Professor Lars Lannfelt, awarded the CTAD Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition for his pioneering work in Alzheimer's Disease
Stockholm, Sweden, October 30, 2024 – BioArctic AB (publ) (Nasdaq Stockholm: BIOA B) announced today that BioArctic's co-founder, Professor Lars Lannfelt, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in Alzheimer's Disease Therapeutic Research at the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) congress in Madrid on October 29. Professor Lannfelt received the award in recognition for his pioneering work in Alzheimer's disease, specifically his scientific discoveries and contribution to drug development.
Professor Lannfelt’s groundbreaking research has played a significant role in the scientific progress made in the field over decades, leading to the development of lecanemab, a disease-modifying treatment for early Alzheimer's disease approved in the U.S., Japan, China, Great Britain and other countries.
"The search for treatments to give hope and help patients and families affected by Alzheimer's disease is what has driven me throughout my scientific career," said Professor Lars Lannfelt. "This field or research is in the midst of a paradigm shift driven by the development of treatments such as lecanemab, which has demonstrated meaningful benefits to patients in the large phase 3 trial Clarity AD using gold standard endpoints. Coupled with the introduction of new diagnostic methods, I am convinced that within a number of years, we will not only be able to slow the progression of the disease, but eventually also stop the disease process entirely."
Professor Lars Lannfelt founded BioArctic together with Pär Gellerfors in 2003 to develop an antibody treatment based on Lannfelt's groundbreaking discoveries of the role of amyloid-beta protein in Alzheimer's disease. These discoveries are the basis for lecanemab, an antibody treatment developed in collaboration with the Japanese company Eisai. By binding to specific forms of amyloid-beta, which causes Alzheimer's disease, lecanemab helps to clear them from the brain, thereby altering the course of the disease.
The 17th annual CTAD international conference brings together 2,200 leading experts in Madrid and online October 29 to November 1 to present and discuss the latest therapeutic advances in Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists from across the globe will present clinical trial results and new therapeutic strategies to treat people experiencing all stages of the disease, including the latest in prevention of Alzheimer’s.
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The information was released for public disclosure, through the agency of the contact persons below, on October 30, 2024, at 08.30 a.m. CET.
For further information, please contact:
Oskar Bosson, VP Communications and IR
E-mail: oskar.bosson@bioarctic.se
Phone: +46 70 410 71 80
About lecanemab
Lecanemab is the result of a strategic research collaboration between BioArctic and Eisai. Lecanemab is a humanized IgG1 (immunoglobulin gamma 1) monoclonal antibody targeting aggregated soluble and insoluble forms of amyloid beta (Aβ). Lecanemab is approved in the USA, Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Israel, United Arab Emirates and Great Britain under the brand name Leqembi®.
About the collaboration between BioArctic and Eisai
Since 2005, BioArctic has a long-term collaboration with Eisai regarding the development and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The most important agreements are the Development and Commercialization Agreement for the lecanemab antibody, which was signed 2007, and the Development and Commercialization agreement for the antibody LEQEMBI back-up for Alzheimer’s disease, which was signed 2015. In 2014, Eisai and Biogen entered into a joint development and commercialization agreement for lecanemab. Eisai is responsible for the clinical development, application for market approval and commercialization of the products for Alzheimer’s disease. BioArctic has the right to commercialize lecanemab in the Nordic region under certain conditions and is currently preparing for commercialization in the Nordics together with Eisai. BioArctic has no development costs for lecanemab in Alzheimer’s disease and is entitled to payments in connection with regulatory approvals, and sales milestones as well as royalties on global sales.
About BioArctic AB
BioArctic AB (publ) is a Swedish research-based biopharma company focusing on disease-modifying treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and ALS. 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 partner Eisai in Alzheimer disease. 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 Class B share is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Large Cap (ticker: BIOA B). For more information about BioArctic, please visit www.bioarctic.com.