Atefyekta is a co-founder of Amferia, a medical device company that has developed a breakthrough technology using anti-microbial peptides to combat the rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and speed the healing of wounds.
Born in Iran, Atefyekta migrated to Gothenburg with her husband 15 years ago.
“I left the country to follow my dreams,” Atefyekta said. “It was difficult there, and I have always had a dream of furthering my education.”
Following inspiration
She arrived in Sweden with a degree in chemistry, an interest that took off during high school due to an inspiring teacher.
At Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, her work caught the eye of another inspirational figure, Atefyekta’s doctoral supervisor, Martin Andersson, a professor of materials science. Andersson encouraged her to pursue entrepreneurship after her studies.
With fellow researcher Anand Kumar Rajasekharan, Atefyekta and Andersson founded Amferia in 2018 with the goal of developing medical products to combat antibiotic resistance. The company is exploring the use of their patented technology in a number of medical and veterinary applications.
Recognizing an urgent need for new treatments
“We have taken the technology to a market-ready product, a wound dressing for animals and are currently selling it in eight countries in Europe with strong partnerships and we continue to expand in the animal market. But humans are the next step and it will be a big step,” said Atefyekta.
At least five million people are currently affected by infections caused by antibiotic resistance. In countries with a high incidence of resistant bacteria, such as China and large parts of Africa, a small wound can cause life-threatening infection that can’t be treated with traditional antibiotics.
Amferia kills bacteria—how the technology works
Antimicrobial peptides are known for their ability to kill bacteria due to their positive electrostatic charge, which attracts the negatively charged bacteria. This allows peptides to puncture bacterial membranes and destroy the cells. However, their fragility in biological environments has been a major challenge to developing peptides as a viable treatment—naturally occurring enzymes in the human—or animal—body can destroy them within seconds.
Atefyekta and her partners addressed this challenge but developing a hydrogel platform, encasing the peptides in a solid protective gel. This design shields the vulnerable facets of peptides from natural enzymes while allowing their bacteria-killing structures to remain exposed—and lethal to even antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Amferia's antimicrobial hydrogel kills bacteria without harming the body. The material was developed through several years of research in collaboration with Chalmers University of Technology. Atefyekta and her colleagues at Amferia hope the solution they have developed can be used on wide-ranging wounds from simple skin injuries to post-operative incisions, chronic wounds, and trauma and burn wounds.
Potential for multiple new product lines
Amferia’s first product from this technology platform is a wound-care dressing for dry-to-low exuding wounds.
“Medtech is a time-consuming industry, it takes a long time to develop a product. But this is just the beginning,” Atefyekta said. “Our vision is to use platform technology to develop more preparations.”
Amferia has also developed wound dressing for veterinary use. In partnership with Orkla Wound Care, this technology is in wide use in several European countries. The BactiDefend dressing combines advanced technology and meets significant and evolving market needs in animal health.
Atefyekta and her partners hope ongoing clinical investigations will lead to CE marking and US FDA clearance for human application. Research already concluded indicates antibiotics have a 64 times higher bactericidal effect when used together with Amferia’s proprietary material.
Atefyekta believes the Amferia hydrogel has numerous potential uses, from wound dressing to surgical use to helping sterilize implants and medical equipment.
H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf’s New Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Every year, H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf's New Entrepreneur of the Year Award is held at the Royal Palace to recognize talented entrepreneurs with a foreign background. With the award, we want to honor, celebrate and make entrepreneurs with a foreign background visible and increase interest in entrepreneurship.
About the IFS Foundation
The IFS Foundation (International Entrepreneurs in Sweden) has supported entrepreneurs and business owners with a foreign background to run and develop businesses since 1996. The foundation also works to ensure favorable conditions for entrepreneurs with a foreign background and initiate networking opportunities between entrepreneurs.
Learn more about Amferia
https://www.amferia.com/
https://news.cision.com/amferia-ab/r/new-study-finds-innovative-peptide-hydrogel-restores-the-effectiveness-of-antibiotics-against-drug-r,c4067581
https://news.cision.com/amferia-ab/r/first-product-utilizing-amferia-antimicrobial-technology-launched-in-europe-for-animal-wound-care,c4058570
https://news.cision.com/amferia-ab/r/amferia-wins-red-dot-award-for-innovative-design-addressing-bacterial-infections-and-antibiotic-resi,c4063979
For more information, contact:
Anand Kumar Rajasekharan, CEO, Amferia AB, 076 298 21 38, anandk@amferia.com
Saba Atefyekta, Sales & Marketing Director, 070 844 94 96 Amferia AB, sabaa@amferia.com