“Our pilot projects will set the standard, helping us identify essential offerings and refine our approach,” says Alexandra Patriksson, project manager for BRIDGE Sweden at Testa Center.

BRIDGE

Supported by Swelife and Vinnova (The Swedish Innovation Agency), BRIDGE Sweden is designed to connect existing national infrastructures, creating a cohesive pipeline for biologics development from candidate molecules to active substances ready for clinical trials, focusing on efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Three academic projects and one start-up

The approach being developed within BRIDGE Sweden will be validated through four pilot projects. The selected projects — three from academic institutions and one from a startup — will receive support and funding to accelerate the commercialization of their specific biological product through the BRIDGE platform. This includes drug, cell line, and process development (SciLife Lab’s Drug & Discovery Platform, DDD), developing gene therapy production (Lund’s Stem Cell Center and pre-GMP facility,) and upscaling of production (Testa Center). The pilot projects are:

  • Anna Dimberg, Uppsala University, “Antibody Therapy Targeting CD93 for Treatment of Brain Tumors”
  • Johan Bengzon and Henrik Ahlenius, Lund University, “In Vivo Gene Therapy for Glioblastoma”
  • Thuy Tran, Karolinska Institutet “Advancing Radiotheranostics for Solid Tumors”
  • Buzzard Pharmaceuticals “Development of an Improved IL-1 Inhibitor for Chronic Autoinflammatory Conditions”

Vital project for Lund’s Stem Cell Center

A key element of BRIDGE Sweden is the creation of new, stable cell lines on the DDD platform. Currently, a needs assessment is in progress, examining market demands, IP landscapes, potential business models, and BRIDGE Sweden’s capabilities within DDD.

The four pilot projects will proceed simultaneously, with Lund researchers Henrik Ahlenius and Johan Bengzon’s gene therapy project initially based at Lund’s Stem Cell Center and pre-GMP facility.

”We aim to scale up the production of gene therapy for clinical trials. Currently, we have seven drug projects based on this technology, but we can only produce at a research scale for preclinical studies. BRIDGE Sweden can assist us in setting up tests for industrial-scale production. Our researchers have been working with this technology for ten years, so this support is crucial,” says Elias Uhlin, project manager at Stem Cell Center in Lund.

Innovation offices provide business support

BRIDGE Sweden also aims to link research infrastructure with the innovation ecosystem by providing early business support to pilot projects.

“We’ve identified the business support needs for the academic projects. Initially, the innovation offices at KI, Lund, and Uppsala University will assist with business development,” says Patriksson.