Foundation of the Bengt Samuelsson Institute of Life Science, Jiangyin, Jiangsu, China
We are proud to share the news with you about the foundation of a research Institute in China in the name of our Senior Advisor Bengt Samuelsson, Professor of Physiological Chemistry and former President of the Karolinska Institute. Significant funding has been made available to the research institute which will focus on the incubation and industrialization of biomedical and pharmaceutical projects with initial focus on anti-inflammatory proteins. Professor Samuelsson was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1982 for his research.
In 2013, the governments of Wuxi Prefecture and Jiangyin City of Jiangsu Province, China, decided to support the foundation of a Research Institute in the name of professor Bengt Samuelsson, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden. The Institute is located in Jiangyin National High-Tech Park and initially will receive a support fund of CNY 11.00 million from the three governments in the following 5 years. By the end of 2014, the Institute had received a further 30 million CNY together with its associated company, JiangyinUsun Biochemical Technology, Co., Ltd., a fast growing biotech company.
The inauguration ceremony of the Bengt Samuelsson Institute of Life Science was held in Jiangyin on April 22, 2015 in the presence of Professor Bengt I. Samuelsson. The ceremony was also attended by leaders of the governments of Wuxi and Jiangyin, clinical professors at 30 hospitals from all over China and people from Wuxi and Jiangyin local pharmaceutical companies. More than 200 attended the ceremony that took place in the administrative building of the Jiangyin National High-Tech Park.
The activities of the Institute will focus on the introduction, incubation and industrialization of biomedical and pharmaceutical projects. The development work will be based on a balanced combination of the three necessary components: basic research, translational research and clinical research, in order to gain a better understanding of the medical application value of a new product.
Initially, the projects and products will focus on anti-inflammatory proteins applicable to disorders of the skin, mucosa, and bone.
One of the functions of the Institute will be to transfer pharmaceutical and biomedical projects from Sweden to China. The local Jiangyin Government will provide incubation place and initial capital. The Institute has got its own capital and ongoing established strategic cooperation with a government venture investment company and other venture capitalists. The research and incubation phases will be taken care of by the Institute. When the project is mature, another new project company will be established to bring the product to the medical community.
