Sweden, with a historic tradition as the place for major biomedical innovations such as chromatography and electrophoresis, has been the birthplace of a number of world-leading companies. An important driving force has been the founding scientific research performed at Swedish universities, with Stockholm-based and Nobel Prize-related Karolinska Institutet at the forefront with its 300 professors, 900 other researchers and 2,000 students. On average, this institution alone sees a new and innovative spin-off biomedical company every second month. Which isn't too surprising considering the starting point of the annual 10,000 research projects and 4,000 scientific reports originating here.Equally broad hopes are now being placed on dynamic fields such as protein and stem cell research and miniaturisation within biotechnology. With this year's industrial line-up at Medica 2002 in Dusseldorf, Sweden wants to strengthen its image as a country of innovation and dynamic development. This venture will comprise 15 or so companies that will present their new products and their latest advances in development work. The aim is to create contacts and business opportunities, as well as to simulate strategic alliances and international collaborations."There's an unbroken dynamism and future faith in the Swedish biomedical and medicotechnical sector. Turnover among the sector's research companies - both small and medium-sized - has increased by 64% during the last three years, to about SEK 8 billion, at the same time as the number of employees has increased by 30%," says David Ernstsson, project manager for the overall state venture 'The Swedish Bioscience Programme', which also supports the Swedish Pavilion at Medica.The Swedish biotech industry is estimated to involve about 300 R&D companies, of which about 50 are specifically focused on biopharmaceutics. According to a recent report, international success has been achieved in particular among the relatively large number of companies that have invested in developing techniques and tools/equipment for improving working methods within the research sphere.

Transplant Blood Group Barrier
Eliminated By New Product Series

With the recent pan-European approval of the new product line GlycoSorb-AB0, manufacturer Glycorex Transplantation AB's opportunities and markets have increased dramatically. Within Europe, about 15,000 transplants are performed annually, at about 250 different locations. For allotransplants (human-to-human) and the future possibility of xenotransplants (animal-to-human), the company is developing a string of blood plasma-based products that reduce the risk of organ rejection. With the help of the GlycoSorb-AB0 product line, the so-called blood group barrier can be overcome and any blood group combination can be used in conjunction with a transplant. At Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, for example, a kidney transplant with a blood group B donor and blood group O recipient was recently performed successfully. The elimination of the blood group barrier is expected to enable a large number of additional transplants, which will also entail financial savings for society and a significant reduction in human suffering. The technique is currently being studied for use within blood transfusions.

Contact: Kurt Nilsson, tel + 46 (0) 46-2865780, www.glycorex.com

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Filter For Respiratory Passages
Blocks Both Viruses and Bacteria

Innovative ideas for pump systems for medical injections and infusions, with an estimated market potential of more than SEK 10 billion, will be launched at this year's Medica exhibition.

Octapump is based on an innovation of Uppsala professor Uno Erikson and is said to combine the advantages of both peristaltic and injector pumps without their respective disadvantages. The pump shall manage both high and low dosages in an exact, safe, rational ands economic manner, promises Octagon Group, the manufacturer. Among the target groups we find a large and growing market with an increasingly older and more healthcare demanding population. The company will also present a number of anatomically adapted tracheostomy and tracheal products, such as the OctaNose Infection Guard. This artificial nose is used for heat and moisture exchange in tracheostomy patients with spontaneous breathing and has a filtration device capable of keeping viruses and bacteria at bay.

Contact: Lars Wenström, tel + 46 (0) 708 693650, www.medprod-octagon.com

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First Product To Be Launched
For Better Medical Training

Reachin Technologies AB has developed a technology that takes virtual reality a step closer to the real thing. By adding haptics (force-feedback), it will be possible to design applications such as surgical simulators that enable users to actually feel what they are doing. The company claims that this breakthrough will increase the quality of, for example, medical training and surgical planning. The first product to be presented will be a laparoscopic training platform (Reachin Laparoscopic Trainer, RLT) to practice basic dexterous skills and specific procedures.

The combination of a rapid, multi-sensory development tool (Reachin API with Medical Toolkit) and the collocated display system (Reachin Display) will also make it possible to develop applications for other areas, such as the gas and oil industry. These applications will make it possible to "touch" 3D data that appears to be right in the front of the user.

Contact: Pehr-Johan Fager, tel +46 (0) 733 972827, www.reachin.se

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New Cartilage Marker Receives
International "Market Clearance"

Within the field of joint complaints, AnaMar Medical AB will present their cartilage marker Comp Elisa (Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein). A few months ago, the product was granted so-called "market clearance" by the American Food & Drug Administration. This marker shall fulfil a need within the field by enabling at an early stage the identification of individuals with rapidly progressing joint destruction caused by illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Comp Elisa can also be used to monitor treatment effect, which is also said to increase interest in the marker for pharmaceutical development within the field. Today, it is estimated that about 90,000 people suffer from rheumatism in Sweden alone.

Comp Elisa is based on research results originating from Lund University and the work of professors Heinegård and Saxnes. They have examined and documented the clinical usability of molecular markers for joint ailments.

Contact: Pär Lindgren, tel + 46 (0) 18 146090
E-mail: par.lindgren@anamar.com
Website: www.anamar.com

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Haematology For Blood Bank Applications

In the Swedish Medica venture, under the name Boule, we find three biotechnology companies within, among other fields, haematology and immuno-diagnostics. Medonic haematology instruments use a technique with an unusually high accuracy. New for this year is a blood bank application that, according to the company, is not available from competitors.
The Swelab product line has been improved with the addition of an automatic pipette washer for increased precision and simpler handling during haematological analyses.
Boule Medical is now said to be the only Scandinavian company that develops and manufactures blood cell counters.

Contact: Per Hvass, tel +46 (0) 8 744 77 00, www.boule.se

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DNA-Catering Concept To
Simplify Analysis Work

CyberGene AB, a company with its roots in the Karolinska Institutet, makes its international debut at this year's Medica. With its DNA-Catering concept, the company's ambition is to provide support and help to those in the market interested in the fields of DNA analysis and diagnostics and the manufacture of synthetic DNA.

The EazyPrimer counting device and the GeneWalker software have been developed as easy-to-use tools that can simplify work when designing oligonucleotides.

Contact: Helene Olsson, tel +46 (0) 8 608 14 85, www.cybergene.se

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Sensor That Can Measure
Extremely Low Concentrations

The European Institute of Science AB, EURIS, is one of several Swedish hothouse environments offered to interested researchers and innovators. Today, the group comprises five companies. Characteristic to operations is that the company goes in early, often as early as the conceptual stage, and provides research resources and a range of necessary skills required to run the project until the spin-off and commercialisation stage, at which point an ownership role with royalty remuneration is assumed. Among items of interest we find Chemel AB, a company producing biosensors (SIRE) that will be able to successfully compete with traditional methods such as spectrophotometry and HPLC. The new sensor has been shown to be able to measure low concentrations in complex solutions within both biotechnological and industrial processes. Biotechnology and food industry related examples include glucose and lactic acid.

In the area of analysis instrumentation, we find a meter for relative magnetic permeability (MPM-100), as well as the CoolHeater magnetic stirrer from Implementa Hebe, which is capable of both warming and cooling. The MIA, Magneto ImmunoAssay Reader, from Life Assays is expected to gain broad usage for rapid and multiple analyses in a single instrument.

Contact: Susanne Nykvist, tel +46 (0) 46 2862230, www.euris.org

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Biotechnical Buffer Tablets
Provide Faster Analysis Work

Medica will see the international premiere of Medicago AB, which aims to establish a distribution chain. Aside from a sub-contractor service offering, the company manufactures highly purified biochemicals from biological substances in bulk or customer-specific volumes. The company's offering also includes recombinant proteins from both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, as well as from human, animal and plant tissues. The company's buffer tablets are said to be able to facilitate and speed work in many biotechnical contexts.

Contact: AnnaCarin Berggren, tel +46 (0) 18561 180, www.medicago.se

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Novel Diagnostic Marker
For Coronary Artery Disease

Mercodia AB of Uppsala claims to be the first and only successful developer of commercially available oxLDL (Oxidized Low Density Lipoprotein) ELISA kits for measuring circulating oxLDL levels in patient plasma. Recent findings suggest that oxLDL is an important diagnostic indicator for improved therapeutic management of patients with coronary artery disease. The company has also developed RIA and ELISA assays for Apo(a) lipoprotein, another independent risk factor for athererosclerosis.

Contact: Christina Axelsson, tel +46 (0) 18 570070, www.mercodia.se

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Combining Laboratory And Production Facilities
Gives Swedish Wieslab Competitive Edge

With a focus on products related to autoimmune diseases, Wieslab AB develops and produces reagents for medical diagnostics. These diagnostic reagents are sold to laboratories and hospitals globally through a network of local distributors. The diagnostics of autoimmune diseases for both national and international clients will be processed at Scandinavia's leading private specialist clinical laboratory situated in Lund, southern Sweden. The laboratory is headed by research director and chairman Professor Jörgen Wieslander.

Contact: Sten Gershagen, tel +46 (0) 46 2862840, www.wieslab.se

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Largest Contract Researcher
In Unique Swedish Collaboration

The world's largest contract research company, Quintiles Transnational, is said to be able to offer to the world's pharmaceutical companies, via its Swedish subsidiary, a unique opportunity within the field of pharmaceutical development. Through a collaborative agreement with Uppsala Research Imaging Solutions AB (URIS), studies will be possible in, for example, the central nervous system. This will enable at an early stage the possibility to detect a pharmaceutical's possible operative mechanisms with the aid of the so-called PET technique (Positron Emission Tomography). According to the company, the result can be an improved basis for decisions concerning continued tests or extensive savings in time and money through improved selections of which pharmaceutical candidates are suitable for further development work. The Group's broad operations stretch from early pre-clinical analyses to post-launch pharmaceutical follow-ups.

Contact: Torbjörn Ströberg, tel + 46 (0) 18 431 1000, www.quintiles.com

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Large-scale ESR Analysis

Technology and equipment capable of performing up to 200 automatic and qualitative analyses of the blood sedimentation rate (ESR, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate) per hour are to be presented by Analysinstrument AB. The company's ambition is to become a leader in its field by providing the latest equipment innovations. Through the production of both small and large analysis machines parallel to the proprietary manufacture of vacuum tubes, the Sedimatic brand can encompass the quality requirements of ISO9000 and other established industry standards. Target groups include everything from small medical practices to large university clinics.

Contact: Robert Löfvenmark, tel + 46 (0) 8 564 80 580, www.analysinstrument.com

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New Diagnostic Products
For Expanding Veterinary Markets

Established in 2001, Svanova Biotech AB will be a first-time exhibitor at the Medica show. The company develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of diagnostic products for large-scale laboratories as well as for veterinarians in the field. The majority of the products are based on the ELISA technique marketed under the trade name Svanovir. These products are used to detect antibodies against different microorganisms, such as viruses, bacteria and mycoplasma in various animal species. In the pipeline are an ELISA kit for the detection of antibodies against Neospora in cattle, a remote user-friendly kit for automated test procedures and the possibility to use the Svanovir Brucella ELISA kits on sheep and goat samples.

Contact: Christina Frimodig, tel +46 (0) 18 674600, www.svanova.com

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