Karolinska Development has announced that its portfolio companies Pergamum, Inhalation Sciences Sweden (ISS) and XSpray Microparticles have been awarded research grants totaling more than EUR 1 million within the framework of the international research project FORMAMP.

The goal is to develop new ways to treat infectious diseases in order to reduce the problem of antibiotic resistance.

"The three portfolio companies are engaged in potentially pioneering activities in the antiinfective area - Pergamum’s antimicrobial peptide DPK-060 has been documented in a Phase II clinical trial and both XSpray and ISS develop technologies to transport drug substances to the right place in the body. The EU project provides us with increased opportunities to exploit synergies between the involved companies' knowledge and projects", says Torbjörn Bjerke, CEO of Karolinska Development.

In the EU project FORMAMP (Innovative Nano Formulation of Antimicrobial Peptides to Treat Bacterial Infectious Diseases), a team of researchers, coordinated by the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, will develop new strategies for the treatment of infections.

A total of 16 partners are engaged in the project, which has a total budget of over EUR 10 million and runs over four years.

Karolinska Development’s portfolio company Pergamum has been allocated EUR 250,000, ISS EUR 384,000 and XSpray Microparticles EUR 401,000. The project was launched at a kick-off meeting in Stockholm on December 12, 2013.