CAMBRIDGE, MA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands — uniQure has been identified in the field of biomedicine as one of 2013’s 50 Disruptive Companies, MIT Technology Review’s annual list of the world’s most innovative technology companies. The honorees are nominated by MIT Technology Review’s editors, who look for companies that have demonstrated original and valuable technology over the last year, are bringing that technology to market at significant scale, and are clearly influencing their competitors. Spanning energy and materials, Internet and digital media, computing and communications, biomedicine, and transportation, the 50 companies on the list represent the disruptive innovations most likely to change our lives.
Jason Pontin, publisher and editor in chief of MIT Technology Review, states, “The pace at which technology changes is astounding. This issue celebrates organizations at the forefront, displaying ‘disruptive innovation’ that will prove to surpass the competition, transform an industry, and change our lives. uniQure proves they are one of those companies by restoring the promise of gene therapy with the approval to treat rare metabolic disorders.”
uniQure is the world leader in the development of human gene based therapies. uniQure’s Glybera, a gene therapy for the treatment of lipoprotein lipase deficiency was approved in the European Union in November 2012, and is the first approved gene therapy in the Western world.
“We are honored by the recognition of MIT Technology Review,” says Jörn Aldag, CEO of uniQure. “As one of the world’s leading technology publications, MIT Technology Review has consistently succeeded in picking the technology and science leaders of the future – disruptive innovators today and household names tomorrow. We believe that uniQure’s advances will have a significant impact on the field of gene therapy. The power and promise of gene therapy that inspire us every day are to provide permanent relief for a broad range of diseases, instead of symptomatic treatments. Gene therapy has the potential to transform the lives of millions of patients who cannot be treated today, and it harbors the promise to prevent disease in the future. As such gene therapy constitutes a real paradigm shift.”
uniQure and the other honorees will be featured in the March/April edition of MIT Technology Review, available on newsstands worldwide March 5, and online at technologyreview.com on February 20.
About uniQure
uniQure is the world leader in the development of human gene based therapies. uniQure’s Glybera, a gene therapy for the treatment of lipoprotein lipase deficiency has been approved in the European Union, and is the first approved gene therapy in the Western world. uniQure’s product pipeline of gene therapy products in development comprise hemophilia B, acute intermittent porphyria, Parkinson’s disease and SanfilippoB. Using adeno-associated viral (AAV) derived vectors as the delivery vehicle of choice for therapeutic genes, the company has been able to design the world’s first stable and scalable AAV manufacturing platform, validated in the approval process of Glybera. This proprietary platform can be applied to a large number of rare (orphan) diseases caused by one faulty gene. uniQure’s largest shareholders are Forbion Capital Partners and Gilde Healthcare, two of the leading life sciences venture capital firms in the Netherlands. Further information can be found at www.uniqure.com.
About MIT Technology Review
MIT Technology Review leads the global conversation about technologies that matter. An independent global media company owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the enterprise produces publications read by millions of business leaders, innovators, thought leaders, and early adopters around the globe, in six languages and on a variety of digital and print platforms. The company publishes MIT Technology Review magazine, the world’s most respected technology magazine (established 1899); daily news features, analysis, opinion, and video; and Business Reports, which explain how new technologies are transforming companies, disrupting markets, or creating entirely new industries. It also produces live events such as the annual EmTech MIT, international EmTech conferences, Summits, and Salons. The company’s entrepreneurial community organization, the MIT Enterprise Forum, hosts over 400 events a year around the world.