16/09-04   -   Pressmeddelande

Affibody and Astra Tech enter into license and research agreement

Affibody and Astra Tech today announce the initiation of a license and research agreement. The scope is development of devices for safe blood management.


Affibody will develop Affibody^® molecules targeting blood components for removal of harmful proteins from patients’ blood. Affibody will receive research funding during three years, milestone payments and royalty on worldwide sales of products developed under the collaboration.

Astra Tech manufactures devices for autologous blood transfusion, i.e. re-infusion of the patient’s own blood after surgery. By using Affibody^® molecules to remove targeted blood components, efficiency and safety will be further enhanced in such products. Accordingly, patient risks related to blood transfusions will be further reduced.

- This agreement is of great strategic importance as it marks the initiation of a collaboration within the field of therapeutic apheresis, one application within our biotherapeutics effort. Astra Tech’s devices for purification of blood are an exiting platform on which to apply our affinity ligands, says Torben Jørgensen, CEO of Affibody.

- Affibody’s affinity ligands will enhance the efficiency of our bioseparation products, and most importantly, will reduce the risk for patients receiving blood during surgery, says Peter Selley, CEO of Astra Tech.



For further information, please contact
Torben Jørgensen, CEO Affibody, tel +46 70 749 05 84, +46 8 59 88 38 00
Eola Änggård Runsten, CFO Affibody, tel +46 70 755 75 78, +46 8 59 88 38 00
Peter Selley, CEO, Astra Tech AB, tel +46 31 776 3000

The Swedish biotech company Affibody AB was founded in 1998 by researchers from the Royal Institute of Technology and Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. Affibody operates in the application areas Biotherapeutics and Biotechnology. Among the owners of Affibody AB are the investment companies HealthCap, Schroder Ventures Life Sciences and Investor Growth Capital, a subsidiary of Investor AB. The main office is located in Stockholm.

The Swedish biotechnology company Astra Tech AB develops, manufactures and markets advanced healthcare devices for single use. Astra Tech’s research and development is focused on healthcare products and implants based on various types of biocompatible materials, such as resorbable polymers and titanium. Astra Tech is based in Gothenburg, Sweden.