Developing new ways to treat nerve damage and chronic pain using the body’s own proteins
Sinfonia Biotherapeutics uses the body’s reparative proteins to develop effective treatments for nerve damage and chronic pain. The therapies are developed for the treatment of diseases such as sciatica, diabetic pain, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and hearing loss.
Today, approximately 100 million people suffer from various diseases that affect the nervous system. In many cases, the nerve damage results in so-called chronic neuropathic pain. Sinfonia Biotherapeutics takes advantage of the body’s own proteins to repair damage to the nervous system and relieve pain.
“We are currently conducting the necessary clinical studies to show that one of our products, SB0101, works both to treat the pain and to repair the damaged nerves”, says Lars Wahlberg, CEO and CMO at Sinfonia Biotherapeutics.
Kick-starting the body’s repair system
Some of our proteins have the ability to switch on the self-repairing functions of the nervous system. One of these is neublastin, SB0101, which Sinfonia is developing for the treatment of chronic sciatica and a range of other nerve injuries affecting the peripheral nervous system.
“SB0101 is given via an injection into the arm and activates the body’s own functions to repair damage to the nervous system. Here we have shown very positive results with, among other things, clinical “proof of concept” in patients with severe chronic sciatica. It is an indication for which there is currently no approved painkiller. Our hope is to be the first company to get a treatment for chronic sciatica pain approved.”
The same methodology can also be used to repair damage to the brain caused by conditions such as Parkinson’s, epilepsy and frontal lobe dementia. Although for these conditions, an injection in the arm is not enough because the brain is very effectively protected by the so-called blood-brain barrier. Instead, Sinfonia is developing a platform to – in simple terms – to place a small pharmaceutical “factory” in the damaged area of the brain.
The factory consists of an implant with living cells that produce the necessary signaling proteins. When they leave the implant, it triggers a repair of the nerves directly in place.
“The technique of doing these brain surgeries is already well established in most neurosurgery centers in the world. With the help of the so-called stereotactic technique, we can place our implants in the desired area of the brain with very good precision.”
These small pharmaceutical factories can be placed in an area where an epileptic seizure occurs, for example, or among nerve cells damaged by Parkinson’s or dementia.
Sinfonia Biotherapeutics’ focus on Parkinson’s has resulted in the company receiving a research grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF).
Sinfonia’s solution combines advances in advanced therapy drugs (ATMPs) with medtech innovations. Several additional applications are planned, including an implant that can be placed in the inner ear to treat age-related hearing loss and hearing damage due to loud sound or noise.
“Our main focus is to use the signaling proteins to be able to create new treatments for diseases where there is currently a lack of effective treatments.”
Today, Sinfonia Biotherapeutics is based in Flemingsberg and outside Boston, in the US. On Campus Flemingsberg the company has several research collaborations with well-known research groups from Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet.
“We hope to become part of the excellent research that is being done into ATPMs, which offers world-leading knowledge and the opportunity to develop new therapies all the way from idea to clinical trials,” Johan Lundkvist, vice president of Sinfonia Biotherapeutics.
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STARTUP is a competition for startups with a clear connection to Flemingsberg, either as students, residents or otherwise active in the area. All ideas are welcome to participate in STARTUP as long as you compete with your own idea and the turnover and external equity is below SEK 1,000,000 at the time you submit to the competition. After that, we of course welcome you to continue working with the business idea, sales and any investments.
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Our Sound Space – soundscapes in cities
Don’t miss the opportunity to experience an interactive sound installation at the same time as you contribute to research that improves the future of urban planning.
The Our Sound Space installation has now opened at Neo in Flemingsberg, which offers visitors the opportunity to use their smartphones to experiment with different sound environments and explore with soundscapes.
Our Sound Space is part of the Planning for Youth research project that aims to study methods and tools for meaningful participation of the younger demographic groups in participatory planning and placemaking. Romina Rodela is Docent at Södertörn University and project leader for the initiative. ““Historically, children and young people have not been very central in spatial planning. In our project, we want to explore new methods which are better able to capture their voice in spatial planning and placemaking,” says Rodela.
In this case, you use your smartphone to listen to how a new residential area will sound, for example. Which sounds are perceived as positive and which sound environments are less attractive? The idea is to give the planners of the future better tools to include children, young people and people with impaired vision or other functional variations in the planning stages of such projects. “We’ll use Our Sound Space to gather opinions from different groups to establish how effective a tool like this can be. At the same time, the installation is open to all to try out and comment on,” says Rodela. The software itself is developed by researcher Maurizio Goina at KTH and may in future be shared with planners, construction companies and architects.
Mattias Lindén is responsible for Hemsö’s properties in Flemingsberg and believes that installations such as Our Sound Space have the potential to improve the image of the area. “We’re sitting on an underused resource. In courtyards and along walkways there are areas that could be used for temporary art exhibitions – opportunities for as yet undiscovered artists to gain some exposure. We’ve just decided to support the Our Sound Space project. Imagine if people in the future will associate Flemingsberg with exuberant creativity, a place where you experience new and fresh ideas. Our Sound Space can be a small step in that direction,” says Lindén, Senior Property Manager at Hemsö. Our Sound Space runs until 7th March, while the research project will continue for another two years.
Let Flemingsberg Innovation Community elevate your idea
The Flemingsberg Innovation Community is a meeting place that brings together a range of organisations that provide various types of innovation support and assistance. Among them is Sting, which since its inception in 2002, has guided hundreds of startup companies to success.
