UmanDiagnostics signs agreement with global giant Siemens

Umeå-based life science company UmanDiagnostics has signed a new licensing and supply agreement with global giant Siemens.

“Siemens is a world leader in our industry, so this is an extremely important agreement for us,” says Niklas Norgren, CEO of UmanDiagnostics.

UmanDiagnostics was founded in 2006 by Niklas Norgren and Torgny Stigbrand and is located at the Umeå Biotech Incubator. From the outset the company has worked with nerve injury markers and the protein NF-light. NF-light is found in nerve cells and if nerves become damaged due to a trauma or neurological disease the protein leaks into the cells' surroundings. Thanks to UmanDiagnostics’ nerve marker a simple blood test measures how much of the NF-light protein has leaked out, which helps indicate how significant any damage may be.

This summer UmanDiagnostics was purchased by major US life science company Quanterix for $22,5 million, and later went on to win both the Technology Award of the Year and Spin-Off Company of the Year at Umeågalan 2019. And the successes just keep on coming. Now UmanDiagnostics, with the help of Quanterix, has signed a licensing and supply agreement with world-leading Siemens Healthineers in which Siemens has acquired access to UmanDiagnostics’ antibodies.

“Siemens' access to our antibodies enables them to develop blood-based clinical trials for commercialisation via their global analysis platforms,” says Niklas Norgren.

Siemens has a truly global presence, with 50,000 employees in over 70 countries and 120 years of experience in the medical technology industry.

"This agreement is extremely important to us. It will enable a far broader use of our antibodies and provides an opportunity to help millions of patients with multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and ALS," says Niklas Norgren.

Thanks to this summer’s acquisition UmanDiagnostics gained access to Quanterix's marketing and sales department – enabling them to reach a significantly wider market. And the results are already beginning to show, with new appointments already made at the company’s Umeå offices to cope with the additional workload.

“Our collaboration with Quanterix – and now this agreement with Siemens – will mean a sharp increase in recognition for our biomarker as well as an increase in sales of our other products. The outlook for the years ahead is very promising and we are convinced our new agreements will benefit Umeå,” concludes Niklas Norgren.

For more information, please contact:

Niklas Norgren, CEO at UmanDiagnostics

niklas.norgren@umandiagnostics.se

090-77 78 80

About UmanDiagnostics:

UmanDiagnostics is committed to delivering fast and accurate diagnosis of neurological diseases. The company develops and markets valuable tools for early detection of diseases, measuring treatment efficacy and monitoring of disease progression. The company was founded in 2006 and since then has focussed on diseases affecting white matter such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's Disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.