AstraZeneca to invest SEK 80 million in KI
AstraZeneca and Karolinska Institutet today signed a collaboration agreement on the expansion of one of the world's pre-eminent PET (Positron Emission Tomography) centres. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will contribute SEK 80 million over a five-year period and will collaborate with the PET centre on new drug development.
"We anticipate that this collaboration between Swedish academia and the pharmaceutical industry by extension will have significance for diagnostics as well as treatment of patients primarily with severe psychiatric and neurological illnesses as well as in pain control, with potential also for other indications," says Jan Lundberg, Global Head of Discovery Research at AstraZeneca.
The Karolinska Institutet has had one of the world's foremost PET centres for several years. PET (Positron Emission Tomography) is a modern imaging technique for scanning organs in living human bodies. PET cameras can be used to study proteins in the brain that are biologically active in the signals between various cells. Knowledge about these proteins is highly significant for understanding how the brain works, but also for the effective development and testing of new drugs.
Activities at the PET centre are based on a collaboration between the Karolinska Institute, Karolinska University Hospital, Apoteksbolaget and AstraZeneca. The collaboration will be a key part of Stockholm Brain Institute, a strategic research centre supported by SSF (the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research). The SEK 80 million investment by AstraZeneca will enable the PET centre to acquire equipment of the top international class. AstraZeneca will gain access to new methods for supporting current development projects.
"In a broader perspective, the collaboration is important for strengthening biotechnological development in the Stockholm region and in Sweden as a whole," says Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, President of the Karolinska Institute. "The Karolinska Institute has long has good relations with AstraZeneca, and we are happy to see this venture come to fruition."
Diseases that affect the brain's function are a widespread international public health problem. According to the European Brain Council, nearly a third of Europe's population are affected at some time in their life by diseases that affect the brain.
PET data:
PET (Positron Emission tomography) is a medical imaging technique that is based on the decomposition of radioactive isotopes and can provide three-dimensional images of movements of signal substances in the body.
For further information, please contact:
Director Communications, AstraZeneca Staffan Ternby
- Work:
- +46-8-553 261 07
Professor, AstraZeneca Lars Farde
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- +46-8-553 280 49
Press Officer, Karolinska Institutet Katarina Sternudd
- Work:
- +46-8-524 838 95
Professor, Karolinska Institutet Martin Ingvar
- Work:
- +46-8-517 751 34
