Progress through research
ACD Pharma is a Norwegian R&D company that develops biocontrol products based on bacteriophages. Our research team is co-located with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
ACD Pharma was originally established to develop biocontrol products for the aquaculture industry. However, groundbreaking results and the development of new technology from its work on bacteriophages have demonstrated how advances made in one sector can be extended in another.
In 2018, ACD Pharma launched Custus®YRS as the world’s first bacteriophage product for use in aquaculture. The preceding research efforts has provided a technological platform that can be used to develop bacteriophage products for combating harmful bacteria in both animals and people.
ACD Pharma currently collaborates with a number of pharmaceutical and scientific teams on utilising bacteriophages as tools in the fight against antibiotic resistance. The research is concentrated on strategies and methods for preventing and treating bacterial infections in people with the aid of bacteriophages.
Since 2019, ACD Pharma, the UiT Arctic University of Norway, the University Hospital of North Norway (UNN), Stavanger University Hospital, the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, the Karolinska Institute and a number of other international medical teams have been working together on the Kleb-Gap research project.
This aims to utilise bacteriophages against Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacterium which can cause pneumonia and hospital infections. Finding new defences against it has been identified as critical by the World Health Organisation (WHO) because of growing antibiotic resistance.
Work directed towards the aquaculture sector remains an important business area for ACD Pharma. It collaborates closely with its sister companies involved with fish feed and medicinal feeds, the sale and distribution of pharmaceuticals, and veterinary and environmental services directed at the aquaculture industry.
Nordly group
ACD Pharma is part of the Norwegian-owned Nordly group, based at Leknes in the Lofoten islands.
- Nordly Holding is the holding company for ACD Pharma and several other companies:
- STIM delivers vaccines and fish health products to the aquaculture sector, as well as services related to veterinary fish health, the marine environment and technical certification for this industry. With several branch offices along the Norwegian coast, it is also established in Chile, the UK, Canada and Iceland.
- Polarfeed manufactures fish feed, with a factory in Øksfjord in Finnmark county.
- Aquamed manufactures medicinal feed.
COO
Simon Brink
Brink is a graduate in economy from UCL in Denmark. He has 9 years of experience from international banking, he has been involved in the establishment of several large companies and holds several board positions. Brink was hired as COO of ACD Pharma in march 2021 too lead the company through commercialisation and the establishment of the company´s bacteriophage factory in Lofoten.
PhD, R&D Operations Manager
Cyril Frantzen
Frantzen studied bioengineering at the UiT Arctic University of Norway, and did his MSc and PhD in microbiology at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. His doctoral thesis covered the development and use of bioinformatics for analysing bacteria and bacteriophages. He joined ACD Pharma as a researcher after receiving his PhD, and has been R&D operations manager for the company since 2019.
PhD, R&D Manager
Christel Andreassen
christel.andreassen@acdpharma.com
Andreassen has a background from Tufts University in Boston, where she, as Associate Director of Biomedical Engineering, established TUCCA, a Centre of Excellence for interdisciplinary research and development. Prior to this, she spent three years as a doctoral researcher at Nofima, where she researched sustainable production of proteins and bioactive peptides for use in biological production. She holds a PhD from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo and a master’s degree in molecular and cancer biology from the university’s Faculty of Biosciences.
MSc, Laboratory Manager
Eirik Bårdsen
Bårdsen has been with ACD Pharma since graduating as a microbiologist in 2013. He is a “jack of all trades” in the laboratory, with the emphasis on testing new methods and isolating new bacteriophages.
Bårdsen holds an MSc in microbiology, having studied at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
MSc, Research Engineer
Ingrid Støtvig
Ingrid Støtvig joined the ACD Pharma research team in 2022. She has a Master of Science in biomedicine from UiT The Arctic University of Norway. She is knowledgeable in molecular methods and applied medical genetics.
Senior Development Scientist
Øyvind Kileng
Kileng studied molecular biology at The University of Bergen and did his PhD at UiT The Arctic University of Norway on the interaction between the immune system in Atlantic salmon and the ISA virus. As a post doctor at Nofima he researched similar interactions between the immune system in Atlantic cod and the Nodavirus.
MSc, Research Engineer
Hannah Winther Solbakk
Hannah has a Master of Science in biotechnology from The Norwegian University of Life Sciences and worked for Oslo University Hospital before joining ACD Pharma in december 2022. She is experienced in several molecular-biologic og biochemical methods.
MSc, Research Engineer
Andreas S. Damgaard
andreas.damgaard@acdpharma.com
Damgaard has a Master of Science in Biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Southern Denmark. He has worked on multiple projects focusing on both bacteriophage isolation, bacteriophage characterisation and bacterial defence mechanisms against bacteriophage infections. He joined ACD Pharma as a research engineer in August 2023, and works on the screening process, analysis, and development of bacteriophage-based products.
Bacteriophages
Bacteriophages – a unique opportunity in the fight against antibiotic resistance
The report is a response to the challenge from Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg. Many opportunities are available. Success can be achieved with commitment and right instruments.
Antibiotic resistance threatens the environment, animals, food production and public health
The threat posed by antibiotic resistance cannot be eliminated, but steps can be taken to reduce its progress.
Public health and modern medicine
Decades of medical research and progress could be reversed by antibiotic resistance.
Environmental consequences
The ecosystem in water, soil and organisms is disrupted by the production and use of pharmaceuticals and their subsequent disposal.
Antibiotics consumption in Norway
Norway is among the countries with the lowest consumption of antibiotics for both humans and animals, and has little problem with antibiotic resistance today.