According to Edward Hæggström, founder and CEO of the University of Helsinki spinout Nanoform, real breakthroughs emerge from mistakes and over time. The tech company, which nanoforms drug particles, was listed in 2020. Now, it aims to conquer the world.
"I don't know much about pharmaceuticals, but I'm interested in having a look." This is what Professor of Materials Physics Edward Hæggström of the University of Helsinki remembers saying to Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology Jouko Yliruusi, when he introduced the idea of shrinking, or 'nanonising' drug particles.
The solution would help tackle low solubility, a major problem in the pharmaceutical industry, by boosting the dissolution of drugs in the body and reducing the quantities needed. Nanoforming could also give another chance to previously unsuccessful or poorly dissolved drugs. Hæggström gives an example:
"Icing sugar dissolves more easily in water than granulated sugar."
Expertise in materials physics was needed to come up with the technical solution. The 'propellerheads' at the Electronics Research Laboratory (ETLA) headed by Hæggström got down to business.
It was the early 2010s. Nanoforming as a concept was not new: even major pharmaceutical companies were struggling with it. Hæggström and Yliruusi wanted to design a solution that such companies could use.
To begin with, time and resources were borrowed from other projects. Separate funding was hard to come by without any results to present.
"For narrative purposes, it's important to understand that it took us a long time to solve the problem. It was failure upon failure."
Giving up the exploration was not an option.
The project was joined by the University's technology transfer and commercialisation company , which supports the University's top research teams in transforming their inventions into commercially successful ventures.
With this support, Nanoform sought funding from the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (now Business Finland). In the first year, no money was forthcoming. The following year, they were encouraged to apply again. Hæggström was of the opinion that nothing under a million euros would be acceptable. In the end, they were awarded one million under the New Business from Research Ideas scheme, the predecessor of the current R2B scheme.
Paper stains
The breakthrough came about when a small yellow stain appeared on paper. It was only visible under a microscope. The yellow colour indicated the formation of nanocrystals.
"The quantity was ludicrous, counted in picograms. If you multiply it first by a million and then again by a million, you get to a gram."
Named Controlled Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (CESS®), the new technology is scalable and patented. Next, the possibility of founding a business for the invention was discussed with Helsinki Innovation Services.
This resulted in Nanoform, a University of Helsinki spinout, with Hæggström appointed its CEO. At first, Nanoform rented laboratory facilities from the University.
When the company was established in 2015, Edward Hæggström's brother, investor and economist Albert Hæggström joined in. The company needed business expertise.
"Albert has usually just yawned and told me that my work is not commercially attractive. With Nanoform, he immediately said that it could be really interesting," Edward Hæggström says.
From scientists to commercial operators
Large international pharmaceutical companies are commonly referred to as Big Pharma, while the term Big Banking is used for international banking. According to Albert Hæggström, their business logics resemble each other.
"The productivity figures in the pharma industry are nevertheless terrible: with $300 billion, you get 50 new products on the market," says Albert Hæggström.
While Nanoform is not a pharmaceutical company, it provides a technology and services that serve businesses in the industry. Albert Hæggström believes that this makes it possible for Nanoform to change the world. In addition to drug effectiveness, Nanoform's innovation is commercial from a logistical perspective, as nanoformed drugs take less space.
"I'm sure that, already at a young age, Zlatan Ibrahimović was bold enough to say in interviews that he wanted to become the best footballer in the world. We too decided that we wanted to be world champions," says Albert Hæggström.
After going public in 2020, Nanoform has gained 50 new clients on three continents, including 12 pharmaceutical companies in the global top 20. More than 100 client projects have been completed and several new patents obtained.
At the end of 2025, they published their goals for 2030. Among other things, the company aims to introduce three products developed with the help of Nanoform's technology globally while pursuing an operating profit margin of 30%.
However, the journey to the pharmacy shelf is long in the pharmaceutical industry. Fortunately, part of the journey has already been completed.
The company has expanded from Finland to three continents in North America, Europe, and Asia, growing from Kumpula laboratories to Nasdaq listings in Finland and Sweden. The annual production volume of nanoparticles has grown billion-fold from grams to tonnes. Instead of four people, Nanoform is steered by 180 experts.
The company has gone from nanocrystals on paper to actual pills.
"After 15 years, all of the advanced science and brilliant ideas are taking shape in a green-and-white bottle of pills containing the nanoformed version of a prostate cancer drug," says Edward Hæggström.
