Ten innovation projects in life sciences receive grants under the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and SciLifeLabs Proof-of-Concept Program

The purpose of the Proof-of-Concept Grant is to bridge the gap from academic research to innovations in life science.

The grant gives researchers the opportunity to develop their early-stage discoveries towards validated methods, products or processes and provides the opportunity to conduct activities that validate and accelerate the development of the project towards validated innovations and eventual commercialization.

“The Proof-of-Concept grants enable researchers to explore the potential of their research results. It is not an ordinary research grant, but a grant to research groups at universities, specifically aimed at financing activities that validate research results and accelerate the development of projects. The Swedish research and innovation bill rewarded excellent research and innovative power and this is an example of just that,” says Sara Mazur, Executive Director Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

Olli Kallioniemi, Chair of the Program’s Evaluation Committee, points out that Proof -of-Concept funding fills a critical gap for the development of innovations and ideas that are in an early development phase, and that often have difficulty obtaining funding through academic grants, where support from industry or venture capital is also not possible.

“The POC funding mechanism fills a critical gap that is difficult to cover with academic grants, nor is it possible to get industry or venture support for innovations and ideas that are at a very early stage. We are very thankful to KAW for making this ‘bridging’ grant mechanism available, in the form of annual calls. In this round, there were many excellent ideas and opportunities presented and competition was tight. We wish the selected projects luck and success and hope to see many of these innovations reach the marketplace and to benefit the society in the future,” says Olli Kallioniemi.

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation awarded the first Proof-of-Concept grants in 2017. In 2019, the Wallenberg Launch Pad, WALP, platform was created. Researchers who have or have had grants from the Foundation can apply to WALP with their ideas. Researchers who progress through the process will receive support and coaching within WALP. 

In 2023, the first round of the Proof-of-Concept program for life science was announced. This round is the program's second. A total of 20 grants have now been granted within the program. Overall, a total of 100 Proof-of-Concept grants have been granted since 2017. A third call for Proof-of-Concept grants in life science will open on January 13 with the application deadline on March 21, 2025. 

Between one and four million SEK 
The projects that have been granted funding will receive between one and four million SEK each over a project period of a maximum of two years. In addition to funding, the project leaders will receive continued support from the Wallenberg Launch Pad, WALP, team to develop their innovations to commercial maturity. 

“We are very grateful for the grant. It enables the transition from basic research to the development of new drugs, which can be difficult with traditional research funding. Through our project, we hope to improve the lives of patients with serious neurological diseases. In order to truly reach patients, the commercial aspects are crucial,” says Pål Stenmark, Professor of Biochemistry at Stockholm University. 

Associate Professor Thuy Tran and Klas Bratteby at Karolinska Institutet whose project is about targeted therapies for metastatic cancer treatments say:

“Thanks to the grant, we have a unique opportunity to take our research idea all the way to a concrete medical application. We can now scale up and validate our innovation on a more commercial level. In addition, coaching from experienced entrepreneurs has been extremely valuable and has given us new insights into how best to present and position our idea.” 

Awarded Proof-of-Concept grants in the 2024 call

Xingqi Chen, Uppsala University
Highly sensitive epigenetic profiling technologies for clinical research

Marie Jeansson, Karolinska Institutet
Therapeutic intervention to slow progression of chronic kidney disease

Johan Ericson, Karolinska Institutet
A therapeutically high-effective ATMP cell product for Parkinson’s disease

Fredrik Swartling, Uppsala University
Soxradicate relapse - a diagnostic tool for brain tumor recurrence

Anna Dimberg, Uppsala University
Vascular targeted AAV-therapy - next generation immunotherapy for cancer

Anna Rising, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Spinning artificial spider silk yarns and textiles - SINLESS

Pål Stenmark, Stockholm University
Innovative therapeutic toxins for the treatment of neuromuscular disorders

Aman Russom, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
BugSee - enabling truly rapid sepsis diagnostics

Fredrik Lanner, Karolinska Institutet
Establishing clinical scale manufacturing of stem cell derived islets with enhanced purity and functionality for treatment of type-1 diabetes 

Thuy Tran, Karolinska Institutet
Advancing TROP-2 Targeted Theranostics for Metastatic Solid Cancer Treatment

Background Proof of Concept grants in life sciences
The call covers innovations in life sciences in a broad sense, such as drug development, medical technology, diagnostics, research tools, e-health and industrial biotechnology. It is also open to innovations in environmental science, agriculture, bioenergy and sustainability. To be eligible, the applicant must be employed at a Swedish university and have or have had grants from the Wallenberg Foundations, or be part of SciLifeLab, Wallenberg Center for Molecular Medicine, or SciLifeLab and Wallenberg's national program for data-driven life sciences, DDLS. During the autumn, a first call for Proof-of-Concept grants was also made within the program for materials science, which will be decided and announced in the spring.

Contact:
Sara Mazur, Executive Director Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
+46 (0)8-545 017 80
kaw@kaw.se

Anna Frejd, communications manager, SciLifeLab
anna.frejd@scilifelab.se
+46 705-39 00 79

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation was established in 1917. The Foundation’s aim is to benefit Sweden by supporting Swedish basic research and education, primarily in medicine, technology and the natural sciences. This is achieved by awarding grants to excellent researchers and projects.

Over SEK 37 billion in grants has been awarded since the Foundation was established. In 2023 the yearly grants to excellent basic research and education in Sweden was in total almost SEK 2.2 billion, making the Foundation the largest private funder of scientific research in Sweden, and one of the largest in Europe.