research inthe field of neurological diseases throughout the world. It feels very exciting, because our product is clearly revolutionary”, says Niklas Norgren, VP, Managing Director and co-founder of UmanDiagnostics.
The CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI), Jennie Ekbeck, has been named as one of five finalists in the small company category of Sweden’s CEO of the Year 2021.
“I was surprised and very happy to find out I had made it to the final. I feel really honoured”, says Jennie Ekbeck.
The award ceremony will be held at Fotografiska in Stockholm on 11th November.
Umeå-based biopharmaceutical company Omnio has appointed Ulrika Norin, who has a long history of working with drug development startups, as its new CEO.
“I am excited look forward to being a part of Omnio’s team. We have made significant progress in finding identifying ways to help difficulthard-to-treat heal patients with their chronic wounds. Our work feels rewarding and important”, says Ulrika Norin.
We are now looking for two new business coaches for our team.
The life science industry in Umeå is booming. Employment has risen by more than 17 per cent per year and life science companies have attracted SEK 230 million in equity investment over the past two and a half years.
“Two years ago we set a goal that the life science industry in Umeå would generate more than SEK 1 billion and add more than 500 jobs by 2030. At today’s rate we will far exceed this goal”, says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI).
Betagenon AB, a Sweden-based company focused on developing AMPK activator compounds, announced that James Hall BM, BCh, D.Phil has joined as CEO.
Umeå-based Xerum launched a home testing kit in March that detects antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19. Uptake of the kits was strong, and now the company has been given an important assignment by Sweden’s Folkhälsomyndigheten (the Swedish Public Health Agency).
“This is amazing news”, says Julia Wigren Byström, CEO of Xerum. “We will be responsible for the distribution and analysis of our self-sampling kits as part of a large study being conducted by the Swedish Public Health Agency to measure the number of people in the country who have developed antibodies”.
Umeå-based biopharmaceutical company Lipum has been working towards a stock exchange listing since 2018 – and now the moment has finally arrived.
On Thursday, April 22, shares in Lipum will be traded on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market for the very first time. The company will ring Nasdaq’s opening bell, which has been specially transported to Umeå, to mark the occasion.
Umeå-based pharmaceutical development company QureTech Bio is hiring more people as it intensifies its work to combat antibiotic resistance.
“We recently received a major investment which has created long-term security in the company. With more people in place, we can now really push on and look to the future”, says Helén Fält, who was recently appointed the new CEO of QureTech Bio.
Helén Fält har jobbat som affärscoach på Umeå Biotech Incubator i åtta år. I den rollen är hon ett viktigt bollplank till tidiga startups inom life science.
– Det är ett väldigt varierande, roligt och flexibelt jobb. Det är kul att få hänga med bolagen på deras tidiga resa och att göra det tillsammans med hela teamet på UBI, säger Helén Fält.
