Consortium meeting at Oslo Cancer Cluster. From the left: Nikolaos Matskanis (Infopole), Panagiotis Markovits (Motivian), Gerry Renders (EISMEA), Miltiadis Anastasiadis (Motivan), Gawel Walczak (Secpho), Astrid Green (OCC), Milena Stoyanova (EISMEA), Ketil Widerberg (OCC) and Bente Prestegård (OCC).

DIGI-B-CUBE consortium meets in Oslo

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6 people in front of a green wall looking into the camera smiling

DIGI-B-CUBE aims to unlock the cross-sectoral collaborative potential of small and medium-sized companies.

As a project funded under the European Union´s Horizon 2020 Programme, it aims to unlock this potential by combining novel digital technologies with bioimaging, biosensing, and biobanking.

DIGI-B-CUBE was established with Oslo Cancer Cluster as the project coordinator in 2019. The project supports the development and delivery of new market-sensitive disruptive technologies and key digital innovations to reconfigure patient-centered diagnostics towards a Health Economy 4.0.

Read more on the DIGI-B-CUBE webpage.

Meeting in Oslo

Last week, a consortium consisting of eight partners met at the Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park, both in person and virtually. Milena Stoyanova and Gerry Renders were present from the Executive Agency (EISMEA) established by the European Commission. They highlighted the importance of supporting and empowering small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in their innovation activities.

DIGI-B-CUBE has funded a total of 55 projects, resulting in 2,5 MEUR provided directly to companies to boost the development of disruptive tech solutions and health tech innovations across Europe. One of these projects is CEREBRI.

Treating migraines

“We develop easy-to-use and scientifically proven technology to help people predict and prevent brain disorders,” said Cathrine Heuch, CEO of Nordic Brain Tech.

She explained that 14.7% of the population is affected by migraine, the most common neurological disorder costing the European economy €50 billion annually. Migraine results in reduced quality of life and limited daily performance in work and social life.

According to Heuch, there is a pressing need for treatments without side effects, that are affordable and more accessible than today’s alternatives, which mainly consist of medications associated with limited efficacy and negative side effects.

CEREBRI digital treatment

Nordic Brain Tech has in joint cooperation with i3tex and Thorgate developed a project called CEREBRI to optimize treatment software and a finger biosensor. CEREBRI is a digital treatment for preventing migraine, solving the demand for treatment without negative side effects.

With two wireless sensors and a smartphone app, patients can perform regular biofeedback training that has the potential to reduce migraine frequency by 50%. This enables treatment from the comfort of your own home, and virtual care from a physician, with potential cost savings of ~60% compared to biofeedback given in clinics.

CEREBRI can significantly increase a migraine patient’s quality of life and reduce costs to sick leave for businesses and health care providers, according to the project.

The companies in DIGI-B-CUBE receive funding and mentoring/coaching in the project. This week, Cathrine Heuch met Milena Stoyanova from EISMEA and her mentor in DIGI-B-CUBE, Astrid Green, at Oslo Cancer Clusters offices.

THree women in front of a green wall looking into the camera smiling

From the left: Astrid Green, Milena Stoyanova, Cathrine Heuch.

Read more about the CEREBRI project on the DIGI-B-CUBE webpage

 

 

Illustration of health data used to make a heat map of the world. Photo: Clay Banks / Unsplash

NOK 16 million to new RWE company

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Picture of computer screen with red dots in a heat map of the worldClay Banks / Unsplash

The Research Council of Norway recently awarded grants to several innovation projects in the industrial sector. One of the lucky companies was the newcomer NordicRWE.

NordicRWE was granted 16 million NOK for their research and development (R&D) project that will focus on applying Real-World Evidence (RWE) in different steps in the drug development process.

Let us pause for a moment at the term RWE. What is it? According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDE), real-world data are the data relating to patient health status and/or the delivery of health care routinely collected from a variety of sources. Real-world evidence is the clinical evidence of the usage and potential benefits or risks of a medical product derived from analysis of real-world data.

Addressing a mismatch

“Nordic and Norwegian health data are among the best in the world, but we can use them much better than how it is done today. This is especially true for drug development and follow-up of patient care. However, advanced research and quality assurance are needed”, said Ketil Widerberg, chairman of the board in Nordic RWE.

Ketil Widerberg is also the general manager of Oslo Cancer Cluster.

The vision of NordicRWE is to develop a research-based system for RWE that supports drug development in accordance with high regulatory demands. Observational data, epidemiologic methods of research, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning are all part of the research base.

The funded R&D project will construct external control arms for oncology clinical trials and combine machine learning with pharmacoepidemiology for drug signal detection. Pharmacoepidemiology is the study of the utilization and effects of drugs in large numbers of people. It provides an estimate of the probability of beneficial effects of a drug in a population and the probability of adverse effects.

“There is a mismatch between the need to document effect and the availability and tools to analyse health data. This is what we aim to address,” said Steinar Thoresen, project leader NordicRWE.

Well known in the Norwegian health industry, Thoresen has worked for more than twenty years at The Cancer Registry of Norway and published more than a hundred international papers on cancer-epidemiology. He has held leading roles in the pharma industry since 2006, and he has seen many of the hurdles and opportunities to succeed with innovative clinical trials. Thoresen will join the company in October in a half-time position while keeping a separate consultancy role.

Private initiatives are needed

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Christian Jonasson, project leader NordicRWE.

Jonasson will join the company full time in October from the position of Specialist Director Health Data at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. He brings 25 years of diverse experience from R&D roles in pharma, academia, and the governmental sector.

“The need for high-quality health data is increasing exponentially and private initiatives are needed to complement government programs. Cooperation based on public-private partnerships is our goal,” said Jonasson.

The funded R&D project will focus on external control arms for oncology clinical trials and machine learning methods combined with pharmacoepidemiology for drug signal detection, which represents innovative applications of RWE in drug development.

Joining forces for RWE

Professor Arnoldo Frigessi, Director at the Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oslo, and Lena Nymo Helli, CEO of Norway Health Tech, have both joined the board as non-executive directors.

“Technologically, we are at a crossroad. The ability modern machine learning and statistics give for understanding and being able to deliver better healthcare is transformative, NordicRWE comes at the right time,” said Professor Frigessi.

He has supervised more than forty Ph.D. students and published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers in the field.

“We see real-world data change the dynamics in consultancy companies, technology companies, and medical technology companies. However, we believe now is the time for a dedicated effort to enable Nordic health data to be transformative. This is what NordicRWE is about,” said Lena Nymo Helli.

With more than 25 years of experience in the international pharmaceutical industry, she has worked in many phases of the product life cycle from R&D to sales and marketing.

The timing is now

In the project description to the Research Council, NordicRWE stresses that the timing is now for RWE, mainly because of precision medicine, implying advanced treatments for smaller patient groups, making health data a natural part of drug development, and evaluation of patient care.

To succeed with the research project, NordicRWE has partnered with the AI drug development division in NEC Corporation, The Cancer Registry of Norway, and the University of Oslo. The company is currently looking for new employees.

For more information about Nordic RWE, see the company webpage.

 

 

Rapportens forsidebilde illustrerer produksjon. Foto: Menon Economics

Ny rapport: stort potensial for eksport av helseindustri

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Close-up of brown glass bottle filling at production line.Foto: Menon Economics

Helseindustrien er en av Norges største eksportnæringer, med nesten 26 milliarder kroner i eksportinntekter i 2020. Med riktige rammebetingelser kan helsenæringen bli en betydelig eksportnæring for Norge. ­Det viser en ny rapport.

Rapporten “Strategier for økt produksjon og eksport av norsk helseindustri” er klar i sine anbefalinger: Det er fire nøkkeltiltak som norske myndigheter og helseindustrien sammen må sette i verk for at flere selskaper skal kunne produsere i Norge og øke eksporten. Disse tiltakene er:

  1. Gjøre kliniske studier mer attraktive
  2. Styrke hjemmemarkedet
  3. Bedre tilgang på nødvendig kompetanse
  4. Avlaste risikoen ved å investere i produksjon

Her kan du lese den nye rapporten.

Rapporten ble lansert digitalt 19. mai 2021.

Opptak av lanseringen kan du se her.

Utvikler kunnskapsgrunnlag

Rapporten er et samarbeid mellom flere aktører som jobber for norske bedrifter og oppstartsselskaper.

 

Logosky som viser aktørene bak rapporten: Aleap, Eksportkreditt Norge, Innovasjon Norge, Inven2, Legemiddelindustrien (LMI), LO, NHO, Norway Health Tech, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster, Oslo Cancer Cluster, Siva og The Life Science Cluster.

Bak rapporten står Aleap, Eksportkreditt Norge, Innovasjon Norge, Inven2, Legemiddelindustrien (LMI), LO, NHO, Norway Health Tech, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster, Oslo Cancer Cluster, Siva og The Life Science Cluster.

 

– Sammen ønsker vi å utvikle et kunnskapsgrunnlag for å videreutvikle og skalere norsk helsenæring for økt eksport. Dette grunnlaget har vi samlet i seks år, gjennom rapporter om Helsenæringens verdi av Menon Economics, sier Ketil Widerberg, daglig leder i Oslo Cancer Cluster.

Tidligere artikler om rapporter i denne serien:

Eksportutfordringen

Norsk helseindustri hadde en samlet omsetning på 53,6 milliarder kroner i 2019. De siste ti årene har næringen hatt en vekst på over 90 prosent. Denne veksten er betydelig høyere enn for norsk privat næringsliv i samme periode.

Bransjene i helseindustrien er i rapporten delt inn i digital helse, legemidler og medisinsk utstyr. De møter liknende utfordringer i utlandet.

Bedriftene har svart på hva som begrenser mulighetene for å øke inntektene fra eksportmarkedene.

– Det oppsummerende svaret er markedsapparat – i form av representasjon  og et distribusjons- og salgsapparat i et internasjonalt marked, forklarte Erik Jakobsen fra Menon Economics under lanseringen.

Virkemidler for særegne behov

Rapporten viser at virkemiddelapparatets ordninger ikke er utformet og tilpasset helseindustriens behov.

Få virkemidler er tiltenkt skalering, som for eksempel støtte til investeringer i produksjonskapasitet, kompetanse eller markedsapparat. Rapporten viser også at virkemidlene for eksport er begrenset.

– Det vi vet, er at vi må snu virkemiddelapparatene våre og gjøre dem mer fokusert på ulike næringer som trenger ulikt virkemiddelapparat, sa Trine Skei Grande (V) under lanseringen av rapporten.

Skei Grande har jobbet med næringsspørsmål i Stortinget i en årrekke, og sitter nå i Utenrikskomiteen.

Fordeler og ulemper i Norge

Rapporten viser at norske bedrifter i helseindustrien med produksjon i Norge samlet sett har hatt en høyere omsetningsvekst de siste ti årene enn bedrifter som ikke har hatt produksjon i Norge.

God kvalitet og godt samarbeid med forskningsinstitusjoner er et viktig fortrinn som bedriftene med produksjon i Norge trekker fram. De viser også til klyngene som en fordel med å produsere i Norge.

– Klyngene sitter på kompetansen og nettverkene og bør brukes i større grad for å øke eksport, sa Erik Jakobsen.

Utfordringene ved å legge produksjon av helseindustri til Norge, er høyt kostnadsnivå, et svakt hjemmemarked og fravær av offentlige ordninger for å finansiere risikoavlastning ved utvikling og bygging av produksjonsanlegg.

– Å stimulere hjemmemarkedet styrker konkurransekraft i eksportmarkeder og øker tilgangen på risikokapital, sa Erik Jakobsen.

Rapporten foreslår hvordan flere selskaper skal kunne produsere i Norge og øke eksporten.

Ett av disse forslagene er å øke bevilgninger til Norsk katapult for å sikre nye utlysninger – og få minst ett helserelatert katapultsenter inn i ordningen.

Resten av forslagene i rapporten kan du lese her.

Bildet viser forsiden av rapporten om helseindustrien med medisinglassflasker i produksjon.

 

 

Torbjørn Furuseth is the Chief Financial Officer of Targovax, a Norwegian company developing oncolytic viruses against cancer. Photo: Targovax

Targovax releases 12-month clinical data

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Our member Targovax has released 12-month data from the company’s clinical study of the oncolytic virus ONCOS-102 in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Targovax is a member of Oslo Cancer Cluster that develops oncolytic viruses to treat solid cancer tumours. The company’s lead product is called ONCOS-102 and has been engineered to selectively infect cancer cells and activate the immune system to fight cancer.

An oncolytic virus is a virus that preferentially infects and kills cancer cells.

The oncolytic virus ONCOS-102 is currently being tested in a phase I/II clinical trial with the aim to establish its safety and efficacy. ONCOS-102 is tested in combination with the standard-of-care chemotherapy on patients with mesothelioma.

The company released 12-month data from the clinical trial this week, which powerfully demonstrate a broad immune activation linked to clinical benefit.

Watch the presentation with Magnus Jäderberg, Chief Medical Officer at Targovax:

What is mesothelioma?

Malignant mesothelioma is a type of cancer that occurs in the thin layer of tissue that covers the majority of your internal organs (mesothelium). Mesothelioma is an aggressive and deadly form of cancer.

Mesothelioma is a difficult cancer disease to diagnose and treat. Only 10% of all patients are eligible for surgery. Many of the remaining patients receive chemotherapy. Radiotherapy may be used in some cases for palliative reasons. There have been no new break-through treatments with any significant impact during the last 15 years.

Immunotherapy has started to make an inroad on the disease. There are a couple of checkpoint inhibitor trials for patients with second-line disease. For patients with first-line disease, there are currently no immunotherapy options.

Checkpoint inhibitor therapy is a form of cancer immunotherapy, a type of therapy that uses substances to stimulate or suppress the immune system to help the body fight cancer.

The 12-month data

Targovax has presented data from the company’s phase I/II trial focusing on safety on combining ONCOS-102 with chemotherapy. They have looked at both first-line and second-line patients being treated with standard-of-care chemotherapy in combination with ONCOS-12.

The study includes a control group of 11 patients who have received chemotherapy only and an experimental group of 14 patients who received the combination of chemotherapy and ONCOS-102.

The 12-month results show that ONCOS-102 drives broad and powerful immune activation across key parameters, including innate immune responses, adaptive immune responses and remodelling of the tumour microenvironment.

The tumor microenvironment has profound impacts on cancer progression and remodelling of the tumour microenvironment has emerged as a strategy to facilitate cancer therapy.

The analysed genes show that there is a clear difference in ONCOS-102-induced immune activation compared to chemotherapy only. The genes also show there is a clear association between the powerful immune activation and improved clinical outcome.

The data shows that ONCOS-102 drives the infiltration of CD8+ T cells into the tumour, which is associated with better outcomes.

Targovax now plans to continue the clinical study for first-line patients. The company sees a strong rationale for combining ONCOS-102 with checkpoint inhibitor and standard-of-care chemotherapy.

On Tuesday, Targovax also revealed they will collaborate with our member pharmaceutical company MSD (known as Merck in the US) to evaluate the immunotherapy drug Keytruda in combination with ONCOS-102.

Find out more …