On June 27, 2019 Vycellix, Inc. reported that the Company, founded by leading medical researchers at Sweden’s world renowned Karolinska Institutet, has been included as a collaborative partner in the new Competence Center for Next-Generation NK Cell-based Cancer Immunotherapy ("NextGen-NK") being established at Karolinska Institutet ("KI"), Stockholm, Sweden (Press release, Vycellix, JUN 27, 2019, View Source [SID1234537313]).
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Vinnova, Sweden’s innovation agency, is making a significant investment in NextGen-NK, where universities and companies together will conduct world-class research and innovation in areas that are important for Sweden while contributing to its global sustainability goals. NextGen-NK has received commitments from a consortium of key opinion leaders and experts from academia and the biotech industry to collectively collaborate with the goal of creating a recognized world-class research environment in the field of natural killer cell-based immunotherapy targeting cancers.
NextGen-NK is scheduled to receive up to approximately $12 million in funding over the next five-years from multiple stakeholders including Vinnova, Karolinska Institutet and its industry partners with the opportunity to apply for extended funding for an additional 5-years at a similar level. NextGen-NK will be led by its Director, Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, M.D., Ph.D., Professor at the Department of Medicine at KI, former Dean of Research at KI, former Director of the Center for Infectious Medicine at KI, Chief Medical Officer for Vycellix, and member of the Nobel Assembly at KI.
"We are extremely honored, humbled and grateful to Vinnova for recognizing the potential global impact on human health by establishing NextGen-NK," stated Dr. Ljunggren. "We propose to develop a precision-medicine strategy to direct NK cells to their cancer targets and to optimally stimulate NK cell activity in the body. And by assembling leading scientists and clinicians, including those whom have played key roles over the past four decades of NK cell innovation, this collaboration and discovery-network is expected to generate outcomes that go far beyond the capability of any individual partner."
NextGen-NK’s Co-Directors will be: Evren Alici, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor at the Department of Medicine at KI, Head of the Gene & Cell Therapy Group at KI, and CEO of Vycellix; and Karl-Johan Malmberg, M.D., Ph.D., Professor at the Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital and member of Vycellix’s Scientific Advisory Board.