Silje Morild Helland is fighting for breast cancer patients to gain access to new cancer treatments. Photo: Eline Feiring / LMI

Making every day count

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Cancer patient Silje Morild Helland spends all her time searching for better treatments.

“I want to spend my time doing this. It is not just my life, but many people’s lives. We all want to be here for our loved ones. I have made friends who have the same diagnosis and several of them are not here anymore. People are dying while waiting for important medicines.”

Silje was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant in 2015. Since then, she has tried all the treatments that are available to her in Norway. Now, her current treatment is losing effect and Silje feels she has a responsibility to search for more options, since many other cancer patients cannot.

“I think it is problematic that breast cancer patients are assessed according to the average age of the entire patient group. It is said we are too old for the new treatment to be cost effective. It is too expensive in relation to how old we are on the group level, but I am not too old,” Silje said.

Silje told her story at the meeting Fremtidens Kreftbehandling – Hver Dag Teller, Eller? during the Norwegian political festival Arendalsuka. The meeting was organised jointly by Oslo Cancer Cluster, LMI, the Norwegian Cancer Society, Astra Zeneca Norway, Janssen Norway and MSD Norway.

Watch the meeting here:

Is this even legal?

The lawyer Geir Lippestad explained at the meeting that the system called Nye Metoder has been given the legal mandate by publicly appointed officials to decide which medicines will be approved in Norway.

“We do not have any case law or Supreme Court decisions concerning Nye Metoder. This is because it is not possible for patients to appeal decisions that have been made. This is not completely unproblematic. In an open society, the right to appeal is a guarantee for legal safety. This is something we need to debate politically. It is very unusual that there is not a bigger legal framework to appeal.”

Calling for a mission on cancer

Sigrid Bratlie, special advisor in the Norwegian Cancer Society, told the audience about recent advances in the cancer field.

“We are at a breaking point in the development of knowledge and technology. Two areas that are moving especially fast are personalised medicine and immunotherapy.”

Bratlie explained that future cancer treatments will be defined by four characteristics. The treatments will be more personalized and more influenced by advanced technologies. They will be given more in combination with one another, and clinical studies will be an integrated part of standard treatment.

“To realise the potential we have in Norway, we need to invest and set ambitious goals. The European Union has launched a Cancer Mission with the goal to improve the lives of 3 million people by 2030. The USA has the Cancer Moonshot to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years.”

Steinar Thoresen (Merck), Sigrid Bratlie (Kreftforeningen) and Truls Vasvik (Labour Party) discussed access to new cancer treatments. Photo: Sofia Lindén / Oslo Cancer Cluster

What is Norway doing?

Sigbjørn Smeland, Head of the Cancer Clinic at Oslo University Hospital, and Steinar Thoresen, Senior Medical Consultant Merck Oncology and Medical Director NordicRWE, introduced the new initiatives for precision cancer medicine in Norway.

One of them is IMPRESS, a national study where patients with metastatic cancer who have exhausted all treatment options get a chance to try another treatment based on the cancer’s genetic mutation.

Another initiative is CONNECT, a public-private consortium driving the implementation of precision medicine in Norway. Several companies in CONNECT have agreed to contribute pharmaceuticals to the IMPRESS study.

“Precision medicine is one of the pillars of the cancer treatments of the future. We must organise ourselves differently. It requires a closer collaboration between industry and academia. We are looking at the individual patient, instead of groups of patients, which gives us a different type of knowledge base,” Smeland explained.

Steinar Thoresen complemented:

“The industry has gone from being a part, to becoming a partner. For the first time we have a shared risk between private and public. This can be a framework for future payment structures. People have started to say ‘Look to Norway’ and we have no time to lose. We need to collaborate to get more clinical studies, to get more drugs into IMPRESS and to make use of Norwegian health data.”

The politician Truls Vasvik from the Norwegian Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) was also at the meeting.

“We need to work together with industry to succeed. We need to establish a system that can handle the extremely rapid changes in cancer treatment. We also need to think new about price models. We have a focus on cancer right now, because many are getting ill, and the development is going extremely fast.”

Silje Morild Helland does not think the system is good enough. If she can’t get new treatment in Norway, she plans on travelling abroad, like many other Norwegian cancer patients already have.

Møt oss på Arendalsuka

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Arendalsuka er Norges største politiske festival, og neste uke tar mange viktige temaer over gatene i sørlandsbyen. Vi er selvsagt der også i år, for å gå i dialoger om temaet kreftbehandling og utvikling av nye, innovative behandlingsmetoder. Du kan møte oss over flere dager, på flere arenaer. Mange av møtene blir også strømmet, slik at du strengt tatt ikke må reise til Arendal for å delta på seminarene. Klikk på lenkene for å få en oversikt over hvilke møter som strømmes.

Vi anbefaler appen til Arendalsuka. Der kan du markere hvilke arrangementer du ikke vil gå glipp av. Påmelding er ikke nødvendig, alt under Arendalsuka er gratis og åpent for alle. Vi gleder oss til å møte deg der!

 

Nøkkelen til bedre kreftbehandling er samarbeid 

Tirsdag 16.8, 10.00-11.30, Clarion Tyholmen 

CONNECT er et offentlig-privat konsortium som jobber for å innføre presisjonsmedisin innen kreftbehandling raskere. 30 partnere samler alle norske universitetssykehus, flere legemiddel- og teknologiselskaper, Kreftforeningen, Folkehelseinstituttet, Direktoratet for e-helse, og Helsedirektoratet. Konsortiet er koordinert av Oslo Cancer Cluster.

Under dette seminaret vil du få vite mer om hva CONNECT har jobbet med – og fått til – siden det ble opprettet i desember 2020. Noen av temaene er genetisk testing, norske kliniske studier som et tilbud til kreftpasientene, hvordan helsevesenet og legemiddelselskapene samarbeider for å utvikle bedre behandlinger, og hvordan spesialisthelsetjenesten og Helsedirektoratet samarbeider. Programmet rundes av med en politisk debatt om muligheter og utfordringer for presisjonsmedisin for kreftpasienter i Norge.

Program: https://program.arendalsuka.no/event/user-view/17541 

Arrangører: Oslo Cancer Cluster, CONNECT 

 

Fremtidens helsevesen med kunstig intelligens

Onsdag 17.8, 10.30-11.30, UiA-teltet

For mer enn to år siden lanserte digitaliseringsministeren Norges strategi innen kunstig intelligens. Norge skulle lede an i kunstig intelligens-kappløpet, og norske helsevesen skulle bli best på kunstig intelligens, og norsk helsedata ble referert til som et norsk konkurransefortrinn. Men, hvordan har det egentlig gått, og har norsk helsevesen virkelig blitt pioneren innen intelligent helseteknologi, og hvordan kan vi norske aktører samarbeide internasjonalt?

Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR) og eHelsesenteret fra UiA, Visual intelligence fra UiT,  Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Consorium (NORA), Oslo Cancer Cluster (OCC), og Norwegian Smart Care Cluster (NSCC) inviterer til debatt om kunstig intelliges i helse.

Vi setter fokus på mulighetene med bruk av kunstig i helsesektoren, og diskuterer hvordan vi best kan bruke norske AI-kompetanse innen helse, hvordan norske helsedata kan brukes til å fremme befolkningshelse, og om det er for langt fra helseforskning til praktisk bruk av AI innen helse.

Vi inviterer sentrale aktører til faglige innlegg og debatt omkring den nasjonale strategien av kunstig intelligens

Program: https://program.arendalsuka.no/event/user-view/18498 

Arrangører: Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR) og eHelsesenteret fra UiA, Visual intelligence fra UiT,  Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Consorium (NORA), Oslo Cancer Cluster (OCC), og Norwegian Smart Care Cluster (NSCC)
 

Hvordan legge til rette for at de små blir store i norsk helseindustri?  

Onsdag 17.8, 12.30-13.30, båten til Næringslivsforeningen

Helsenæringen kan skape flere arbeidsplasser og eksportinntekter enn i dag – men det krever en real satsing! For å styrke Norges posisjon innen helseindustrien kreves mer offentlig-privat samarbeid. Vi tar diskusjonen om både muligheter og fallgruver.

Våger vi å la dette toget gå fra oss? Tiden er overmoden for å sikre en god posisjon i eksport av norsk helseindustri. Dagens blide viser en skog av oppstartsbedrifter innen helse. For at denne skogen skal vokse seg stor og frodig kan vi ikke fortsette som før.

Vekst krever gode vekstforhold. Her finnes store muligheter for inntekter både til næringsliv og stat. Men, det krever at vi bygger et godt hjemmemarked. Våre fyrtårn som skal ut i verden vil ha et helt annet utgangspunkt med solide røtter i Norge. Får vi til dette, kan vi sikre muligheten til å skape en viktig og bærekraftig næring for landet, samtidig som vi utvikler gode helseløsninger for innbyggerne og helsetjenesten.

HelseINN belyser hvorfor det er så vanskelig å etablere seg på hjemmemarkedet, og hvordan det offentlige ofte opplever manglende dialog med markedet.

Lederne av de fire helseklyngene i Norge jobber hver dag for å sikre norske bedrifter fotfeste og utvikling i en ung industri. De forteller hvilke utfordringer de møter, og hva de gjør for å håndtere disse.

Politiske rammer er avgjørende for å sikre fotfeste. Næringspolitikere forteller hvordan de vil legge til rette for norsk helseindustri.

Ikke minst skal vi høre fra en bedrift som kjenner hvor skoen trykker.

Program: https://program.arendalsuka.no/event/user-view/17743

Arrangører: Oslo Cancer Cluster, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster, Norway Health Tech, The Life Science Cluster, HelseINN

 

Har vi en innovasjonspolitikk som mobiliserer akademia til å skape mer innovasjon? 

Onsdag 17.8, 15.00-16.30, Thon hotell

I dette seminaret skal vi diskutere om vi har en god nok innovasjonspolitikk for å fremme innovasjon spunnet ut av forskning. Vi skal ha med en rekke innledere som belyser dette temaet fra undervisning og studenter til teknologioverføingskontorenes rolle og økosystemets rolle. Ikke minst skal vi se på om kulturendringen innen akademia mot mer innovasjon går raskt nok.

Program: https://program.arendalsuka.no/event/user-view/17696

Arrangører: Inven2, The Life Science Cluster, Sharelab, Oslo Cancer Cluster, Norway Health Tech, Aleap

 

Fremtidens kreftbehandling: Hver dag teller – eller? 

Torsdag 18.8, 08.00-09.30, Clarion Tyholmen 

Velkommen til frokostseminar i møteserien Fremtidens kreftbehandling, der vi serverer frokost, innsikt og debatt.

Fremtidens kreftbehandling er en møteserie som siden 2015 har stilt spørsmål om hvordan norske kreftpasienter kan sikres den beste behandlingen både i dag og i fremtiden. Under seminarene møter publikum fagpersoner, politikere, helsemyndigheter, bedrifter og organisasjoner fra kreftmiljøet i Norge. Møtene er gratis og åpne for alle.

I Arendal spør vi: Hvordan kan vi få hver dag til å telle for kreftpasienter som venter på behandlingene de trenger for å leve?

Det handler om tid. En rapport fra EFPIA for 2021, utgitt i april, viser at Norge bruker mer tid enn Sverige, Danmark og England på å ta i bruk nye medisiner. Probas evaluering av Nye metoder viser også tendensen til at Norge bruker lenger tid enn disse landene på innføring av nye legemidler. Hva kan vi gjøre med dette?

Vi har med oss en liste med behov og løsninger til Arendal!

Program: https://program.arendalsuka.no/event/user-view/17639 

Arrangører: Oslo Cancer Cluster, LMI, Kreftforeningen, Janssen, MSD, Astra Zeneca

Peeter Padrik, CEO and founder of Antegenes, was one of the new members that presented at Oslo Cancer Cluster's Summer Gathering 2022. Photo: Sofia Linden / OCC

Introducing our new members

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Have you heard about our most recent members? Find out more about our growing cancer community below.

A wonderful mix of new members presented at our annual Summer Gathering last week, including companies in cancer prognostics and diagnostics, HR and recruitment, and financial and biopharma services. Here is a short overview from the presenters.

Antegenes

Peeter Padrik, CEO and founder of Antegenes, presented the Estonian company that offers innovative genetic tests for cancer prevention.

“If we detect disease as early as possible, we can also eliminate disease efficiently,” Padrik said.

Padrik explained that breast cancer screening in Norway begins from 50 years, but that 20 per cent of breast cancer cases happen to women younger than 50 years old. It is not reasonable to screen all younger women, but those who have elevated risk for breast cancer can be screened earlier.

Peeter Padrik, CEO and founder, Antegenes.

Peeter Padrik, CEO and founder, Antegenes.

“We need tools for more precise screening. Many cancer risks come from our genetic dispositions and we can identify individual risk levels for common cancers with personalized screening,” Padrik said.

New technology called polygenic risk scores can summarise risks from many gene variants for cancers, but this has not yet been implemented in the public healthcare systems. The company Antegenes has developed tests using polygenic risk scores for breast, prostate, colorectal and melanoma cancers. They are now creating models for new screening programmes, where genetics-based screening can be used, and how to implement these new approaches.

Glycanostics

Ján Tkáč, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Glycanostics, presented the start-up company that develops tests for cancer diagnostics.

The company uses a glycan-based liquid biopsy approach. Glycans are complex carbohydrates attached to proteins. Glycanostics have developed a diagnostic cancer test by identifying glycan changes associated with cancer in the blood. The company has so far focused on prostate cancer diagnostics.

“This is an ideal cancer diagnostic test that can provide high accuracy. It can be done by analysis of blood and be cost-effective. We can avoid unnecessary biopsies, monitor disease progression and treatment, and it is applicable for 11 cancer types,” Tkáč said.

Ján Tkáč, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Glycanostics

Ján Tkáč, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Glycanostics

Glycanostics have already filed five patent applications and are ready to scale up the technology for breast cancer, lung cancer and pancreatic cancer.

“We look forward to participating in Oslo Cancer Cluster’s projects to shape the diagnostics future for oncological patients. Collaboration with cluster members and international cluster partners can drive our mission faster and share Glycanostics’ vision,” Tkáč said.

Randstad Care – Norway

Jon Bjørbekk, Head of Recruitment, Life Sciences at Randstad, presented the recruitment company that is a global market leader in HR services.

“Randstad is quite new in Norway. We have been here for about 14 years and originate from the Netherlands. We are present in 39 countries and have 35 000 employees,” Bjørbekk said.

The company’s area of expertise is executive search, search and selection, and temporary hiring.

Jon Bjørbekk, Head of Recruitment, Life Sciences at Randstad.

Jon Bjørbekk, Head of Recruitment, Life Sciences at Randstad.

“People in the life science industry are quite hard to find or relocate. Most of you are quite loyal to your employers, so it is our job to make you curious about a career move. Things are growing in Norway and there is a huge focus on healthcare and startups for the last 5-10 years,” Bjørbekk said.

Bjørbekk underlines the importance of having local knowledge, keeping close feedback with job applicants and building employer branding in all steps of the recruitment process.

TheVIT

Jo Helge Grepstad, Head of Sales, presented TheVIT, a service provider that has a vision to be the best support apparatus for businesses.

“We are a service provider, so we are not in the field of health or curing cancer, but we want to help you find the cure to cancer by supporting your business in the fields where we are specialists,” Grepstad said.

Jo Helge Grepstad, Head of Sales, TheVIT.

Jo Helge Grepstad, Head of Sales, TheVIT.

TheVIT works in the areas of advisory and services, and supports companies with finances, human resources and business intelligence. They are located at Rebel where Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator also has some office space.

“Our values are value, innovation and team. We seek good solutions for our clients through putting together the right team with the right competence to solve the challenges the clients are facing. Complemented by utilizing new technologies, we can support growth. Our resources include financial and business controllers, financial managers, CFOs, HR managers and business intelligence resources, and we are open for dialogue with other members of Oslo Cancer Cluster,” Grepstad said.

Veracyte

Sandy Mercurio, Senior Manager of Business Development at Veracyte, presented the US-based global diagnostics company, which provides a range of services to biopharma partners. Last year, Veracyte acquired the French company HalioDx, which specialized in immuno-oncology and was a member of the Oslo Cancer Cluster community.

“Veracyte offers a unique portfolio of multi-omic testing services to our biopharma partners to help them in their biomarker strategy and support their drug development programs by leveraging the best insights from clinical samples through our innovative technologies. Our expertise in immuno-oncology and biostatistics, combined with our robust quality and compliance systems enable us to help our biopharma partners discover clinically relevant biomarkers, identify patients for clinical trials and develop companion diagnostics.”

Sandy Mercurio, Senior Manager of Business Development, Veracyte

Sandy Mercurio, Senior Manager of Business Development, Veracyte

The company recently introduced the Veracyte Biopharma Atlas, which is a comprehensive database to help guide clinical trials. The company has been involved in clinical trials for CAR T therapies and vaccines, and has dozens of biopharma partners.

Comunin AS has also joined Oslo Cancer Cluster recently and they will be presented at a later date.

 

 

 

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the University of Oslo and the Karolinska Institute that will improve research collaboration. Photo: Jofrid Åsland, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster

Strengthened Swedish-Norwegian cancer cooperation

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A new agreement reinforces the collaboration on cancer between Sweden and Norway.

“Norway and Sweden must work together towards making precision medicine a standard for all cancer patients,” said Ketil Widerberg, general manager of Oslo Cancer Cluster.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the University of Oslo and the Karolinska Institute during a visit by the Norwegian Crown Prince Couple and a Norwegian industry delegation in Stockholm on 2 May.

Use comparative advantages

“This is a Memorandum of Understanding about the development of further collaboration between the University of Oslo and the Karolinska Institute. It deals with general activities, including exchanges of students and researchers, the organisation of mutual academic and scientific activities, and collaboration on educational programmes,” said Per Morten Sandset, Professor and Vice-Rector of the University of Oslo.

Per Morten Sandset, Vice-Rector, University of Oslo. Photo: Jarli & Jordan / UiO

Per Morten Sandset, Vice-Rector, University of Oslo. Photo: Jarli & Jordan / UiO

Among other things, the agreement includes collaboration on precision medicine, clinical studies and the European Union’s Cancer Mission. The thought is to use the comparative advantages of Sweden and Norway to mutually strengthen the countries’ research environments and advance cancer research.

We need to team up

“Nordic countries have a lot to contribute: excellent research, very good public healthcare systems and national registries. We need to team up and position the Nordics as a strong player contributing to the global value chain from bench to bedside. The Nordics should unite and act as a one-stop shop for clinical trials within oncology and work with the global companies to set up Nordic collaborations,” said Widerberg.

Ketil Widerberg, general manager, Oslo Cancer Cluster. Photo: Stig Jarlnes / OCC

Ketil Widerberg, general manager, Oslo Cancer Cluster. Photo: Stig Jarlnes / OCC

The agreement was signed during a session on health industry, which the Norwegian health clusters had organised collectively. This was led by Widerberg, who has also recently enterred the board of Karolinska Innovation, a role that ties the Norwegian and Swedish innovation environments even closer together.

“Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark are way too small to get attention alone. We are not seen as interesting markets due to small population sizes. But if we team up, it is different. With EU’s cancer mission this gets even more important,” said Widerberg.