Oslo Cancer Cluster

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Cancer Crosslinks 2020

Wednesday, January 22, 2020/in News, Oslo Cancer Cluster /by Sofia Lindén

Engaging presentations by leading international and Norwegian oncology experts at the 12^th Cancer Crosslinks “Progress in Cancer Care – A tsunami of promises or Game Changing Strategies?”.

Oslo Cancer Cluster’s annual meeting gathered more than 350 delegates from all over Norway at the Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park, and more than 50 participants followed the live stream. The record high participation shows the large interest in translational cancer research and the importance of the programme for the Norwegian oncology community.

Cancer Crosslinks has become one of the largest national meeting places for oncologists, haematologists, translational researchers, regulatory experts and industry representatives. The meeting offers a full day educational program.

The aim of the conference is to stimulate broader interactions between researchers and clinicians, to encourage translational and clinical research, and to inspire collaborations. Novel partnerships between industry, academia and authorities are essential to deliver new treatments and diagnostics to Norwegian cancer patients.

“At the start of 2020, cancer patients have more treatment options than ever before. Immuno-oncology is firmly established as the fourth pillar of cancer treatment and the tremendous progress in the field is reflected in increased survival rates,” said Jutta Heix, Head of International Affairs, Oslo Cancer Cluster. “However, many patients do not benefit from novel treatments and we still have significant gaps in our understanding of the complex biological mechanisms. Deciphering this complexity is a task for the decade to come. The Cancer Crosslinks 2020 speakers are shedding light on emerging concepts and key challenges and discuss how they are addressing them to advance cancer care.”

The audience at Cancer Crosslinks 2020. Photo: Cameo Productions UB/Oslo Cancer Cluster

An inspiring programme

Referring to a record number of new oncology drug approvals in recent years and an enormous global pipeline of drugs in late-stage development, this year’s programme addressed the question “Progress in Cancer Care – A Tsunami of Promises or Game-Changing Strategies?”. Distinguished international experts from leading centres in the US and Europe presented emerging concepts, recent progress and key questions to be addressed for both solid and haematological cancers.

Cancer researchers and clinicians from all of Norway enjoyed excellent presentations and engaging discussions with speakers and colleagues.

“Cancer Crosslinks 2020 gave me an opportunity to listen to talks by international top scientists, and discuss some of the latest developments in translational cancer research with meeting participants from academia and industry in a relaxed and inspiring setting,” said Johanna Olweus, Head of Department of Cancer Immunology at the Institute for Cancer Research.

“Cancer Crosslinks is always a meeting that makes me proud of being part of Oslo Cancer Cluster. It is inspiring to see Norwegian and international participants come together to discuss recent progress in cancer research and how to develop cancer treatments for the patients,” said Øyvind Kongstun Arnesen, Chairman of the Board, Oslo Cancer Cluster.

The day programme was complemented with an evening reception in the city center where speakers and delegates continued their lively discussions and listened to an inspiring talk by Ole Petter Ottersen, President of Karolinska Institute, at Hotel Continental in Oslo.

Cancer Crosslinks was established by Oslo Cancer Cluster in 2009 in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb.

“Cancer Crosslinks 2020 has been a fantastic conference, where the presenters have given an excellent description of current and near future achievements within cancer research and the importance of understanding the underlying biology of cancer to rationally give patients the correct cancer therapy. In particular within immunotherapy, there is a need to understand the dynamic complexity of tumor immunology and how to apply the best and tailored immuno-oncology based treatment strategy for cancer patients,” said Ali Areffard, Disease Area Specialist Immuno-Oncology, Bristol-Myers Squibb.

This year, the pharmaceutical company Sanofi Genzyme Norway was a proud co-sponsor of the meeting.

“It was great to be able to provide a platform for interaction between the Norwegian scientific cancer environment and top international research capacities. Therefore, it was with huge enthusiasm Sanofi Genzyme co-sponsored this important conference. New treatment options in oncology are developing fast, where new treatment modalities provide clinicians with additional and superior options. New treatments specifically targeting the malignant cells, as well as activating the host immune response towards the cancer, provides tools to significantly improve current cancer treatments. This year’s Cancer Crosslinks conference gave an excellent insight into this,” said Knut Steffensen, Medical Advisor Hematology Nordic & Baltics, Sanofi Genzyme.

Interview with Prof. Jason Luke

View the interview with Prof. Jason Luke, by HealthTalk, in the video below:

Interview with Prof. Michel Sadelain

View the interview with Prof. Michel Sadelain, by HealthTalk, in the video below:

The speakers at Cancer Crosslinks 2020

Jason J. Luke, Director of the Cancer Immunotherapeutics Center, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Hillman Cancer Center

Jason J. Luke, MD, FACP, Director of the Cancer Immunotherapeutics Center, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Hillman Cancer Center, USA. Photo: Cameo UB Productions/Oslo Cancer Cluster

Stefani Spranger, Howard S. and Linda B. Stern Career Development Assistant Professor, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, USA. Photo: Cameo UB Productions/Oslo Cancer Cluster

Harriet Wikman, Professor, Group Leader, Center for Experimental Medicine, Institute of Tumor Biology, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. Photo: Cameo UB Productions/Oslo Cancer Cluster

Vessela Kristensen, Professor, Department of Cancer Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital

Vessela Kristensen, Head of Research and Development and Director of Research at the Dept. of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, Norway. Photo: Cameo UB Productions/Oslo Cancer Cluster

Peter A. Fasching, Professor of Translational Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital and Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen-EMN, Germany. Photo: Cameo UB Productions/Oslo Cancer Cluster

Karl Johan Malmberg, Professor, Group Leader Dept. of Cancer Immunology and Director STRAT-CELL, Oslo University Hospital, Norway. Photo: Cameo UB Productions/Oslo Cancer Cluster

Michel Sadelain, Director, Center for Cell Engineering, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, Professor, Director, Center for Cell Engineering, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA. Photo: Cameo UB Productions/Oslo Cancer Cluster

Bjørn Tore Gjertsen, Consultant Hematology, Haukeland University Hospital, Norway.

Bjørn Tore Gjertsen, Professor of Hematology, Centre for Cancer Biomarkers CCBIO, Dept. of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Norway. Photo: Cameo UB Productions/Oslo Cancer Cluster

Hermann Einsele, Professor, Chair, Dept. of Internal Medicine II, Head of the Clinical and Translational Research Program on Multiple Myeloma, Wuerzburg University Hospital

Hermann Einsele, Professor, Chair, Dept. of Internal Medicine II, Head of the Clinical and Translational Research Program on Multiple Myeloma, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Germany. Photo: Cameo UB Productions/Oslo Cancer Cluster

Simone Mester mentoring students in the lab.

Mentor meeting with Mester

Thursday, January 9, 2020/in News, Oslo Cancer Cluster, School Collaboration /by Elisabeth Kirkeng Andersen

A few lucky Ullern students got to learn about cancer research from the PhD student Simone Mester at Oslo University Hospital.

The science and research programme at Ullern Upper Secondary School is completely new and the 32 students in the first class have received four mentors who will share their knowledge and experience with them. Early in December, the students were divided among the four mentors and got to visit them at their workplaces to hear more about what they do.

Simone Mester is a former student of Ullern Upper Secondary School and is today a cancer researcher at Rikshospitalet (Oslo University Hospital). Along with the three other mentors from the Oslo Cancer Cluster ecosystem, she has agreed to be a mentor for the students of the science and research programme at Ullern. Earlier in December, eight students visited her at her job.

“This is where I work,” Simone said as we arrived at the Institute for Immunology, which is located right next to Rikshospitalet.

Simone began the visit by telling the students about her background and the road that led her to where she is today.

Simone Mester tells Ullern students about how she started to do cancer research.

Simone Mester (above to the left) tell the Ullern students that she is part of the SPARK programme at the University of Oslo. Photo: Elisabeth Kirkeng Andersen

“I graduated from Ullern in 2012. That is when I got to do two work placements at the Radium Hospital – in Clinical Radiation Biology and Tumour Biology. That was the first time I got an impression of what everyday life for a researcher can be like and it was exciting!” said Simone.

She says that she combined the subjects mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology so that she would be able to study medicine. But as the application date drew closer, she became more and more unsure.

“I talked with Ragni, who is your teacher too, and she recommended that I study molecular biology at the University of Oslo. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what I was getting myself into and especially why I had to study all that physics,” said Simone.

During the course of her bachelor degree, Simone was still unsure and spent a lot of time with advisers at the Institute of Biology to get guidance on the best way forward. She decided to study a master degree and was included in a research group led by professors Inger Sandlie and Jan Terje Andersen, where she remains today as she is completing her PhD.

Researching new cancer medicine

“During my master degree, I wrote about how to tailor the duration of the effect of medicines and pharmaceuticals, and that is what I am still researching in my PhD. A lot of my time here is in the laboratory, where I am planning and conducting experiments on cells and mice, to see if I can achieve what I want,” Simone said.

“Now, I will show you what I spend most of my time on. It is about making proteins, so now I will show you the principal, and afterwards you can try to do the same in the lab. Moreover, you will meet a master student, Anette Kolderup, who will tell you about CRISPR,” said Simone.

CRISPR is short for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”. It is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms, such as bacteria and archaea.

Quickly and pedagogical she shows the students the principals for modifying proteins through DNA modification, growing, amplifying and splitting cells.

“Now we will go to the lab, so you can try this yourselves,” said Simone.

We go one floor up, where there are offices and laboratories. The four girls go to Anette, who will show them what CRISPR is and how she uses the method in her master thesis, while the boys will start in the cell lab to make the same experiment that Simone just showed them.

Caption: Aleksander tries pipetting when he is working in the lab together with Simone. It is important to have a steady hand.

Aleksander tries to handle the pipette when he is working in the lab together with Simone. It is important to have a steady hand. Photo: Elisabeth Kirkeng Andersen

“Inside this hood, the work environment is completely sterile, so you need to wear lab coats and sanitize all the equipment and keep it inside the hood while we are working,” Simone explained.

Aleksander is the first to try and Simone shows him step by step how he can retrieve the proteins from a bottle she has prepared. Everyone soon understands that lab work is a craft that requires skillful hands. It is important to stay focused and remember which solutions that should be added and how, and when the pipettes should go on or off. Aleksander laughs when he has to change an unused pipette that he has touched, even with gloves on it is not allowed.

Then the students switch places and everyone gets to try their hands at everything. Two hours pass by quickly and a very happy group of students with their teacher Ragni leave to go home again.

Nordwood Themes / Unsplash

Our highlights 2019

Wednesday, December 18, 2019/in News, Oslo Cancer Cluster /by Sofia Lindén

Are you wondering what we have been up to during the last year?

2019 has been an eventful year for our organisation and our members. We want to put a spotlight on some of the main developments, including successful events that were held, ongoing and new projects, our political initiatives and a section on biotech news from our members. Scroll down to learn more about what we have done. Click the images or titles to access full articles.

The year in pictures

Cancer Crosslinks

17 January 2019

We kicked off the year with our annual conference for the Norwegian oncology community, namely Cancer Crosslinks. We offered a full-day educational programme featuring distinguished international and national experts. They presented recent advances in precision oncology and cancer immunotherapy. More than 300 participants joined Cancer Crosslinks on 17 January 2019 and enjoyed excellent talks and discussions presented by leading international oncologists and researchers and their Norwegian colleagues.

Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator expands the labs

1 March 2019

The year continued with more growth in the organisation. The Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator expanded its laboratories to meet increasing demand from members. The startups have been successful and were in need of more space to perform their research. After moving around some office spaces, and a lot of groundwork to get the infrastructure in place, the two new labs were opened in March. Later in the year, our Incubator was also named one of the Top 20 Best Incubators in Europe, by Labiotech.eu.

The White Paper on the Health Industry and our input

5 april 2019

This year a white paper on the health industry in Norway came out for the first time ever. This was an important event because the document underlined some of our key issues, such as attracting more clinical trials to Norway, making better use of Norwegian health data and opening up for more public – privat collaboration. It was first released in April and a committee hearing was held in June, whereupon the document was approved by parliament in October.

Launch of EU Horizon 2020 project DIGI-B-CUBE

1 May 2019

In May, we launched a new Horizon 2020 project called DIGI-B-CUBE. DIGI-B-CUBE will foster the development of customized solutions and prototypes by providing innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU and Associated Countries with access to vouchers of up to € 60,000. The voucher scheme will be launched in April 2020. Throughout the year, SMEs could engage in the project’s activities by participating in sectoral and cross-sectoral workshops as well as matchmaking sessions.

#InternationalClinicalTrialsDay

20 May 2019

This was also the first year that we celebrated International Clinical Trials Day on the 20 May 2019, because clinical trials are an important way for patients to gain access to new treatments. We wanted to put a spotlight on the lack of clinical trials in Norway and present some concrete suggestions on how this can be improved. So we asked for help from some of the brightest minds in the world! MBA students from Cambridge University agreed to write a report on patient recruitment to clinical trials in Norway, including incentives for how it can be improved.

Arendalsuka19 – Together for precision medicine

16 August 2019

During Arendalsuka 2019, we arranged a breakfast meeting on the development of cancer treatments of the future, together with LMI and Kreftforeningen. Arendalsuka has become an important arena for those who want to improve aspects of Norwegian society. We were there this year to meet key players to accelerate the development of cancer treatments. We wanted to highlight the cancer treatments of the future and whether Norway is equipped to keep up with the rapid developments in precision medicine.

New science and research programme at Ullern Upper Secondary School

17 August 2019

When the school year began, we were proud to announce the opening of a completely new science and research programme at Ullern Upper Secondary School. The programme is a collaboration between Oslo Cancer Cluster and Ullern Upper Secondary School. It is for students who wish to learn how researchers work. It will qualify students for university studies and specialise them in biomedical research, technology and innovation. Oslo Cancer Cluster will provide access to mentors, work placements and lectures.

NLS Days – Cancer Precision Medicine Session

12 September 2019

We were also present at the NLS Days in Malmö this year. We promoted the Norwegian life science industry and Nordic collaboration by standing together with other key players in one stand. This stand was visited by the Minister at the Norwegian Embassy in Stockholm. We also hosted the session on oncology titled “Cancer precision medicine: State-of-the-art and future directions”. The session covered recent advances in cancer immunotherapy and cell- and gene therapies.

TOP BIOTECH NEWS

Vaccibody treats first patient with cervical cancer

23 February 2019

Our member Vaccibody has had an exciting year. From announcing that they have raised NOK 230 million in private placements, to showing proof-of-concept for their immunotherapy platform, called VB.10. Early in the year, they entered a clinical collaboration with pharma company Roche to test their treatment on patients with cervical cancer. During the summer, Vaccibody publicized that they had seen strong neo-antigen specific T cell responses in the patients of their clinical trials.

BerGenBio success with new treatment

3 April 2019

Our member BerGenBio has also had a successful year. Their immunotherapy drug bemcentinib has shown encouraging results in several clinical trials and they have received FDA Fast Track Approval. A Phase 2 combination trial for elderly patients with AML (acute myeloid leukemia) showed the treatment is well tolerated and has a promising efficacy. BerGenBio are also currently testing bemcentinib in combination with other immunotherapy drugs for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and melanoma (skin cancer).

Ultimovacs enters Oslo Stock Exchange

3 June 2019

Our member Ultimovacs, a Norwegian cancer vaccine company, raised NOK 370 million and entered the Oslo Stock Exchange. The funds will go to financing the development of their universal cancer vaccine, UV1. A large clinical study will document the effect of the vaccine. First for patients with malignant melanoma (a type of skin cancer) at around 30 hospitals in Norway, Europe, USA and Australia. Ultimovacs also announced a large randomised study for 118 patients with mesothelioma, which will be placed at six hospitals in the Nordics.

Nobel laureate joins Lytix Biopharma board

14 June 2019

In June, our member Lytix Biopharma announced that the Nobel Laureate Dr James Allison and his wife oncologist Dr Padmanee Sharma will become strategic advisors for the company. Dr James Allison was, together with Dr Tasuku Honjo, awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine last December. The renowned cancer researchers received the award for their ground-breaking work in immunology. It has become the basis for different immunotherapies, an area within cancer therapy that aims to activate the patient’s immune system to fight cancer.

OncoImmunity joins NEC corporation

2 August 2019

In the end of summer, the Japanese tech giant NEC Corporation acquired our member OncoImmunity AS, a Norwegian bioinformatics company that develops machine learning software to fight cancer. NEC has recently launched an artificial intelligence driven drug discovery business and stated in a press release that NEC OncoImmunity AS will be integral in developing NEC’s immunotherapy pipeline.

From all of us, to all of you …

A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Students at the DNB Nordic Healthcare Conference.

Students helped create podcast

Friday, December 13, 2019/in News, Oslo Cancer Cluster, School Collaboration /by Sofia Lindén

Our school collaboration project inspires science and health communication.

Ullern students were thrown head first into a live work environment this week. They gave technical assistance to the making of the podcasts Radium and Utbytte at the DNB Nordic Healthcare Conference 2019.

All the students are currently studying the media and communications program at Ullern Upper Secondary School, including a class on sound design. As an extra subject, they also started their own youth companies Marconi Media UB and Audio Mind UB.

Radium held a podcast marathon together with the DNB podcast Utbytte at this year’s conference, with six different sessions, interviewing CEOs and investors. Throughout the day, the Ullern students were expected to sound check, record, and edit the podcast – all on their own.

The students attended a planning meeting one week earlier. They also arrived the evening before to rig the set: a glass studio in the middle of the conference area.

The participants in the podcast Radium and Utbytte at DNB Nordic Healthcare Conference 2019 in the glass studio.

The Ullern students helped to rig the podcast studio the night before the conference.

“It is a really nice experience, because we are thrown into the real word and do things in practice,” Andrea Asbø Dietrichson from Marconi Media UB explained. “We have to do everything ourselves, even though we are beginners, but we are learning!”

“It has been interesting to hear what they are talking about (in the studio) and learn how it is to work during such a big event,” Theo Rellsve from Audio Mind UB added. “It is the largest event we have been to, with lots of people and things happening all the time. We are happy to take part!”

Ullern students recording the podcasts Radium and Utbytte at DNB Nordic Healthcare Conference

The Ullern students had to think on their feet to solve problems while recording the podcast.

The aim of the school collaboration project between Ullern Upper Secondary School and Oslo Cancer Cluster is to inspire students to develop their talents. One aspect of the project is to give students a taste of what real working life is like.

“Personally, I would like to work in media,” Andrea said. “It is really inspiring to be here. Media and communications is a broad subject, but sound design is something not a lot of people know.”

“Audiomind has a clear vision about our future as a company. We are happy that we can get this experience and use it towards developing the company further,” Theo said. “… And create the best podcast recording company in Norway.”

Elisabeth Kirkeng Andersen, Communications Specialist for Radforsk and one of the persons behind the podcast Radium, was very satisfied with the work the students had performed. She gave them a top score.

“They have everything under complete control,” she said. “It is really fun to see their learning curve. They only studied sound design for a few months, but they have already helped at two live shows and they are always calm and service-minded.”

Elisabeth Kirkeng Andersen was impressed by how helpful and service-minded the students from Ullern were.

Want to find out more?

You can listen to the episodes that were recorded either on the Radium podcast or on the DNB podcast.
Read about the DNB Nordic Healthcare Conference on DNB’s website.
Learn about the school collaboration project in Norwegian.