SV
Contact us
bioarctic-history-2006

From research to global innovation

KDventures invested early in BioArctic. At the IPO in 2017, the partial exit corresponded to around 80x invested capital.

A new biological understanding of Alzheimer’s disease

When BioArctic was founded, there were no treatments that could affect the course of Alzheimer’s disease itself. The company was founded by Professor Lars Lannfelt and Pär Gellerfors to further develop research into the so-called Swedish and Arctic mutations.

The research provided important insights into the role that harmful forms of amyloid-beta play in disease progression and opened up a new treatment strategy: using antibodies to selectively target amyloid-beta aggregates in the brain.

KDventures saw the potential early in the combination of groundbreaking research, a very large medical need and the opportunity to develop an entirely new type of disease-modifying treatment.

From early research to international partnership

Following KDventures’ early investment, BioArctic continued developing its antibody technology. As early as 2005, the company entered into a research collaboration with the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai, and in 2007 this was followed by a global licensing agreement for the antibody that was later developed into lecanemab.

BioArctic was listed on Nasdaq Stockholm in 2017. KDventures then carried out a partial exit corresponding to around 80 times invested capital and divested its remaining holding during 2018.

Development continued thereafter. Lecanemab showed positive results in a global phase 3 study and is now marketed as Leqembi for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease, with approvals in several major markets.

BioArctic shows how much value can be created when strong academic research is identified early, combined with the right industrial partners, and given the time and capital to develop all the way to the patient.

Cookies

This website uses cookiesfor statistics and user experience.

This website uses cookies to improve your user experience, to provide a basis for improvement and further development of the website and to be able to direct more relevant offers to you.

Feel free to read our privacy policy. If you agree to our use, choose Allow all. If you want to change your choice afterwards, you will find that option at the bottom of the page.