STOCKHOLM, Sept. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BioArctic AB (publ) (Nasdaq Stockholm: BIOA B) today announces that the company has signed an expanded research collaboration agreement with Uppsala University, in Sweden, Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Molecular Geriatrics. BioArctic will provide financial support for a three-year research position, with potential extension. 

The expanded research collaboration concerns further development of technologies for antibody-based diagnostic imaging (PET – Positron Emission Tomography) of the brain in Alzheimer patients. Antibody-based imaging is a totally new principle for imaging of the brain. The antibody-based PET ligands can provide additional information compared to currently available PET ligands. BioArctic and Uppsala University are at the front of this cutting-edge research.

Alzheimer's disease is difficult to diagnose in a simple and reliable way. Today the disease is diagnosed through clinical examinations, measurement of biochemical markers in spinal fluid and imaging of the brain. BioArctic has an ongoing collaboration with Uppsala University focusing on developing a new type of PET ligand aimed at improving the imaging of the brain. This collaboration has now been expanded.

The long-term goal of the research collaboration is to be able to offer health care professionals and patients an improved method for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, and also to improve the possibilities to evaluate the effect of pharmacological treatment.

"We look forward to continuing the research collaboration with Uppsala University regarding new PET ligands based on our antibodies. This initiative is of importance to the entire field of Alzheimer research. We hope that the results will contribute to improved diagnosis of Alzheimer patients in the future and thus to a more effective treatment," says Gunilla Osswald, CEO of BioArctic.

For more information, please contact:
Gunilla Osswald,
PhD, CEO
E-mail: gunilla.osswald@bioarctic.se
Telephone: +46-8-695-69-30

Christina Astrén,
IR and Communications Director
E-mail: christina.astren@bioarctic.se
Telephone: + 46-70-835-43-36

This information is information that BioArctic AB (publ) is obliged to disclose pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was released for public disclosure through the agency of the contact persons above, on September 3, 2018, at 02.30 p.m. CET.

About Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is estimated to be the cause of 50-60%1) of all cases of dementia and is thus the most common dementia condition with onset in adulthood. The disease is characterized by death of neurons in the brain causing a progressive deterioration of memory and cognitive skills, such as intellectual ability, language, orientation, recognition and learning ability. The disease development in Alzheimer's disease likely starts several years before the patient shows any clinical symptoms. The disease also has a progressive development, which means that the symptoms increase as the disease progresses. The disease impairs the quality of life for the patients as well as their families. These patients also demand comprehensive nursing which means great costs for society.2) A disease modifying treatment, aimed at halting or slowing down the disease progression, therefore needs to be initiated before the degeneration of the brain has gone too far.

1) Boken om Demenssjukdomar, Liber förlag 2013, page 12 -13, Läkemedelsboken 2014 page 1088.

2) World Alzheimer Report – Alzheimer's Disease International, 2015.

About BioArctic

BioArctic AB (publ) is a Swedish research-based biopharma company focusing on disease modifying treatments and reliable biomarkers and diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The company also develops a potential treatment for Complete Spinal Cord Injury. BioArctic focuses on innovative treatments in areas with high unmet medical needs. The company was founded in 2003 based on innovative research from Uppsala University, Sweden. Collaborations with universities are of great importance to the company together with our strategically important global partners in the Alzheimer (Eisai) and Parkinson (AbbVie) projects. The project portfolio is a combination of fully funded projects run in partnership with global pharmaceutical companies and innovative in-house projects with significant market and out-licensing potential.

BioArctic's B-share is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Mid Cap (STO:BIOA B). www.bioarctic.com 

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SOURCE BioArctic