KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET
A world leader in applying academic research to create marvellous new drugsn

TEXT: ROBERT INGLIS
PHOTOS: MARIE ULLNERT/©PRESSENS BILD

'A medical school not supporting use of its basic research results for applications is unethical' Professor Hans Wizgell, former President Karolinska Institutet


BIOTECHNOLOGY
Today biotechnology and life sciences are attracting major investment and rank among the fastest growing industrial sectors in the world. Sweden is a world leader in biotechnology and life science research, thanks partly to the innovation and research being carried out at the Karolinska Institutet.

A CHANGING SOCIETY
Western societies face the paradox of greater life expectancy and better quality of life on the one hand and an increasing number of age related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease on the other. Global diseases such as AIDS, avian influenza and malaria are also posing a serious health threat. Advances in medical science have deepened our understanding of the mechanisms behind various diseases, but the need for new and better drugs and therapies remains undiminished. Karolinska Institutet is helping to meet this challenge by commercialising the results of its world class biomedical research to develop more effective ways to treat disease.

DEVELOPMENT OF NEW DRUGS
Unfortunately, many potential drug candidates fail during the lengthy development phase, due to adverse side effects or lack of efficacy. This creates a need for an efficient selection system as it takes up to 10 years to develop a new drug and the success rate is a miniscule 1 out of 5000. Previously, the large pharmaceutical companies developed ideas for new drugs, but now the focus is shifting to utilizing academic research. The success of Karolinska Institutet in this area lies in identifying innovative ideas for new drug therapies which come from its research laboratories, and from other Nordic Universities. One of the innovation system’s key strengths is to combine the scientific and medical thinking behind the new idea with financial and business management expertise to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical industry. Innovative ideas from all Nordic countries are brought together under the auspices of KIAB, Karolinska Institutet Innovations AB, which was set up in 1999 to fund the start up of small pharmaceutical companies. KIAB’s role is to identify and nurture these ideas until they mature into competitive start-up companies. The seed capital for the early development of start up companies is provided by the investment companies Karolinska Development KD I and KD II (KD III will be set up in 2007). The business model is based on the premise that within a seven year period each selected company develops to a position where it can be sold or its products out-licensed, and the income derived from this activity invested in a new fund. This would eventually create a rolling system for project fi nancing and when the funds are fully developed, Karolinska Institutet would become independent of external venture capital requirements. The system is working well and KIAB is establishing a good track record. So far, more than 600 academic inventions have been reviewed, 35 start-up companies have been created and 25 licensing agreements have been arranged. Other Nordic top academic institutions such as Lund University and Umeå University have teamed up with Karolinska Institutet for commercializing innovations within the life science area. Today, the system comprises almost 40 companies, corresponding to approximately 50 pharmaceutical development projects, of which four are in clinical trials. Outstanding products of Swedish research in recent years include Losec, the best selling drug in the world for gastric ulcers, and Genotropin, one of the first recombinant drugs and Healon, a preparation which revolutionised ophthalmic surgery.

BIOARCTIC NEUROSCIENCE- A NEW THERAPY FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
The Swedish company BioArctic Neuroscience, which is supported by one of the Karolinska Development Funds, is using its research expertise to develop improved therapies for Alzheimer’s disease. The company’s treatment strategy is based on the finding of a single family in Sweden that inherits the disease, the so called Arctic mutation, which has in turn led to a novel immunotherapy treatment. Dr. Pär Gellerfors, CEO and co-founder of the company ascribes the success of the company, which is based on research carried out by co-founder Professor Lars Lannfelt at the Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University, to the combination of innovative research, early stage financial support and sound business management. Dr. Gellerfors also cites government support, an accessible pool of highly qualified personnel, and not least the unique Swedish situation where academic researchers are allowed unimpeded rights to patent and commercialise their discoveries and inventions, thus sharing in the spoils of success.

For more information in Swedish and English, see: http://www.ki.se



Some facts about Swedish Biotechnology Research

• Did you know that according to independent surveys, Sweden...
• Has the highest labour quality in Europe.
• Is ranked as one of the most innovative nations in the world.
• Has the highest number of citations in clinical medicine in the world.
• Is number 1 in Europe in number of biotechnology companies per capita.

Karolinska Institutet

• Karolinska Institutet, situated just outside Stockholm, is a medical university with 5900 undergraduates and 2000 PhD students, of which around 300 are awarded PhDs every year.
• It conducts world class research in Allergies, Alzheimer’s disease, Biostatistics, Diabetes, Endocrinology and Receptors, Genomics, Infectious Diseases, Integrative Physiology, Molecular Oncology, Neurocognitive Research and Stem Cell Research.
• Founded in 1810 by one of Sweden’s most distinguished scientists Jöns Jacob Berzelius and by King Karl XIII, the university is also famous for being selected by Alfred Nobel in 1895 as the organization which nominates the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. A group of 50 professors from the Institute form the committee which chooses the laureate each year.
• Over the years eight Swedish researchers have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, and five of them have come from Karolinska Institutet.

Alzheimer’s disease

• Alzheimer’s disease, first described by the German neurologist Alois Alzheimer, is a progressive disease, which means that gradually more and more parts of the brain are damaged. As this happens, the symptoms become more severe. No one single factor has been identified as a cause for Alzheimer’s disease. However, frontline Alzheimer research suggests that an aggregated form of a peptide called the amyloid beta peptide (Aß) has a central role in the disease process. Other factors including age, genetic inheritance, environmental factors, diet and overall general health, are likely to be involved as well. No drug available today is able to arrest the progress of the disease but certain drugs on the market today are being used to treat memory loss and other cognitive dysfunctions.

Bio-consulting

• Robert Inglis and Jan-Gunnar Gustafsson are directors of the firm Bio-consulting AB, based in Uppsala, Sweden, which provides consulting services for the life sciences, biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals (www.bio-consulting.se).