DSM Invests EUR 2 Million in Finnish Genetic Discovery Company

DSM Venturing has announced that it has made an equity investment of EUR 2 million in Jurilab Oy, a Finnish company specialized in the discovery of gene-disease associations and their application to healthcare.

Following investments in Sciona and Integragen, this is DSM’s third equity investment in Personalized Nutrition, one of the Emerging Business Areas (EBAs) selected in DSM’s strategy Vision 2010 – Building on Strengths.

Jurilab identifies metabolic disease markers and pathways, drug targets and diagnostic content. These metabolic diseases and conditions are captured under the label metabolic syndrome or syndrome X and comprise obesity, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension. These are all conditions with a high incidence, creating a major healthcare concern which is expected to grow even further with the ageing of the population and increasing health and wellness awareness. So far Jurilab’s discovery programs have resulted in dozens of patent applications covering thousands of disease or trait genes.

Timothy Morck, Vice President EBA Personalized Nutrition: “We are pleased with this investment. Jurilab’s unique access to a genetically homogeneous population and a related comprehensive databank make the company’s approach faster, more informative and more cost-effective than many traditional screening approaches.”