BioArctic strengthens its blood-brain barrier technology platform with world leading scientist recruitment
Stockholm, Sweden, May 23, 2019 – BioArctic AB (publ) (Nasdaq Stockholm: BIOA B) announced today that the company has recruited the internationally renowned scientist Dr. Per-Ola Freskgård to strengthen BioArctic’s development of its technology platform to facilitate passage of antibodies and other biologics across the blood-brain barrier. The objective with BioArctic’s novel technology is to be able in the future to apply it to the company’s own antibodies, and also for other companies to apply it in development of their antibodies. Through the recruitment of Dr. Freskgård, BioArctic further strengthens its capabilities in the neuroscience therapeutic area, antibody engineering and blood-brain barrier competence.
Dr. Freskgård was most recently Vice Director, Distinguished Scientist and Group Head Neurovascular Biology at the Roche Innovation Center in Basel where he was responsible for the implementation of new technologies to develop biologic drugs for neurological disorders. Previously, Dr. Freskgård has held several positions within academia and industry, for example at AstraZeneca and Novo Nordisk, with focus on developing new therapies within the central nervous system. For the last 15 years, Dr. Freskgård has been active in research around new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Today, Dr. Freskgård is one of the world’s leading experts on mechanisms that increase the passage of biologic drugs across the blood-brain barrier.
The blood-brain barrier controls the exchange of substances between the blood stream and the brain. It protects the brain from toxins and other pathogens, but it may also limit the delivery of therapeutic agents to the brain. In collaboration with Uppsala University, BioArctic is developing novel technologies to increase the passage of antibodies over the blood-brain barrier. BioArctic and Uppsala University recently received a grant from Sweden’s Innovation Agency, Vinnova, to fund a collaboration project aimed at developing multi-specific antibodies with a transporter to facilitate passage across the blood-brain barrier. The recruitment of Dr. Freskgård as an expert in the field is a further step in BioArctic’s work in this area.
”That Per-Ola Freskgård, a world leading scientist on technologies to facilitate the passage of biologics across the blood-brain barrier, now has chosen to join BioArctic is a recognition of the high quality research at BioArctic. This expert recruitment further strengthens our efforts in this area. Although the research is currently at an early stage, we believe that this technology has a huge potential and could make a significant difference for patients with a range of different diseases,” said Gunilla Osswald, CEO of BioArctic.
For more information, please contact:
Gunilla Osswald, PhD, CEO, BioArctic AB
E-mail: gunilla.osswald@bioarctic.se
Telephone: + 46 8 695 69 30
This information was submitted for publication at 8:00 a.m. CET on May 23, 2019.
About BioArctic AB
BioArctic AB (publ) is a Swedish research-based biopharma company focusing on disease-modifying treatments and reliable biomarkers and diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The company also develops a potential treatment for Complete Spinal Cord Injury. BioArctic focuses on innovative treatments in areas with high unmet medical needs. The company was founded in 2003 based on innovative research from Uppsala University, Sweden. Collaborations with universities are of great importance to the company together with its strategically important global partners in the Alzheimer (Eisai) and Parkinson (AbbVie) projects. The project portfolio is a combination of fully funded projects run in partnership with global pharmaceutical companies and innovative in-house projects with significant market- and out-licensing potential. BioArctic’s B-share is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Mid Cap (ticker: BIOA B). For more information about BioArctic, please visit www.bioarctic.com.
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