Tomas Lindh, Patric Stafshede, Isabelle Lilja, Tor Ny and Malgorzata Wilcynska.

2019-05-23 09:00 CEST

Swedish life science company awardedmillions to develop cure for tooth loss

Swedish life science company Omnio has received millions in funding fromthe Swelife innovation programme to help develop a cure for tooth loss.

“Thanks to these funds from Swelife we can now move forward even faster”,says Omnio’s CEO Patric Stafshede.

Tooth loss can be caused by periodontitis, an infectious disease that causesteeth to slowly loosen by weakening the jawbone. Almost half of all adults

suffer from periodontitis to some degree and it is therefore considered anendemic disease.

“When the alveolar bone (the part of the jaw where the tooth is rooted) hasstarted to deteriorate, and the tooth becomes loose there is no other optionbut to insert an implant. But even the alveolar around the implant can getbroken down in the same way as it does with tooth loss – causing theimplant to become loose too. This can result in a disease called peri-implantitis, which can lead to significant problems”, says Patric Stafshede,CEO of Umeå-based Omnio, an alumni company from Umeå BiotechIncubator.

Omnio has developed a drug candidate based on the protein plasminogenthat can counteract tooth loss. Studies have shown that plasminogen can alsostimulate damaged alveolar bone to grow back.

“No one has succeeded in doing this before. Our treatment should not only beable to help patients suffering from tooth loss but also encourage thealveolar bone to heal in people affected by peri-implantitis”, says PatricStafshede.

The project is being conducted in collaboration with the Department ofMedical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Umeå University and the OrthodonticClinic at the University Hospital of Umeå in northern Sweden.

Together the project group has been granted SEK 3 million over two yearsfrom Swelife, which is financed, among others, by Vinnova. The project aimsto develop treatments for tooth loss as well as an implant model for testingsubstances. The Swelife programme is funding half the project costs, whichmeans a total of SEK 6 million is being invested over a two-year period.

“When the project is completed, we hope to be able to start clinical studies”,says Patric Stafshede.

His long-term goal is for the treatment to be able to be applied in the form ofan ointment or toothpaste.

"Then the drug could become available all over the world and help patientsin areas where there is no access to advanced dental care”.

About Swelife - working for a more competitive life science system inSweden

Swelife supports collaboration within academia, industry and healthcare, withthe goal of strengthening life science in Sweden and improving public health.It is a strategic innovation programme funded by the Swedish Governmentvia the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova, and by the programme’spartners.

For more information, please contact:

Patric Stafshede, vd på OmnioE-post: patric@omnio.seMobil: 070-688 36 55

Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) is one of Sweden’s state-of-the-art businessincubators within the life sciences. We help researchers to use their data tothe benefit of patients and citizens, improving their health. We support andtrain entrepreneurs in the fields of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medicalengineering, and act as a bridge between academia, medicine and thebusiness community.

Kontaktpersoner

Elin OlssonPresskontaktHead of PR and CommunicationsPR and Communicationselin.olsson@ubi.se+46706125561