Karolinska Development

Karolinska Development is a venture capital firm based in Solna, Sweden, that funds and develops medical innovations rooted in academic and clinical science with the goal of commercialization. It selects commercially attractive innovations, advances them to milestones, and monetizes through the sale of portfolio companies or out-licensing of products. The firm works with innovators, often academics, to form lean portfolio companies that begin with low fixed costs and outsource development; a Karolinska Development representative typically serves on the board. Projects are continuously monitored and discontinued if targets are not met, with typical milestone-driven funding over six to eighteen months. Exits are usually structured as upfront payments plus milestone payments and royalties from sales, with a preference for exiting at the Phase II stage to demonstrate efficacy and value. The firm concentrates investments in Northern Europe across healthcare, life sciences, oncology, digital health, and related sectors.

Per Aniansson

Investment Director

Past deals in Scandinavia

Modus Therapeutics

Post in 2025
Modus Therapeutics is a Swedish clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapies for severe inflammatory disorders and anemia-related conditions. Its lead product, sevuparin, targets sickle cell disease, sepsis, endotoxemia, severe malaria, and chronic inflammation-associated anemias like kidney diseases.

Umecrine Cognition

Convertible Note in 2024
Umecrine Cognition is a biopharmaceutical company established in 2006, focusing on developing drugs to treat neurological disorders in the central nervous system (CNS) caused by endogenous CNS-active steroids, specifically GABA-steroids. The company's primary objective is to discover and commercialize novel therapeutics for treating Hepatic Encephalopathy, a cognitive disorder affecting patients with liver disease. Umecrine Cognition operates as a lean organization within a competent network, collaborating with Karolinska Development since its inception as a subsidiary of Umecrine AB.

Modus Therapeutics

Post in 2024
Modus Therapeutics is a Swedish clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapies for severe inflammatory disorders and anemia-related conditions. Its lead product, sevuparin, targets sickle cell disease, sepsis, endotoxemia, severe malaria, and chronic inflammation-associated anemias like kidney diseases.

BOOST Pharma

Venture Round in 2024
BOOST Pharma is a biotechnology research company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, founded in 2019. The company specializes in developing a stem cell therapy aimed at treating osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder characterized by fragile bones. BOOST Pharma's innovative approach utilizes novel mesenchymal stem cells known for their strong bone-forming capabilities. Once injected into patients, these stem cells migrate to the bone, where they engraft and initiate the process of bone formation. This therapeutic strategy enables clinicians to address the disease at its earliest stages, potentially enhancing long-term outcomes for patients.

Umecrine Cognition

Convertible Note in 2023
Umecrine Cognition is a biopharmaceutical company established in 2006, focusing on developing drugs to treat neurological disorders in the central nervous system (CNS) caused by endogenous CNS-active steroids, specifically GABA-steroids. The company's primary objective is to discover and commercialize novel therapeutics for treating Hepatic Encephalopathy, a cognitive disorder affecting patients with liver disease. Umecrine Cognition operates as a lean organization within a competent network, collaborating with Karolinska Development since its inception as a subsidiary of Umecrine AB.

PharmNovo

Venture Round in 2023
PharmNovo AB, established in 2008 and headquartered in Lund, Sweden, specializes in developing novel therapeutic drugs for neuro diseases, with a focus on reducing chronic pain through neuroscience and translational medicine. The company's primary product, PN6047, is designed to alleviate chronic pain and combat hypersensitivity disorders by targeting Delta Opioid Receptors (DORAs), distinct from traditional opioids that often lead to addiction and toxicity. PharmNovo aims to address the significant unmet medical need for safe and effective chronic pain treatments, affecting approximately 30% of adults in the United States and Europe.

Modus Therapeutics

Post in 2023
Modus Therapeutics is a Swedish clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapies for severe inflammatory disorders and anemia-related conditions. Its lead product, sevuparin, targets sickle cell disease, sepsis, endotoxemia, severe malaria, and chronic inflammation-associated anemias like kidney diseases.

PharmNovo

Venture Round in 2022
PharmNovo AB, established in 2008 and headquartered in Lund, Sweden, specializes in developing novel therapeutic drugs for neuro diseases, with a focus on reducing chronic pain through neuroscience and translational medicine. The company's primary product, PN6047, is designed to alleviate chronic pain and combat hypersensitivity disorders by targeting Delta Opioid Receptors (DORAs), distinct from traditional opioids that often lead to addiction and toxicity. PharmNovo aims to address the significant unmet medical need for safe and effective chronic pain treatments, affecting approximately 30% of adults in the United States and Europe.

Modus Therapeutics

Post in 2022
Modus Therapeutics is a Swedish clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapies for severe inflammatory disorders and anemia-related conditions. Its lead product, sevuparin, targets sickle cell disease, sepsis, endotoxemia, severe malaria, and chronic inflammation-associated anemias like kidney diseases.

Forendo Pharma

Venture Round in 2018
Founded in 2013, Forendo Pharma is a Finnish biopharmaceutical company specializing in drug discovery and development. It focuses on tissue-specific regulation of sex hormone effects to treat urological and gynecological conditions. Key products include Fispemifene for low testosterone symptoms in men and a 17HSD1-inhibitor for endometriosis.

Umecrine Cognition

Corporate Round in 2017
Umecrine Cognition is a biopharmaceutical company established in 2006, focusing on developing drugs to treat neurological disorders in the central nervous system (CNS) caused by endogenous CNS-active steroids, specifically GABA-steroids. The company's primary objective is to discover and commercialize novel therapeutics for treating Hepatic Encephalopathy, a cognitive disorder affecting patients with liver disease. Umecrine Cognition operates as a lean organization within a competent network, collaborating with Karolinska Development since its inception as a subsidiary of Umecrine AB.

Forendo Pharma

Series A in 2014
Founded in 2013, Forendo Pharma is a Finnish biopharmaceutical company specializing in drug discovery and development. It focuses on tissue-specific regulation of sex hormone effects to treat urological and gynecological conditions. Key products include Fispemifene for low testosterone symptoms in men and a 17HSD1-inhibitor for endometriosis.

Forendo Pharma

Series A in 2013
Founded in 2013, Forendo Pharma is a Finnish biopharmaceutical company specializing in drug discovery and development. It focuses on tissue-specific regulation of sex hormone effects to treat urological and gynecological conditions. Key products include Fispemifene for low testosterone symptoms in men and a 17HSD1-inhibitor for endometriosis.

Asarina Pharma

Venture Round in 2011
Asarina Pharma AB is a Swedish biotechnology company dedicated to developing innovative treatments for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and other conditions related to hormonal fluctuations. The company's primary focus is on Sepranolone, a therapeutic agent designed to address the challenges associated with PMDD. In addition to Sepranolone, Asarina is advancing a second-generation oral compound in preclinical development aimed at PMDD. The company's research is rooted in over 40 years of studies on Allopregnanolone-related neurological disorders, and it is also working on a new family of compounds known as GAMSA (GABA-A Modulating Steroid Antagonists). These efforts aim to create effective and safe treatments for various neuroendocrinological conditions that remain inadequately addressed in the current medical landscape.

Eribis Pharmaceuticals

Venture Round in 2010
Eribis Pharmaceuticals AB develops drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders, primarily acute myocardial ischemia and surgical preconditioning. Myocardial ischaemia is the pathological loss of or reduction in blood flow to a part of the muscular tissue of the heart. The company offers peptides, which are used in cardio and tissue protection, antihypoxia, and analgesia. Eribis Pharmaceuticals AB was founded in 2006 and is based in Uppsala, Sweden.
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