Swedish women’s health company Gedea Biotech awarded €3 M by EU’s Horizon 2020 to accelerate introduction of antibiotic-free treatment for vaginal infections

 

     

 

Gedea Biotech today announced that it has received €3 M from the EU program Fast Track to Innovation (FTI), part of Horizon 2020. The grant will fund completion of the clinical trial program and preparation work for market introduction of the company’s antibiotic-free treatment for vaginal infections. Partners in the program are Link Medical Research in Norway and Nottingham University Hospitals in the UK.

Vaginal infections are a common problem, and current treatments such as antibiotics are not always effective. According to FTI, the justification to select Gedea Biotech as a recipient of the funding is based on, not only the significant medical need, but also on the resultant opportunity to replace current treatments involving antibiotics. Several strains of bacteria and fungi are already resistant to current treatments.

Annette Säfholm, CEO at Gedea Biotech, comments: “We believe that our new treatment, which has already shown promising results in a recently finalized clinical study in patients with bacterial vaginosis, will benefit both patients and healthcare. We are therefore delighted to have received this funding enabling us to launch the product earlier than otherwise would have been the case. We now look forward to initiating the work on our next clinical trial in Europe, together with our partners in Norway and the UK. We expect to launch our first product, that treats and prevents bacterial vaginosis in 2021.”

Collaboration partners for the work are the CRO company Link Medical from Norway with whom Gedea Biotech has a long-standing relationship and the University of Nottingham Hospitals, home to the lead clinic for the work.

Gedea Biotech is an incubator company in SmiLe Incubator, a life science business incubator based in Lund, Sweden. Gedea Biotech is also a portfolio company to Lu Holding, Lund University holding company. 


For further information, please contact:

Annette Säfholm, CEO Gedea Biotech

Telephone: +46 708 - 91 86 81

Email: annette.safholm@gedeabiotech.com

 

About vaginal infections

Vaginal infections affect at least 400 million women annually around the world and can be caused by either bacteria or fungi. Bacterial vaginosis is the most common vaginal infection in women of reproductive age and is a disease of the vagina caused by excessive growth of bacteria producing an imbalance of the naturally occurring bacteria in the vagina. The condition is treated with antibiotics and/or antiseptic treatment products. Recurring bacterial vaginosis is common.

About Gedea Biotech 

Gedea Biotech is a Swedish, innovative women’s health company developing pHyph, an antibiotic free and effective treatment of bacterial vaginosis. In addition to developing a treatment of bacterial vaginosis, Gedea Biotech is currently also pursuing a clinical trial in patients suffering from fungal vaginal infection.  The market for vaginal infections is worth over $ 1.5 billion. Gedea Biotech was founded in 2015 in Lund, Sweden. 

About Horizon 2020 and FTI

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation program ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020).

The Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) is part of the Enhanced European Innovation Council pilot (Enhanced EIC pilot) within Horizon 2020. FTI provides funding for close-to-market activities related to breakthrough, market-creating innovation across the EU. It is a very competitive program, only 5.5% of applicants are funded. There are no predefined topics for FTI calls; only the most excellent and impactful ideas will receive support.

 

 
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