From the left: Bjørn Klem, General Manager, and Janne Nestvold, Laboratory Manager, are thrilled that their incubator is among Europe’s top 20 biotech start-up ecosystems.

Among Europe’s finest 

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Björn Klem and Janne Nestvold celebrate that the Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator has been nominated among Europe's 20 best incubators.

OCC Incubator was recently rated among the top 20 European biotech incubators. Here’s why!

Every year, the biotech website Labiotech makes a top 20 list of the best biotech incubators in Europe. Oslo Cancer Cluster (OCC) Incubator is the only Norwegian incubator on the list this year, together with well established incubators in Belgium, Switzerland, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden and other European countries.

Labiotech.eu is the leading digital media covering the European biotech industry, with over 150,000 visitors every month.

Size and relevance matters

We asked Clara Rodríguez Fernández, Senior Reporter in Labiotech, about the selection criteria. She replied:

“We aim to include the most relevant incubators across different European countries. We selected those based on their size and relevance within their country’s biotech ecosystem and also based on feedback from the industry contacts we sent our preliminary list to.”

See the full top 20 list on labiotech.eu.  

Means a lot in Norway

In Norway, the list has attracted attention.

“This means a lot. We have a strong and attractive ecosystem around Oslo Cancer Cluster on research and commercialization of pharmaceuticals. The latest success story is the tech company OncoImmunity that was bought by the tech giant NEC this summer.” Håkon Haugli, CEO Innovation Norway

Read more about NEC OncoImmunity in this news story.

Håkon Haugli continues:

“We also recognize that Norway, through Oslo Cancer Cluster, is positioned very well for the European Union’s next big endeavour, ‘Missions’, which will be launched next year. Cancer is one of five focus areas, which the European Union will channel considerable project resources into, to resolve one of our time’s big societal problems.”

The European Union has defined five research and innovation mission areas, inspired by the Apollo 11 mission to put a man on the moon. The missions aim to deliver solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing our world, such as cancer, climate change, healthy oceans, climate-neutral cities and healthy soil and food.

You can read more about the European research and innovation missions on this official website.

A boost of motivation

For OCC Incubator, being on the top 20 list is a nice boost of motivation. Bjørn Klem, General Manager OCC Incubator, puts it this way: 

“We are excited about being rated among the best biotech incubators in Europe. It motivates us to become the most attractive space for innovations in the field of cancer!” 

 

Want to read more about biotech incubators and start-up opportunities? 

 

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Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway was one of many stops during the guided tours through Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park for students of Ullern Upper Secondary School.

A peak into the cancer research world

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ThermoFisher Scientific Norway lectures students at Ullern

Ullern Upper Secondary School is unique, because it shares its building with world-class cancer researchers. Last month, all new Ullern students got to experience this first-hand.

This year’s School Collaboration Days in Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park were held right before the autumn holiday. All the first-year classes at Ullern Upper Secondary School were given a guided tour around the Innovation Park to get to know the companies that they share their everyday lives with.

The purpose of the School Collaboration Days is to give the first-year students at Ullern Upper Secondary School an understanding of what the different companies in the Innovation Park and departments of Oslo University Hospital do.

The common denominator for all of them is cancer and many are developing new cancer treatments. While the Cancer Registry of Norway are collecting statistics and doing cancer research, Sykehusapotekene (Southern and Eastern Norway Pharmaceutical Trust) produce chemotherapy and antibodies for patients that are admitted to The Norwegian Radium Hospital and the Department of Pathology (Oslo University Hospital) gives the cancer patients their diagnoses.

 

IN PICTURES

The student guided tours of Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park

Jonas Einarsson lecturing to students at Ullern

True to tradition, Jónas Einarsson, CEO of the evergreen fund Radforsk, opened the School Collaboration Days in Kaare Norum auditorium with a common lecture. In this image, Einarsson is talking about the development of the Montebello area, which Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park is a part of. The first Radium Hospital was opened in 1932 and the following year Ullern School was moved from Bestum to the same place that houses Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park today.

 

Kreftregisteret lecturing to students at Ullern.

Elisabeth Jakobsen, Head of Communications of the Cancer Registry of Norway, tells the first year students about what they do and the risk factors for developing cancer. Also, she asked the students several questions about how to regulate the sales of tobacco, e-cigarettes and many other things.

 

Thor Audun Saga is the CEO of Syklotronsenteret (“the Norwegian medical cyclotron centre”). He told the students about what they do, what a cyclotron is and how they use cyclotrons to develop cancer diagnostics.

 

ThermoFisher Scientific Norway lectures students at Ullern

The management of Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway are also housed in the Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park. They told the students about the Norwegian invention called “Ugelstadkulene”. This is both the starting point for million of diagnostic tests across the world and revolutionary (CAR T) cancer treatments, 45 years after they were invented.

 

Students guided through the Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator Laboratory

The tour was ended with a walk through the laboratory of the Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator. The students were given an inside look at the work done and instruments used by the cancer researchers in the lab. This area is only one or two floors above their regular class rooms. The student could see first-hand the opportunities there are in pursuing a career in research, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Torbjørn Furuseth, Chief Financial Officer, Targovax, is delighted to announce that the company's second part of the clinical trial for skin cancer patients will be held at Oslo University Hospital.

New clinical trial at Oslo University Hospital

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Torbjörn Furuseth, Targovax

Our member Targovax has announced a new clinical trial for skin cancer patients at Oslo University Hospital.

The second part of a clinical trial for patients with refractory advanced melanoma (a type of skin cancer) will take place at Oslo University Hospital.

“We are excited that we can offer this treatment alternative to patients in our home country, and hopefully it will help us to recruit more patients faster,” said Torbjørn Furuseth, Chief Financial Officer, Targovax.

Targovax is a Norwegian biotech company that develops oncolytic viruses called ONCOS-102 to destroy cancer cells. The treatment is targeted towards solid tumours that are especially hard to treat. The ultimate goal is to activate the patient’s immune system to fight cancer.

Promising results

“The trial is until now conducted at three top hospitals in the US, where competition for patients to clinical trials is high. Oslo University Hospital is also a great cancer center, and currently there are no trials offered to this patient population,” said Furuseth.

Three out of nine patients responded to the treatment during the first part of the clinical trial. This included one complete response and two partial responses.

Dr. Magnus Jäderberg, CMO of Targovax, said: “It is promising to see this level of clinical responses after only three ONCOS-102 injections, including a complete response, which is rare in this heavily pre-treated patient population.”

A forceful combination

The treatment involves a combination of an oncolytic virus and an anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitor.

The oncolytic virus is a modified virus that has been developed to selectively attack and kill cancer cells. You can read more about the oncolytic viruses on Targovax’s official website.

The anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitor disrupts the interaction between proteins on the surface of cancer cells. This stops the cancer from evading the immune system.

“Earlier this year, we decided to expand the trial to test a more intensified schedule of ONCOS-102, and it will be interesting to see whether this regimen can generate more and deeper clinical responses,” said Dr. Alexander Shoushtari, Principal Investigator, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York.

The second part of the clinical trial is currently enrolling new patients.

 

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Mandag 7. oktober la finansminister Siv Jensen (til høyre) fram nasjonalbudsjettet og et forslag til Stortinget om statsbudsjett for 2020. Foto: Stortinget

Mer til e-helse og sykehus

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Mandag 7. oktober la finansminister Siv Jensen (til venstre) fram nasjonalbudsjettet og et forslag til Stortinget om statsbudsjett for 2020. Foto: Stortinget

I Statsbudsjettet 2020 foreslår regjeringen flere temaer som er relevante for Oslo Cancer Cluster, blant annet å øke investeringer i e-helseløsninger, satse mer på sykehusene og utvide opsjonsskatteordningen for små oppstartsselskap. Men det står lite konkret om kreft.

– Helse og omsorg har stor plass i budsjettet også til neste år, sa finansminister Siv Jensen i finanstalen hun leverte fra Stortingets talerstol 7. oktober 2019.

Jensen ramset deretter opp satsingsområdene som regjeringen har på helse i Statsbudsjettet 2020:

  • mer moderne sykehus med ny teknologi og nye behandlingsformer, flere fastleger og legespesialister
  • oppfylle opptrappingsplanen for rusfeltet 
  • kortere ventetid for pasienter ved sykehusene
  • bedre omsorgstjenester

Du kan lese hele finanstalen på regjeringens nettside.

Lite konkret om kreft

Statsbudsjettet 2020 nevner lite konkret om kreft, faktisk bare to punkter.

  1. Regjeringen foreslår å øke bevilgningene til nasjonalt screeningprogram for tarmkreft med 24,7 millioner kroner i 2020. Det blir en samlet bevilgning på om lag 97 millioner kroner.
  2. Radiumhospitalet skal videreutvikles som et spesialisert kreftsykehus. Dette nevnes i omtalen av den planlagte sykehusomleggingen i Oslo.

Kliniske studier nevnes ikke spesifikt i Statsbudsjettet 2020.

100 millioner til Gaustad og Aker

Regjeringen foreslår at 100 millioner kroner går til nye sykehus på Aker og Gaustad i Oslo. Samtidig foreslås en låneramme på 29,1 milliarder kroner til prosjektet. Det skal legge til rette for at Helse Sør-Øst og Oslo universitetssykehus kan gå i gang med prosjektering og bygging av et nytt, stort akuttsykehus på Aker og et samlet og komplett regionsykehus inkludert lokalsykehusfunksjoner på Gaustad.

I tillegg foreslås en lånebevilgning til universitetsarealer ved det nye sykehuset i Stavanger.

Satsing på e-helse

Regjeringen foreslår et løft for den nasjonale e-helseutviklingen, med 373 millioner kroner. Dette skal få opp tempoet på digitaliseringen i helsetjenesten og legge til rette for å utnytte norske helsedata bedre.

– Norge har omfattende og verdifulle helsedata som er bygget opp over lang tid. Regjeringen ønsker å gjøre disse lettere tilgjengelig for forskere og andre som har behov for å analysere helsedata. Helseanalyseplattformen vil kutte ned på unødvendig byråkrati og tidstyver. Regjeringen foreslår å øke bevilgningen med 131 millioner kroner, sier helseminister Bent Høie i en pressemelding om temaet.

Regjeringen vil også etablere et «standardisert språk», et kodeverk og terminologi i helse- og omsorgssektoren, for å bedre pasientsikkerhet og skape mer samhandling.

Til sist vil regjeringen øke bevilgningene til modernisering av Folkeregisteret i helse- og omsorgssektoren og til forvaltning og drift av de nasjonale e-helseløsningene kjernejournal, e-resept, helsenorge.no, grunndata og helseID.

Pressemeldingen om satsingen på e-helse kan du lese på regjeringens nettside.

Les mer om prioriteringer i budsjettforslaget for Helse og omsorgsdepartemente på side 25 i Statsbudsjettet 2020. 

Dobbelt opsjonsfordel for start-ups

Regjeringen vil utvide ordningen for gunstig skattemessig behandling av opsjoner i små oppstartsselskaper. Maksimal opsjonsfordel per ansatt dobles fra 500 000 kroner til en million kroner. Regjeringen foreslår også å utvide ordningen til å omfatte flere selskap.

I tillegg til at opsjonsfordelen dobles, økes maksimalt antall ansatte i selskap som kan være i ordningen fra 10 til 12. Det gjør at flere små selskap kan benytte ordningen.

Opsjonsskatteordningen for små oppstartsselskap ble innført fra 2018. Under denne ordningen kan ansatte få opsjoner som gir rett til å kjøpe aksjer i selskapet til en fastsatt pris. Ordningen innebærer blant annet at skatteplikten på opsjonene utsettes salg av aksjene kjøpt ved hjelp av opsjonene. Denne skatteutsettelsen er begrenset til en maksimal opsjonsfordel, som nå foreslås doblet.

Utvidelsene må godkjennes av ESA før de kan tre i kraft. Regjeringen opplyser at den jobber for at endringene vil bli godkjent før nyttår, slik at de kan gjelde fra 1. januar 2020.

Flere relevante temaer i Statsbudsjettet

  • Skattefunn: Regjeringen foreslår endringer i Skattefunn-ordningen som skal stimulere næringslivet til å investere enda mer i forskning og utvikling (FoU). Forslagene øker den årlige Skattefunn-støtten med 150 millioner kroner fra 2020. Samtidig foreslår regjeringen flere tiltak som gir bedre kontroll med ordningen. Les mer om skattefunnforslaget på regjeringens nettside.  
  • Protonsenter: 26 millioner foreslås til protonsenter i 2020.
  • Fastlegene: Regjeringen foreslår å bruke om lag 350 millioner kroner til å styrke og videreutvikle fastlegeordningen. De varsler flere tiltak for å styrke ordningen i en handlingsplan som skal komme våren 2020.
  • Legespesialisering: Regjeringen foreslår 10 millioner kroner til allmennleger i spesialisering (ALIS)-kontor i Bodø, Trondheim, Bergen, Kristiansand og Hamar. Tilskuddet gis for å bistå kommuner i regionen til å planlegge, etablere, inngå og følge opp ALIS-avtaler.
  • Statsbudsjettet 2020 er på 1 414,6 milliarder kroner. Staten forventer å tjene 245 milliarder kroner på olje– og gassvirksomheten til neste år.
  • Du kan fordype deg i Statsbudsjettet 2020 på regjeringens temaside.

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