SmiLe has new laboratory instruments – thanks to Sparbank foundations

SmiLe business incubator has now purchased new advanced instruments using the grant that it previously received from Sparbanken Skåne’s owner foundations. The instruments will be placed in SmiLe’s laboratories, which are open for use by SmiLe companies, as well as other companies through SmiLe’s Open Lab service.

 

Image from microscopy at SmiLe’s lab with new ImageXpress® Pico Automated Cell Imaging System

 

SmiLe was able to upgrade the instrument park thanks to a grant from Sparbanken Skåne’s two owner foundations, the Sparbank Färs & Frosta Foundation and the Sparbank Finn Foundation. SmiLe has thus been able to strengthen one of its cornerstones – offering startup companies access to advanced laboratories – and thereby contribute to growth in Skåne’s business community. 

 

SmiLe Incubator is one of the few incubators in Sweden that specializes in life science startup companies and offers well-equipped laboratories. Ten laboratories are shared by all SmiLe companies and equipped with a large number of instruments that are adapted for drug development. The companies can also lease their own lab.

 

The new instruments are a digital microscope for image analysis of cells, along with equipment needed for cell experiments, such as an autoclave, centrifuge and incubator. These are suitable for companies that develop cancer drugs.

Researchers can use the “ImageXpress® Pico Automated Cell Imaging System,” a microscope with associated software for image analysis of the results, to study cancer cells on culture plates much faster and with greater accuracy than with comparable traditional microscopes. Up to 384 samples can be analyzed simultaneously on a single “plate.” The results – from calculating the total number of cells to studies of how each individual cell is affected by a drug substance – are evaluated in the instrument using different software applications.

“We are very pleased that the generous grants from the Sparbank foundations have made it possible to upgrade SmiLe’s shared laboratories. Access to well-equipped laboratories is crucial to the ability of companies to develop drugs and diagnostic methods for our serious common diseases,” says Per Brunmark, who is responsible for the laboratories at SmiLe.

Sparbanken Skåne’s owner foundations contribute to development in the region by supporting projects that promote business, infrastructure, research, education, sports, culture and children and young people. These efforts are all made possible because foundations can use profits from the banking business for community development initiatives.

 

For information about SmiLe Incubator, contact: Ebba Fåhraeus, CEO at SmiLe Incubator
+46 (0)734000433, ebba@smileincubator.life ; Or visit our mediaroom

---

---