SciLife Innovation is a pilot project for partnership between companies and academia, run jointly by UU and KI. The aim is to create models whereby companies and scientists can partner around areas of mutual interest, thereby creating practical applications for research findings through collaborations with health care and industry.
Both projects will be coordinated by SciLife Innovation so as to understand best practice and ensure knowledge transfer around partnership models.
One of the projects aims to explore a new innovative drug delivery technique in cellular systems. This collaboration between Candix AB and Marjam Ott, Assoc Prof. at the Dept of Applied Materials Science and manager for the SciLife Lab BioMat unit received 378.000 SEK from VINNOVA.
Candix AB, in cooperation with Nanexa AB, develops Nanocontainers for drug delivery using a proprietary nanotechnology platform that enables flexible design to optimize performance properties.“Our Nanocontainers are highly possible to customize with a 90% drug load, controlled and timely release and with the possibility to prepare for targeting and prolonged circulation in the bloodstream”, says Mårten Rooth, R & D Manager Thin Films and project leader from Candix and Nanexa. “Together with SciLifeLab and Uppsala University, we will investigate how our Nanocontainers operate at the cellular level.”
“The proactive and hands on support that we received from SciLifeLab made this cooperation possible”, continues Mårten Rooth and summarizes. “This is the kind of practical support that is critical for the success of SME’s“
For SciLifeLab and the Dept of Applied Materials Science, this project will increase the understanding of how surface topography, chemistry and material size affect the biological response. Assoc. Prof. Marjam Ott, manager for the BioMat unit, says “SciLife Innovation is an important organization that can establish contact between companies and academia. Within some disciplines, collaborations with companies come natural, whereas in others the research often stays at a basic science level. A close relation between academia and industry is rewarding both on a national and individual level and can lead to new and innovative technology solutions. We are grateful to VINNOVA for giving us the opportunity to work in this exciting and new collaboration together with Candix AB”
The second funded project aims to verify a prototype for specific measurement of the protein glicentin and thereby increase knowledge around glicentin and its potential role in the development of obesity related type 2 diabetes in children. This is a collaboration between Mercodia AB and Prof. Peter Bergsten at SciLifeLab and Dept of Medical Cell Biology at Uppsala University that received 391.500 SEK from VINNOVA.
Prof. Peter Bergsten says; ”SciLife Innovation contributes with building projects between academia and industry, not only by bringing people from the respective organisations together, but also by actively participating in the project, with funding from VINNOVA. We are very grateful for the work and support we have received from SciLife Innovation in this process”.
Mercodia is a world-leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of high quality immunoassay kits. “SciLife Innovation and the project with Peter Bergstens group give us a possibility to move from prototype to product by verification in a relevant research study”, says Annika Carlsson, Research Manager at Mercodia. “SciLife Innovation and the financing from VINNOVA is very helpful in this process, by facilitating all steps from initiation of the project to planning and starting the actual work”