In bid to improve outcomes for children with genetic bone disease, Swedish startup BOOST Pharma raises additional €3.1 million

Stockholm-based BOOST Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel cell therapies for rare skeletal pediatric diseases, today announced that Sound Bioventures has joined its investor syndicate with a €3.1 million investment.

The financing will support continued clinical development of BT-101, BOOST Pharma’s pioneering stem cell-based therapy for osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), also known as brittle bone disease.

“We are honored to welcome Sound Bioventures to our syndicate – a collaborative, hands-on investor group that shares our vision of transforming care for children living with rare skeletal diseases,” said Ingelise Saunders, Chair of BOOST Pharma. “Their commitment strengthens BOOST Pharma’s position as a leader in cell therapy for genetic bone disorders and enables continued progress of BT-101 towards the clinic.”

This investment into BOOST Pharma reflects a wider pattern of European funding for advanced cell- and gene-therapy ventures in 2025.

In Sweden, Cellcolabs raised €10.3 million to scale manufacturing of mesenchymal stem cells, aiming to reduce production costs and expand access to regenerative treatments. In Germany, Akribion Therapeutics secured €8 million for its programmable cell-depletion platform, while Finland’s StemSight attracted €2.3 million to progress stem-cell therapies for restoring vision. In neighbouring Denmark, Fuse Vectors closed €4.9 million to develop its cell-free viral vector technology supporting gene-therapy delivery.

With both BOOST Pharma and Cellcolabs headquartered in Sweden, the country shows a growing concentration of regenerative-medicine innovation, reinforcing Sweden’s and Europe’s broader commitment to clinical-stage biotech development.

“We believe BOOST Pharma’s innovative approach to treating osteogenesis imperfecta has enormous potential to deliver not only clinical impact for patients but also durable value creation. We look forward to working together to reach new milestones,” said Johan Kördel, Managing Partner at Sound Bioventures.

Founded in 2019, BOOST Pharma is based on years of collaborative research from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm with the focus on novel cell therapy treatments for Osteogenesis Imperfecta. The research teams of associate professor Cecilia Götherström and professor Magnus Westgren have reportedly shown that that treatment with BOOST Cells greatly enhanced the quality of life for patients suffering from this otherwise extremely debilitating disease.

BOOST Pharma has made significant progress advancing BT-101, a novel mesenchymal stem cell therapy intended for children born with OI. BT-101 is designed for early intervention, administered to infants to address the underlying cause of OI and reduce fracture frequency in affected children.

In mice models, BT-101 has shown that cell therapy leads to higher calcium deposition, higher alkaline phosphatase activity, and a high ectopic bone formation.

Once injected, cells will migrate to the bone of patients with OI, where they will engraft and start bone formation. BOOST Pharma obtained human proof-of-concept for BT-101 after four children with Type III and IV OI were treated; the children have been followed for years up to adolescence.

BT-101 allegedly shows great promise for the effectiveness of treating children with OI: the children treated followed their own growth curve, had increased lengthwise growth compared to contemporary OI patients and showed a significant reduction of bone fractures. The cells are considered to be safe with no adverse reactions and no immune responses towards the donor MSC.

BT-101 therapy starts at the prenatal stage, when OI is first diagnosed, or as early as possible after the child is born. By treating this early, BOOST Pharma is addressing the disease at the earliest possible stage, thereby increasing the treatment benefits for the patient in later years, such as strong bones and possibly improved lung function.

With this new investment, BOOST Pharma aims to accelerate clinical development and move closer to delivering the first disease-modifying therapy for OI.

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