Lars Frelin

Lars Frelin, PhD, is a senior researcher, associate professor in virology and a principal investigator in the Vaccines and Immunotherapies against Viruses and Cancer (VIVAC) at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. His research is focused on the development of genetic vaccines for viral hepatitis, specifically for hepatitis B, C and D viruses, but also other infectious diseases like Sars-Cov-2. The research program also aims to establish and evaluate in vivo and in vitro models of the studied infectious diseases to enable appropriate evaluation of vaccine efficacy.  He is also the director for the study program in biomedical laboratory science and the master´s program in diagnostic cytology at Karolinska Institutet.  He teaches undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students at Karolinska Institutet in the field of microbiology and vaccinology.

Dr. Frelin is an active senior researcher in the field of genetic vaccines, and has published >45 peer-reviewed scientific papers in the field.  He has participated in two clinical trials (phase I/II) using an in-house developed hepatitis C virus DNA-based vaccine in combination with in vivo electroporation.  He has also developed a new pre-clinical multi-needle device for high-speed injection of vaccines into tissues. The device has been evaluated in mice, rabbits and pigs.

Dr. Frelin is a cofounder of the Swedish Vaccine Factory that aims to commercialize genetic vaccines for viral diseases. Currently, the company is developing one immunotherapy for hepatitis B and D and one vaccine for Covid-19.  He is an appointed member of the Infrastructure Committee at Karolinska Institutet and the Steering Committee ANA Futura at Karolinska Institutet.