Swedish researchers net SEK 4M to develop skin cancer drug

Development award

Researchers from Örebro University in Sweden have received around SEK 4 million (around €400,000) from government research financiers, the Swedish Research Council and Vinnova (the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) to further develop and commercialise a skin cancer drug that is activated by light.

The new drug, developed by a research team led by Leif Eriksson, professor of biophysical and theoretical chemistry at Örebro University, is based on the use of photodynamic therapy in cancer treatment. In this kind of treatment, drugs are given to patients and then are activated with light, triggering reactions that destroy cancer cells.

Leif Eriksson’s drug research has grown out of the Örebro Life Science Center (OLSC), an interdisciplinary research node at Örebro University. Research on new forms of treatment for skin tumours is being conducted in collaboration with Associate Professor Lennart Löfgren at the Center for Head and Neck Oncology at Örebro University Hospital.

“It’s extremely gratifying that two of the most important research financiers in Sweden so actively support our research,” said Professor Eriksson.

“Our drug, and the new treatment concept we are developing together with researchers in Belfast, has tremendous potential. In the coming year we will also see further patents as a direct result of the collaboration with other research teams within the OLSC, including treatments for atherosclerosis and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatism.”

With this method, the researchers say, most of the some 30,000 new cases of skin cancer discovered each year in Sweden alone could be treated quickly, simply, and cost effectively. This is also true for pre-stages of skin cancer, so-called actinic keratosis.