Antibodies attacking flu virus.

50 years of excellence – it all started with a collaboration between academia and industry!

In 1966, a Japanese team in USA published their findings on a previously undescribed immunoglobulin named IgE, and almost simultaneously a team here in Uppsala comprising Hans Bennich, Gunnar Johansson, and Leif Wide, did the same. The great potential presented by this discovery found an industrial partner in Pharmacia through a particle patented by this company; Sephadex. Using this particle, Leif Wide developed a method to diagnose allergy called RAST (RadioAllergoSorbent Test), and In November 1967, exactly 50 years ago, the description of IgE measurement for clinical use was published for the first time (Wide L, Bennich H & Johansson SGO, Lancet ii, 1105, 1967). The rest is, as they say, history. Pharmacia has since then partnered and separated from Upjohn, been bought by Pfizer, subdivided into Pharmacia Diagnostics, changed their name to Phadia and finally been bought by Thermo Fisher in 2011 which is the current state of affairs. Phadia, under Thermo Fisher, has been world leading in the field of allergy diagnostics for almost 40 years now. The RAST-method has been improved upon and updated during that time, currently the available methods share the name “ImmunoCAP” and hold one of the largest global market shares.

Clinical need for more personalized diagnostics is a growing issue as well as the rising prevalence of allergies and asthma. In the UK, as an example, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is set to include biomarker FeNO (fraction of exhaled nitric oxide, marker of local inflammation and predictor of clinical response to inhaled corticosteroids) in the upcoming guidelines on Asthma Diagnosis and Monitoring to push for a development towards more effective treatment based on individual needs. This is something we should not wait to follow in Sweden, personalized diagnosis and care will reduce the suffering of patients and societal cost from long-term effects such as pulmonary obstructive disorder. Professor Kjell Alving of Uppsala University, expert and entrepreneur in the field, suggests further steps to improve outcomes for asthma patients;

“The step taken in the upcoming NICE guidelines to include biomarker measurements in patients with suspected asthma is a global first and to be commended”

A key to the success of the RAST appears to have been the close association between academia and industry and how quickly an academic discovery was translated into industrial success. Uppsala’s life science cluster is still known for being close-knit and communicative but there is perhaps less collaboration between the separate backbones of the triple-helix today. This is where the innovation system comes in; to strive towards bringing everyone together, enable communication and collaborations. At Uppsala BIO we are addressing this particular issue by celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the RAST together with UU Innovation and Professor Kjell Alving; on the 22nd of November we will gather experts of industry and academia in an AIM-day to discuss the future of asthma and allergy diagnosis followed by an evening at Thermo Fisher in Uppsala Business Park.

Lovisa Case_portrait

Lovisa Case, Phd, Project manager, Uppsala BIO

Commentary

Kristin Hellman, Uppsala BIO - 2018-08-22

Uppsala BIO helps Testa Center off to a flying start

Process based on successful BIO-X methodology.

Kristian Sandberg, Director of DDD, SciLifeLab in Uppsala - 2018-08-21

How to bridge the ‘Valley of Death’

The SciLifeLab Drug Discovery Model.

Erik Forsberg, Uppsala BIO - 2018-06-15

“You can make a holding company profitable, but it takes a bit of luck.”

This autumn, Lars Jonsson, CEO of UU Holding since 1998, retires and hands over a very successful investment business to his successor. “UU Holding is nothing short of a success story,” writes Uppsala BIO’s Erik Forsberg. Lars Jonsson has proven that it is possible to make a holding company profitable.

Magnus Engevik, Uppsala BIO - 2018-05-21

Uppsala’s innovation support system works! Award-winning Kontigo Care is the latest proof.

“With its high costs and huge suffering for those affected as well as their relatives, alcohol abuse is one of our major social problems. Kontigo Care’s work on digital biomarkers is one of the most exciting things I’ve witnessed during my career,” writes Uppsala BIO Buiness Developer Magnus Engevik.

Margaretha Gadnell, Uppsala BIO - 2018-04-25

Spotlight Uppsala’s unique resource!

Uppsala’s life science industry is healthy and developing well. More than 100 life science companies can be found here and in 2016 they employed about 5000 people and had a combined turnover of approximately SEK 27 billion.

Christina Wass, Project leader, Innovation Akademiska - 2017-12-13

“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…”

During 52 hours, staff from the Academic Hospital, AbbVie, Bristol Myers-Squibb and Microsoft worked together to develop and test new ideas and models for early diagnosis and better treatment of cancer. Now the experiences of Sweden's first “Innovation Race” can be summed up.

Lovisa Case - 2017-11-07