Lars Lannfelt, Pär Gellerfors, and Gunilla Osswald awarded Uppsala University's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Prize
STOCKHOLM, March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Uppsala University announced today that BioArctic AB's (publ) (Nasdaq Stockholm: BIOA B) two founders, Lars Lannfelt and Pär Gellerfors, as well as the company's CEO, Gunilla Osswald, have been awarded the university's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Prize for successfully addressing a growing global health problem.
The motivation reads: The prize is awarded for their groundbreaking research and strong business acumen, contributing to an important innovation in the fight against Alzheimer's disease and for their outstanding effort in taking an academic discovery all the way to an approved drug with the potential to change the lives of millions of people.
"I am very happy and proud. It feels both exciting and honorable to receive this prize," says Lars Lannfelt, professor emeritus at Uppsala University and one of BioArctic's two founders.
Lars Lannfelt succeeded in understanding what causes Alzheimer's disease as early as the 1990's. At the time he also got the idea to develop an antibody that could slow down the progression of the disease. Professor Lannfelt founded the company BioArctic in 2003 together with Pär Gellerfors, based on his research at Uppsala University, when development of the drug was still in its early stages. Early on, the two founders managed to establish a collaboration with the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai, and since then they have worked together to develop the antibody-based drug lecanemab.
"A vision that Lars and I have had all along is that we want to build BioArctic into a fully-fledged pharmaceutical company that both conducts research and commercializes products. Sweden had a huge pharmaceutical industry before the decline in early 2000's. Our goal is to try to change that by remaining in Sweden and creating a company of significance," says Pär Gellerfors.
The drug is currently approved in eleven countries, including the USA, Japan, and China. BioArctic and Eisai are now waiting for approval in an additional 17 countries and regions, including Europe.
"My driving force has always been to help patients, and it is fantastic to feel that we are now helping patients around the world. It is a privilege to have worked together with Lars and Pär to realize their vision, along with colleagues at BioArctic," says Gunilla Osswald, who holds a PhD from Uppsala University and has been CEO of BioArctic since 2014.
The information was released for public disclosure, through the agency of the contact person below, on March 12, 2025, at 08:00 CET.
For further information, please contact:
Oskar Bosson, VP Communications and IR
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +46 70 410 71 80
Charlotte af Klercker, Senior Director Sustainability and Communications
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +46 73 515 09 70
Images of Lars Lannfelt, Pär Gellerfors och Gunilla Osswald can be found on the company website: https://www.bioarctic.com/en/media/image-bank/
Motivation
The recipients of Uppsala University's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Prize for 2025 have successfully addressed a growing global health problem. Through groundbreaking research and strong business acumen, they have contributed to an important innovation in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. For their outstanding effort in taking an academic discovery all the way to an approved drug with the potential to change the lives of millions of people, the prize is awarded to Lars Lannfelt, Pär Gellerfors, and Gunilla Osswald.
About Uppsala University's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Prize
Uppsala University's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Prize is awarded to one or more individuals who have significantly contributed to successfully translating a discovery or innovation, based on research or education at Uppsala University, into successful commercialization or implementation with significant societal benefit.
The prize was established in 2021 by the Foundation for Uppsala University's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Prize, whose purpose is to highlight Uppsala University's entrepreneurial culture. The prize amount of 500,000 SEK has been made possible through donations from the foundation's ten founders.
About BioArctic AB
BioArctic AB (publ) is a Swedish research-based biopharma company focusing on innovative treatments that can delay or stop the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. The company is the originator of Leqembi® (lecanemab) – the world's first drug proven to slow the progression of the disease and reduce cognitive impairment in early Alzheimer's disease. Leqembi has been developed together with Eisai. BioArctic has a broad research portfolio within Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS and enzyme deficiency diseases. Several of the projects utilize the company's proprietary BrainTransporter™ technology, which improves the transport of drugs into the brain. BioArctic's B share (BIOA B) is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Large Cap. For more information, please visit www.bioarctic.com.
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