Experienced CEO moves to Umeå life science company

Umeå-based life science company Inficure Bio has appointed Lena Söderström, who was previously in charge at stock exchange listed company Senzime, as its new chairman of the board of directors.

Inficure Bio, which is located at Umeå Biotech Incubator and was recently awarded millions in funding from Vinnova. has developed a process that makes it easier and faster for pharmaceutical companies to test drugs that treat fibrosis, and in particular the presence of scar tissue in organs.

Now the company is getting a new chairman of the board. Lena Söderström has worked in the life science industry for 30 years, with over half this time spent at large international pharmaceutical and medical technology companies working as a CEO of, among others, stock exchange listed company Senzime. Lena is also a highly experienced board member.

“It feels good to be able to bring my experience to a company like Inficure Bio, especially when it is in a dynamic development phase. The company works with fibrosis, which is an exciting research area right now. Fibrosis can occur, for example, in a fatty liver, where constant inflammation can create large amounts of fibrosis. Fibrosis contributes to around 40 percent of all deaths in the western world and there are no effective drugs to treat it,” said Lena Söderström.

“With Inficure Bio's help pharmaceutical companies can quickly develop new drugs to help treat fibrosis. There is enormous development potential for the company and a huge patient need”, added Lena Söderström, who currently lives in Uppsala and was named winner of the Biotech Builders Award in 2018.

“This appointment feels right for me. I am interested in exciting products and business opportunities and am also happy to experience new places. I believe the innovation climate in Umeå has amazing potential, with students, doctoral students and researchers able to interact with the business community and receive support from the innovation system. I’m really looking forward to being a part of Inficure Bio's journey”.

For Sofia Mayans, the CEO of Inficure Bio, Lena’s appointment as chairman is welcome news.

“We believe that Lena’s experience at other companies will enable her to see ours with fresh eyes. She also brings vast knowledge from the life science industry where she has been a CEO and a board member of several companies. Her broad network can initiate new contacts for us and strengthen existing ones. Overall she is exactly what Inficure Bio needs right now and we are very happy she is joining us,” said Sofia Mayans, who founded the company together with Dan Holmberg.

Lena Söderström replaces Mats Forsman as chairman of Inficure Bio's board.

“Mats has been invaluable for Inficure Bio during his time as chairman. However now we’re embarking on the next phase we need new energy. We’d like to publicly thank Mats for his contribution,” said Sofia Mayans.

Inficure Bio will now take the next step in its product development and has recently signed the largest agreement in its history with Swiss company Vifor Pharma.

For more information:

Sofia Mayans, PhD, CEO Inficure Bio

+46 (0)70-366 46 66

sofia.mayans@inficurebio.com

About Inficure

InfiCure Bio is a life science company focused on preclinical development and validation of drugs that target chronic inflammatory and fibrotic conditions.

Based on a panel of in vivo models for these conditions including a proprietary model for chronic inflammation and fibrosis, we offer effect tests of anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic drugs.

Founded on extensive experience and expertise in immunology, inflammation and fibrosis research, InfiCure Bio offers proficient and flexible processing of drug validation projects in this area.