New SmiLe alumni achievements include EUR 123M in raised capital and two IPOs

News from SmiLe Incubator, Sweden:  At this year´s "Graduation Ceremony", six companies that leave SmiLe´s incubator program are honored. The companies, that will now continue on their growth journey, are Acrivon, Diagonal Bio, Gedea Biotech, Gutfeeling Labs, Medotemic and Spermosens.

The SmiLe companies are active in areas where there is a great need for new and more effective diagnostics and healthcare interventions. A total of 100 companies have participated in SmiLe’s incubator program, including current members.

A few months ago, Acrivon received considerable attention when the company, together with its parent company Acrivon Therapeutics Inc., raised almost EUR 90M in an IPO. Its unique precision medicine platform streamlines development of the company’s pipeline of drug candidates for cancer. The platform helps to identify those patients who can best be treated with each drug. The head office is in Boston, while research takes place at the subsidiary in Lund, Sweden, which is led by co-founder Kristina Masson.

In the middle of the pandemic, Diagonal Bio's CEO Jack Egelund Madsen announced that the company had performed successful tests that in less than ten minutes provided simultaneous detection of COVID-19 and influenza virus type A. The company has made significant progress in the development towards a fast, simple and reliable diagnosis of several diseases simultaneously and / or several patients at the same time, where the technology is based on the company's Panviral diagnostics platform. Diagonal Bio is listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market.

Under the management of CEO Annette Säfholm, the women’s health company Gedea Biotech developed the pHyph vaginal tablet, which could become the first antibiotic-free treatment that both prevents and treats bacterial vaginosis. Recently, all patients were recruited for the company's latest clinical trial, the results of which will form the basis for CE marking.

One highly relevant research area is the ecosystem of bacteria in the gut that controls much of our well-being and our immune system. Gutfeelings Lab’s founders Walter Fischer and Hans Fischer use the latest findings, and market the GutClear nutritional supplement and intestinal flora analysis.

Lars Nilsson, CEO and founder of Medotemic, and his team have formulated advanced algorithms for movement analysis. The apps collect sensor data via smartphones and the movement pattern is analyzed while the user is on a walk or a run. The systems are used by private individuals for wellness, rehabilitation, or to improve their running technique. Progress can be remotely monitored, for example by physical therapists and running coaches.

With Spermosen´s product JUNO-Checked – which is based on work done by Kushagr Punyani, co-founder and leading inventor – it will for the first time be possible to assess sperm´s ability to fertilize egg cells and choose the appropriate fertility treatment. Spermosen´s goal is to increase the proportion of successful treatments, as today fewer than every fifth IVF treatment is successful. The company is led by CEO John Lempert and is listed on the Spotlight Stock Market

“I am very impressed with what these six companies have achieved, and how far they have come during their time in the incubator program. Also, I am very proud to hear the companies talk about how important our coaches, our laboratories and all the inspiring colleagues in our community have been for their success. Now they are joining our growing group of successful alumni and continue to be part of the SmiLe community,” says Ebba Fåhraeus, CEO of SmiLe Incubator.

For more information please contact: Ebba Fåhraeus, vd för SmiLe Incubator, +46 (0)73 4000433, ebba@smileincubator.life

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