Dr. Carl Kilander, Partner, Healthcap about NLSDays’ Vaccine Crosslinks: From Cancer to COVID super session interviewed by Chelsea Ranger, Senior advisor, SwedenBIO Can you speak to where you see the biggest challenges – and opportunities – in this space, and how is vaccine development aligned with HealthCap’s strategy? Translating vaccine development outside of infectious diseases is a tremendous effort and an ongoing endeavor for many labs, biotechs, and pharmas. To me, an increased understanding of the immune response to a specific antigen and how to harness that biology will likely be the start of major breakthroughs in using vaccines to treat a large variety of disease. For HealthCap specifically, we are looking for precision medicine angles and vaccines of course fits nicely in that perspective. One key here is the understanding of what specific antigen or combination of antigen that provides therapeutic efficacy and so, a solid biological thesis is important to us. Especially for vaccines to be used in oncology where one specific antigen may not be enough as compared to infectious disease, this process is all the more important. We often use the phrase “intelligent capital” in this industry. In that, what do you believe the financial community can best lend experience and resources to ensure that we are better prepared for future pandemics, as well as for continued growth in the complementary fields of immunology, infectious disease, and oncology? To me, “intelligent capital” means having the resources and network (not only cash) to integrate ideas, science, and people across different disciplines. This takes bandwidth and effort so, if anything, I hope that we will continue to see a collaborative mindset and an interest to work jointly and tackling medical innovation. Also, experience and know-how of company creation, scaling and positioning is a crucial contribution that intelligent capital hopefully can bring to life science innovators. This is all the more important in an environment where a plethora of new technologies are emerging, to really build sustainable companies that can deliver tangible results on promises. Who do you hope to meet at Nordic Life Science Days this year? I hope to meet with people in the community to discuss science and potential collaborations. That includes life science innovators and entrepreneurs, investors and pharma representatives. I would encourage early-stage companies to make contact and be prepared to answer the question, ‘how is the technology novel and differentiated.’ I hope I find the next company to invest in. Thank you so much Carl and see you in Malmö! Super Session 3 28 September 2022 Vaccine Crosslinks: From Cancer to COVID