In the beginning of 2008 , the activities around Piboserod and serotonin-receptor binders were split out in a new company, Serodus AS. At the same time, BMI expanded its project portfolio by including all the ongoing projects from The Radium Hospital Research Foundation (RF). RF is now one of BMI’s major owners. In addition, BMI has established a preferred partner agreement with Medinnova, which has an early commercialisation function for the ”Helse Sør-Øst” region which includes all major hospitals in South and East of Norway. This ensures a future deal-flow of new, exciting projects.

Vaccibody AS

Vaccibody AS was established in 2006 as a wholly owned subsidiary of BMI. Vaccibody is a vaccine company dedicated to the development of novel vaccines that has the potential to overcome the shortcomings of current vaccine technology. Based on its proprietary technology, Vaccibody is developing several vaccine candidates against cancer, chronic infections and allergy. Vaccibody vaccines can be both DNA based and protein based. Vaccibody has received a grant from the Norwegian Research Council's BIA program for its activities in 2008-2010. During 2008, the company will raise money to continue development of DNA vaccines. Read more.

siRNAsense AS

siRNAsense was established in 2004 as a wholly owned subsidiary of BMI. siRNAsense is involved in the early phase development and proof of commercial concept of new cancer drugs based on RNA interference (RNAi) technology. The lead candidate in the pipeline is for siRNA targeting in Tissue Factor, a molecule involved in normal blood clotting, but also in metastasis and angiogenesis. The initial focus is the treatment of metastatic melanoma, in addition to early research on its effect on metastatic breast cancer. siRNAsense has received a grant from the Norwegian Research Council's FUGE/BIP program of NOK 2.6 mill for the activities in the Tissue Factor program, targeting melanoma metastasis, in 2008-2009. Read more.

DnaAcos AS

In the antibacterial drug market there is a huge unmet need, especially for treating multidrug resistant bacteria. DnaAcos AS owns the rights to a new antibacterial screen for identification of antibiotics with novel mode of action. Read more.

Nextera AS 

Nextera is a biotechnology company based on a proprietary new phage display technology. Nextera utilizes the pVII capsid protein of filamentous bacteriophages as a scaffold for display of peptides and proteins. Nextera’s technology fosters easy display of two different proteins on the very same phage particle, thus gaining new functionality to existing phage display systems. Read more.

Cardiaccs AS

Cardiaccs is a company developing a device for continuous monitoring of the pumping capacity of the heart, improving care of patients during and after heart surgery. The device will primarily be used in the postoperative phase after open chest cardiac surgery. The device consists of a monitor displaying measurements from a microsensor on the surface of the heart. Prototypes have proven a sensitivity and specificity equal to echocardiography for e.g. ischemia detection and changes in contractility. By adding continuous monitoring, care of heart surgery patients will be improved. For video demonstration of the technology, see ClinicaEditor on YouTube.

Serodus AS - Innovative Approaches in Cardiovascular Diseases

Serodus was established in 2008 through a demerger of BMI with the purpose to commercialize innovations within the cardiovascular area. Serodus is working under a consortium agreement with the University of Oslo and Drug Discovery Laboratory AS for developing new drugs for the treatment of congestive heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases.  The company’s core technology is based on the discovery of Prof. Levy and co-workers at the University of Oslo, that failing cardiac ventricles express 5-HT₄ receptors as a response to the malignant condition. In analogy with adrenergic action on the failing heart, a sensitization to serotonin signalling is expected to have a deteriorating effect on the disease. The research group therefore hypothesized that a 5-HT₄ receptor antagonist could provide additional benefit to long-term disease development.  Serodus is currently in the process of building a broader portfolio in the cardiovascular area. In December 2009, BMI acquired about 10% of Serodus' shares.  Read more.