With the Attractive Innovation Project Award, UU Innovation recognises researchers and students who have taken important steps towards translating ideas and research results into innovation and societal benefit. And the year has started strongly for several innovation projects at Uppsala University that have succeeded in attracting investors, customers or partners to secure further development. So, barely one quarter into 2023, UU Innovation is awarding five projects the Attractive Innovation Project Award. All of them have received support from UU Innovation along the way, and are being recognised with diplomas and flowers.
Here are the projects
Akiram Therapeutics
Akiram Therapeutics is developing a new type of radiotherapy for the currently incurable disease anaplastic thyroid cancer. The founding team that developed and patented the promising drug candidate consists of Marika Nestor, Fredrik Frejd and Anja Mortensen, researchers at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology. Funding through the Sciety investor network will allow the team to continue the development of their drug candidate and to enter phase I clinical trials. The team also sees potential in the treatment for other types of thyroid, neck and head cancers.
Discovery paves way for possible new cancer treatment - news item on the University web
Readily Diagnostics
Liza Löf and Masood Kamali-Moghaddam, researchers at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, founded Readily Diagnostics to bring a new rapid test for respiratory diseases to market. Several investors, including UU Invest AB, have provided capital to support the commercialisation. The test is a further development of a method developed by the researchers, and the aim is to be able to measure several different viruses so that the right treatment can be administered quickly.
Desire to experiment provides starting point for new virus test - news item on the University web
Daily Innovation
Katarina Blomkvist, a researcher at the Department of Business Studies, has spent many years studying intrapreneurship, i.e. innovation in various forms within established companies and organisations. Based on the results, she has developed a methodology together with William Varga from LVMH and entrepreneur Kristofer Klerfalk to help organisations in both the private and public sectors to identify, activate and strengthen their innovation capacity. Together, the team founded the company Daily Innovation 364, which today has clients in various sectors.
Fibre-reinforced bone cement
Together with researchers at ETH Zurich, Cecilia Persson, Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has developed and patented a technology that could enable the treatment of fractures in bone tissue with a material that can stimulate the formation of new bone tissue. She has assigned her part of the patent application to ETH Zurich, with the right to compensation in the event of future profits. The aim is to find licensees who can take the invention forward to a commercial product.
Sapiron
The business idea behind Sapiron is to promote the use of advanced image analysis methods in life sciences, e.g. to make it faster and cheaper to develop new drugs. The idea is the brainchild of Emil Rosén, a former doctoral student at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, and he has taken on the challenge by developing a software solution that combines image analysis and AI, and by extension cloud services. The target group includes biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and Sapiron has made its first sale.
The researcher chose entrepreneurship - news item on the Staff Portal