Member Spotlight: Aqsens – The Truth Revealed by Urine
- Nina Pulkkis
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
Imagine a test where a small amount of urine is enough to detect aggressive prostate cancer, Parkinson’s disease, or even pancreatic cancer. The Turku-based biotechnology company Aqsens has harnessed bacteriophages as next-generation biosensors. The result is a fast, non-invasive, and exceptionally sensitive method for disease detection.
From Red Wines to Patients
Aqsens’ story begins in an unexpected place: water and wine analysis. The company’s founder, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and biophysics pioneer Pekka Hänninen, developed a fluorescence technology capable of identifying and distinguishing the chemical profiles of red wines — even creating a “wine recommender” system based on individuals’ wine preferences. Since there was no commercial application for the technology in Finland, the company changed direction. Instead of wines, the focus soon turned to health, especially when biochemist Janne Kulpakko and his research on bacteriophages joined the team. These natural viruses that infect bacteria became Aqsens’ new tool for disease detection.
Phages: Nature’s Own Bacterial Viruses
Phages, or bacteriophages, are viruses that live symbiotically with bacteria — they do not harm the cells of plants, animals, or the human body. They are found throughout nature and play a central role in regulating the human bacterial balance: in fact, each of us hosts hundreds of millions of phages.Aqsens utilizes this evolutionary toolbox in an exceptional way. The company’s engineered phages have been trained to detect specific diseases based on metabolic changes and biomarkers — and they do so fast and with full precision. Aqsens has developed two phages, X 174 and M13, to detect disease-related metabolic changes and biomarkers, for example, in urine samples. The biomarker or target in the sample triggers the phage to release a label, which is visible either to the naked eye or via highly sensitive time-resolved fluorescence measurement (TRF).
“Phages don’t know whether they’re detecting Parkinson’s or lung cancer — the same method works, as long as it’s trained properly,” says CEO Timo Teimonen.
Why Urine?
Urine reveals things about the body that blood does not always show. Unlike in blood, there is no active homeostatic system in urine to mask early signs of disease. In addition, urine is easy to collect, store, and even test at home — opening entirely new possibilities for screening and monitoring diseases.
From Prostate Cancer to Global Markets
Aqsens’ first clinical focus is on prostate cancer diagnostics. The test is being developed in collaboration with leading urologists from HUS and Tyks in Finland, with clinical pilots scheduled to begin at the end of 2025. The business model is based on licensing the technology to major diagnostics companies — Aqsens focuses on what it does best: biotechnology.
China Plays a Key
RoleAqsens’ technology has also gained a strong foothold in China, where regulation is more streamlined than in Europe and research collaboration progresses rapidly. The company has started analyzing nearly 2,000 prostate cancer samples in China and has built a collaboration network with interest extending to lung cancer and tuberculosis — diseases that currently lack effective early detection methods.
Individuals Drive Research Forward
According to Timo Teimonen, Finland’s true strengths in biotechnology lie in individuals — not institutions.
“Finland doesn’t have any systematic competitive advantage, but we have the ability to support top individuals and get them to work together,” Timo Teimonen says
Teimonen adds that the Finnish education system isn’t based solely on memorization or hierarchy, but encourages independent thinking, tolerance of uncertainty, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. A non-hierarchical scientific community allows creative thinking to flourish — and researchers to challenge each other without fear of losing face. This mindset also made Aqsens possible: a crossroads where biophysics, clinical research, and engineering merge in an exceptional way.
Nature’s Own Experts
Phages, those invisible viruses that devour bacteria, have long been a forgotten resource in medicine — at least in the West. In the Soviet Union, phages were already used in the early 20th century to treat wounds, and ready-made phage ointments were available in pharmacies. In the West, the rise of antibiotics pushed phage research aside, but that is now changing. In the era of antibiotic resistance, there is renewed interest in phages — not just as a therapy, but also as a diagnostic tool.Aqsens’ innovation demonstrates how these rapidly adaptable viruses can be harnessed to serve medicine in ways we couldn’t imagine just a short while ago. Phages are not only part of microbiological history — they are also the foundation of precision diagnostics in the future.