Symcel is a medtech company that develops and sells an analytical instrument, enabling researchers to measure cell metabolism in real-time at high sensitivity. Symcel´s CEO Jesper Ericsson believes networking and collaboration is key for success in the life sciences and we took the chance to ask him a few questions.
Why did Symcel decide to relocate to the Solna Campus?Symcel is a growing company built by business drivers and scientists. We have developed a culture where our staff, customers and partners cherish creativity and teamwork in the development of new applications and for this, Solna Campus is the ideal location. We were already working with clinical microbiologists at the Karolinska Hospital as well as preclinical researchers at Karolinska Institute and knew well how we could expand these activities. Close physical proximity to a medical hub like Karolinska is extremely valuable and means we can significantly increase instrument demonstrations as well as co-development of new biological applications, especially in our own new lab. But this is only part of the benefit of moving to Solna Campus. We are excited by a critical mass of life science companies that are relocating to the campus. We see large potential in sharing of knowledge, equipment and contacts between individuals, companies and research/clinical groups. This is a way to grow organizational goals but also cater to individual team members growth potential through networking.
How is Symcel affected by COVID-19?We find ourselves in the middle of a global pandemic that is causing a great deal of uncertainty. We have quickly adapted our operations to be safe and efficient, prioritizing the well-being of our team and customers. We run demos and experiments in our lab as well as keep production of our instruments going and can do so with increased physical distance to reduce risk of any potential virus spreading. COVID-19 does not affect Symcel´s long-term vision or business, but the great benefits of the proximity to other stakeholders on Campus has been temporarily delayed.
What kind of company is Symcel?We are a team of experienced technology evangelists and scientific entrepreneurs that believe metabolism matters. We are passionate about the importance of using total metabolic measurements to better understand biological systems and drug killing effects, through the power of microcalorimetry. If cells are alive, they produce heat. If they are dead, they do not. And we measure this heat at unprecedented sensitivity. Our focus areas are microbiology (including biofilm, antibiotic testing, complex models, clinical applications and fungi), thermogenesis and cancer. Our vision is to make our instrument, the calScreener, the gold standard for advanced metabolic measurements and bridge the gap between in-vitro and in-vivo research. To get there, we look forward to engaging daily with other forward leaning individuals and organizations locally in the Solna Campus as well as globally.
