SenzaGen AB, a diagnostic spin-off company from Lund University, is proud to announce that Prof. Ian Kimber will join the Board of Directors.
SenzaGen AB is a diagnostic company working to replace animal testing for sensitization predictions.
Prof Ian Kimber is currently Professor of Toxicology and Associate Dean for Business Development in the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester. He has broad research interests at the interface between toxicology and immunology, with a particular focus on allergy and inflammation. Professor Kimber holds, and has held, a variety of positions on national and international expert and scientific advisory committees. Currently these include the following: Member UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Committee for Safety of Devices, Programme Advisor Food Standards Agency Food Allergy and Intolerance Research Programme, and member MRC Translational Research Group. Professor Kimber was previously President of the British Toxicology Society (BTS) (2012-2014), and Chairman of the Board of the UK National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) (2008-2013).
“I am delighted to be joining the Board of SenzaGen at such an exciting period of growth. Since our initial studies that led to the development and ultimate validation of the Local Lymph Node Assay I have maintained a keen interest in chemical allergy and in the development of novel approaches for improved hazard identification and risk assessment. In this respect harnessing fully the opportunities afforded by developments in the biomedical sciences is critical, and the work of SenzaGen in exploiting a genomic approach to pathway analysis and risk assessment is at the cutting edge of new developments”, says Prof Kimber.
Ian Kimber has published over 600 research papers, review articles and book chapters, and serves currently on the editorial boards of toxicology, immunology, dermatology and pathology journals.
“We are very happy to have Prof Kimber on board in SenzaGen”, since he is one of the forerunners in sensitization testing, says Prof Carl Borrebaeck, “his knowledge and interest in the field of allergy and replacement of animal testing with new technologies is very important to us. We value his participation in developing the next generation tests.”
Press release in pdf
SenzaGen strengthens its brand with a new logo and graphical profile
– We want a logo and a graphic profile that shows our identity, strengthens the brand and matches the quality of our products. We have been working together with a design and communications agency ID Communication in Malmö to find our tone and graphical language and we see this as a kick off in the expansion of the company, says Hanna Frykman Marketing and communication coordinator at SenzaGen.
SenzaGen develops and performs animal-free allergy testing of chemicals and proteins, especially for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry. The potential on the market is huge and we want the graphic profile to reflect that we are trustworthy, high-tech, research-related and innovative. The implementation of the graphical profile has been gradual and we will develop a new website and additional marketing material as we go.
– My task when starting in SenzaGen has been to build up our marketing and sales division from scratch and it has been a priority to find a graphic identity and logo that shows what we stand for, says Hanna Frykman.
Årsredovisning 2015
Andy Forreryd wins a “Best Abstract Presentation Price” about GARD technique
Andy Forreryd
of the Dept. of Immunotechnology won a “Best Abstract Presentation Price” at the Oral Abstract session entitled
Risk factors and biomarkers in occupational allergy
held at EAACI 2015 in Barcelona.
Andy’s contribution was entitled
Prediction of chemical respiratory sensitizers using GARD, a novel in vitro assay based on a genomic biomarker signature.
Andy Forreryd is a researcher at the Dept. of Immunotechnology at Lund University and a contributor to the R&D team connected to SenzaGen who’s research is the foundation for the GARD test products.
SenzaGen congratulates Andy and we are very proud to see that his great achievements as a researcher is getting acknowledged.
SenzaGen moves into their new laboratories at Medicon Village
In June, SenzaGen moves into its new lab facilities at Medicon Village in Lund. As SenzaGen is expanding, establishing new partnerships and customers and is hiring more staff, the company has a demand to set up in new premises and gather the business. The lab is completely new and is equipped with the latest technology to implement the tests.
– The new lab is a natural step in SenzaGen’ss commercialization of what we have developed here at the department of Immunotechnology. Research and development is continuing at LTH, says Malin Lindstedt , founder and CSO of SenzaGen .
The opening of the lab was celebrated with new and old colleagues as well as investors, owners and business partners of SenzaGen.
SenzaGen wins innovation prize SKAPA and is appointed as provincial finalist
The prize is awarded by the Foundation SKAPA in cooperation with ALMI. It is the regional ALMI companies in cooperation with local inventors’ associations affiliated to the Swedish Inventors Association which has chosen the county finalists for the award.
The appointment means that SenzaGen have the opportunity to be appointed Swedish champion of innovation. As the county finalist, SenzaGen receives a prize worth SEK 25 000 with the option to gain an additional SEK 550 000 (maximum spread over three laureates) if they succeed as winners of the national prize.
– SenzaGen has been able to package advanced research in a transparent, commercial way and have in a short time shown that they will be able to both significantly minimize the number of animal tests being performed and deliver a better accuracy in the tests and hence a better value to their customers. It is going to be very exciting to follow the company in the future! says Johan Olsen, ALMI
The national final is being held on 5 Nov 2015 in Stockholm.
Ian Kimber joins the board of SenzaGen AB
SenzaGen AB is a diagnostic company working to replace animal testing for sensitization predictions.
Prof Ian Kimber is currently Professor of Toxicology and Associate Dean for Business Development in the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester. He has broad research interests at the interface between toxicology and immunology, with a particular focus on allergy and inflammation. Professor Kimber holds, and has held, a variety of positions on national and international expert and scientific advisory committees. Currently these include the following: Member UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Committee for Safety of Devices, Programme Advisor Food Standards Agency Food Allergy and Intolerance Research Programme, and member MRC Translational Research Group. Professor Kimber was previously President of the British Toxicology Society (BTS) (2012-2014), and Chairman of the Board of the UK National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) (2008-2013).
“I am delighted to be joining the Board of SenzaGen at such an exciting period of growth. Since our initial studies that led to the development and ultimate validation of the Local Lymph Node Assay I have maintained a keen interest in chemical allergy and in the development of novel approaches for improved hazard identification and risk assessment. In this respect harnessing fully the opportunities afforded by developments in the biomedical sciences is critical, and the work of SenzaGen in exploiting a genomic approach to pathway analysis and risk assessment is at the cutting edge of new developments”, says Prof Kimber.
Ian Kimber has published over 600 research papers, review articles and book chapters, and serves currently on the editorial boards of toxicology, immunology, dermatology and pathology journals.
“We are very happy to have Prof Kimber on board in SenzaGen”, since he is one of the forerunners in sensitization testing, says Prof Carl Borrebaeck, “his knowledge and interest in the field of allergy and replacement of animal testing with new technologies is very important to us. We value his participation in developing the next generation tests.”
Press release in pdf
Almi Invest awards SenzaGen the prestigeous Annual Keywhole investment prize. “Årets titthålsinvestering”
Press reslease at ALMI’s newsdesk
SenzaGen one of the five most praised companies in Swedish business media
The final ceremony for the 33-list was held in Stockholm were the hottest new technology companies in Sweden were presented. The list is presented without ranking but five companies were elected for special attention and SenzaGen was awarded a prize from ALMI, a strategic partner and SenzaGen given investment money for further development of the company.
Anki Malmborg Hager, CEO of SenzaGen features in film about the company from the event.
Film (in Swedish)
About the 33-list
The 33-list is based on nominations by companies from all over Sweden and the winners are appointed jointly by the editorial staff of the NyTeknik and Affärsvärlden. The jury looks for companies with a unique product or service based around a clear innovation with great international potential – an innovation that has the potential to change the rules of the game in their industry. To make it on the list must now be based in Sweden up to 7 years old. For more information, visit http://www.33-listan.se
SenzaGen AB, a diagnostic spin-off company from Lund University, reports the launch of a new product for respiratory sensitization testing
“Sensitization through the lung is a growing issue and methods to predict if a chemical has a sensitization effect are limited”, says Anki Malmborg Hager, CEO in SenzaGen. Based on extensive research about the responses of the immune system in allergic reactions, SenzaGen has now launched a test that predicts the respiratory sensitization ability of chemicals based on the GARD methodology.
An international scientific article about the underlying research has been published in PLOS ONE, under the title “Prediction of Chemical Respiratory Sensitizers Using GARD, a Novel In vitro Assay Based on a Genomic Biomarker Signature”. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0118808
SenzaGen´s first product, a skin sensitization test of chemicals, is already on the market.
Press release in pdf
Prediction of chemical respiratory sensitizers using GARD, a novel in vitro assay based on a genomic biomarker signature.
PLoS One. 2015 Mar 11;10(3):e0118808. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118808. eCollection 2015.
Forreryd A., Johansson H., Albrekt AS, Borrebaeck CA, Lindstedt M.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Repeated exposure to certain low molecular weight (LMW) chemical compounds may result in development of allergic reactions in the skin or in the respiratory tract. In most cases, a certain LMW compound selectively sensitize the skin, giving rise to allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), or the respiratory tract, giving rise to occupational asthma (OA). To limit occurrence of allergic diseases, efforts are currently being made to develop predictive assays that accurately identify chemicals capable of inducing such reactions. However, while a few promising methods for prediction of skin sensitization have been described, to date no validated method, in vitro or in vivo, exists that is able to accurately classify chemicals as respiratory sensitizers.
RESULTS:
Recently, we presented the in vitro based Genomic Allergen Rapid Detection (GARD) assay as a novel testing strategy for classification of skin sensitizing chemicals based on measurement of a genomic biomarker signature. We have expanded the applicability domain of the GARD assay to classify also respiratory sensitizers by identifying a separate biomarker signature containing 389 differentially regulated genes for respiratory sensitizers in comparison to non-respiratory sensitizers. By using an independent data set in combination with supervised machine learning, we validated the assay, showing that the identified genomic biomarker is able to accurately classify respiratory sensitizers.
CONCLUSIONS:
We have identified a genomic biomarker signature for classification of respiratory sensitizers. Combining this newly identified biomarker signature with our previously identified biomarker signature for classification of skin sensitizers, we have developed a novel in vitro testing strategy with a potent ability to predict both skin and respiratory sensitization in the same sample.
Link to article on line