Hans-Peter Torsten Ekre

Karolinska Development AB (Private Equity) (Karolinska Development) is a Venture Capital firm, a subsidiary of Karolinska Development AB founded in 2003. The firm is headquartered in Solna.

IMED AB is focused on the development and commercialization of fully human monoclonal antibodies for treatment of immune disorders and diseases such as ischemia/reperfusion injury, HIV and cancer. IMED’s unique antibodies modulate the natural process of cell death called apoptosis by selective and specific blocking or induction of central signaling pathways. IMED AB is a privately owned biotechnology company funded by Karolinska Development and LinkMed AB and intends to out-license its products to pharmaceutical companies.

KDev Exploratory AB provides drug discovery solutions. It performs discovery research in various therapeutic areas, such as screening in oncology, neuroscience, lead finding, characterization in inflammation and angiogenesis/age-related macular degeneration. The company was founded by David Jern in 2000 and is headquartered in Solna, Sweden.

Avaris was founded in 2001 by research teams at the Karolinska Institute and Karolinska Innovations AB. The company is based on four proprietary technology platforms within cell and gene therapy. Avaris drives the research development and commercialization of new therapies in close collaboration with the founders, research teams, and strategic partners. The company is well positioned in cell and gene therapy field for chronic infections, cancer and inherited diseases. Avaris vision is to become the number one supplier of individualized cell and gene therapy treatments in northern Europe. In order to reach this goal it is exploring possibilities to acquire, or in license cell therapy technologies that complement the in house growth. Avaris is also open to partnering possibilities.

ProNoxis AB develops small-molecule drugs to treat chronic inflammation. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Lund, Sweden.

Cytoguide is a new biotech company devoted to the development of combined drugs that target receptors on cells in pathological tissues for medical purposes by linking drug candidates and registered drugs with known pharmacological effects to targeting receptor-binding protein partners. The development of receptor-targeted therapeutics will focus on the macrophage specific receptor CD163, the most abundant transport receptor on macrophages. The company has the IP right for existing CD163 targeting technology as well as strong scientific experience and know-how to exploit the use of this receptor for drug therapy. The combined drugs are aimed to improve the treatment of monocyte/macrophage-related diseases including autoimmune disease, leukemia and infectious diseases.

NovaSAID AB develops treatments for inflammation and pain in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. It discovers selective microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1), and has also demonstrated its effect in animal models for pain and inflammation. The firm's approach is to prevent the pathological formation of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) selectively, through the development of inhibitors of mPGES-1, the enzyme that is responsible for the formation of PGE2 during inflammation. Its mPGES-1 inhibition offers an approach for inhibiting pathological PGE2 production without adversely affecting other important prostanoids. The company was founded by Per-Johan Göte Jakobsson, Ralf Morgenstern, Bertil Samuelsson and Bengt Ingemar Samuelsson on October 26, 2004 and is headquartered in Solna, Sweden.