News regarding Oslo Cancer Cluster

Gilead

Gilead joins Oslo Cancer Cluster

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The newest member of Oslo Cancer Cluster is Gilead, a biopharmaceutical company advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases.

Pascal van Peborgh, Senior Director Medical Affairs for Gilead Nordics answered some questions on why Gilead joins Oslo Cancer Cluster, how they are involved in the cancer field and why the Nordics is an important area for the company.

What is Gilead’s motivation to join Oslo Cancer Cluster (OCC)?

“Gilead’s ambition is to build strong partnerships with cancer research centers and oncology-focused organizations to accelerate research and ultimately provide Norwegian patients with novel therapeutic options. We want to work together with other OCC members on basic research topics and in finding ways to provide better access for patients who suffer from cancer. Part of this ambition was why we partnered in the CONNECT public-private partnership.”

Tell us more about Gilead’s investment in cancer and the company’s oncology pipeline.

“Gilead has a long history of bringing innovation to patients in improving patients’ outcomes and at times provided a cure for people facing specific life-threatening infectious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C. Gilead is now applying the same approach and commitment to cancer. We have purposefully built a deep and broad oncology portfolio with a focus on trying to address critical unmet needs in oncology care.

“This framework defines our portfolio, with assets that have complementary MOAs and strong scientific rationale for treatment combination opportunities. From antibody-drug conjugates and small molecules to cell therapy-based approaches, our research and development programs are providing new hope for people with overlooked, underserved, and difficult-to-treat cancers.

“This includes many of the most exciting and most promising targets in oncology today, with strong potential across tumor types, lines of treatment, and multiple opportunities for unique combination therapies. We have investigational agents in trials across varied solid tumors: breast, lung, GI, GU, including bladder, among many others. And in blood cancers: MDS, AML, LBCL, adult lymphoblastic leukemia and more. We are well positioned to establish Gilead as a leading Oncology company.”

What do you think about opportunities in Norway, and the Nordics, for the development of new cancer treatments? How do you view the milieus here for cancer research and health industry?

“We see Norway as a pioneer in Precision Medicine, e.g., the CONNECT and IMPRESS initiatives. It has also a strong history of registry data utilization, e.g., and building further new additions to cancer registry like INSPIRE BC and LC. Norway is also highly ranked for cancer research in Europe, with a government and policies supporting the development of precision medicines and clinical trials, with Inven2 and NorTrial being established as examples.

“In addition, the systematization of care in Norway and especially around Oslo University Hospital provides a central node with adequate infrastructure, expertise, and innovation in the cancer research eco-system and more specifically for translational research and clinical trials. Finally, the Oslo University Hospital being an accredited Comprehensive Cancer Center with an extensive international network provides us with further confidence to invest in cancer research in Norway.“

Do you have an ambition to launch cancer clinical trials in the Nordics?

“Our ambition is to continue to initiate new clinical trials within oncology in the Nordics in greater scope, and more specifically in Norway. We at Gilead, view the Nordic countries as having high-quality infrastructure that supports clinical research and studies. The countries have national support functions that provides information and services to researchers that are interested in clinical research – both for observational studies and for clinical interventional studies.

“Gilead, with its own R&D portfolio or through opt-in agreements has currently more than 70 ongoing oncology R&D programs focusing on three therapeutic strategies: triggering tumor intrinsic cell death, promoting immune-mediated tumor killing, and remodeling of the tumor microenvironment. To be able to fully deliver on this pipeline we will need close collaboration with clinical and academic research.”

 

Learn more about the members of Oslo Cancer Cluster by visiting our Member Overview page.

Polygenic risk scores: a European cancer priority 

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The EU is looking to polygenic risk scores to improve prevention and early detection of cancer

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) have become one of the focus areas for prevention and early detection of cancer in the European Union’s Mission on Cancer. 

“PRS tests can provide a measure of your personal risk of developing a specific disease due to your genes,” explained Krista Kruuv-Käo, project manager of AnteNOR, a project that investigates how PRS can be implemented for prevention and early detection of breast cancer in Norway. 

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan outlines 10 flagship initiatives and number 7 focuses on how cancers develop: 

“Alongside the ‘Genomic for Public Health’ project, the European Initiative to Understand Cancer (UNCAN.eu), planned to be launched under the foreseen Mission on Cancer to increase the understanding of how cancers develop, will also help identify individuals at high risk from common cancers using the polygenic risk scores technique. This should facilitate personalised approaches to cancer prevention and care, allowing for actions to be taken to decrease risk or to detect cancer as early as possible.”

What about Norway?

There are about 4 200 new cases and almost 600 deaths due to breast cancer in Norway each year, according to reports from the Norwegian Cancer Registry.  

“Early detection of breast cancer can save lives, but approximately 40 per cent of breast cancer cases in Norway are not detected at an early stage. For breast cancer, 31 per cent of all diagnoses are due to genetic predisposition and many women develop cancer before they reach the screening age of 50,” Kruuv-Käo commented. 

There are already genetic tests in the Norwegian specialist healthcare service for monogenic pathogenic variants, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, but not on a population-wide basis. PRS tests have not been implemented yet, although they are both cheaper and can identify more women with a moderate to high risk of developing breast cancer. 

Improving cancer screening

The results of the AnteNOR project were recently presented at a meeting organized by the Norwegian Cancer Mission Hub. 

“The project shows that PRS tests can be used for effective risk stratification for population-wide breast screening. By introducing genetic risk testing with PRS tests and monogenic testing, the women with moderate to high risk of developing breast cancer can be identified before the screening age of 50 years. With a personalised screening programme, some women may need to screen earlier and more often, while others can go to screenings less frequently in the future,” Kruuv-Käo explained. 

Estonia is already preparing for the introduction of a personalized breast cancer screening program, and the plan is to launch it this year. Will Norway follow? 

Oncology innovators presented in Boston

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Three Nordic start-ups pitched at the International Cancer Cluster Showcase 2023.

This year’s International Cancer Cluster Showcase (ICCS) featured 20 emerging oncology companies that presented their recent innovations, partnering and investment opportunities on 5 June 2023 in Boston, as a satellite event to BIO International Convention. 

The companies were selected by innovation hubs in the United States (Massachusetts & Philadelphia), Quebec, Norway, the UK Golden Triangle, Switzerland, France, and Taiwan. 

“BIO International Convention is one of the largest gatherings of biotechnology and life sciences professionals from around the world. It provides an excellent platform for companies to network with potential partners, investors, customers, and collaborators. Via being part of the ICCS program emerging oncology companies get special visibility and exposure at the start of BIO. For those searching for collaboration, partnering and investment opportunities ICCS is an efficient format to meet 20 companies from international hubs and learn about their latest science, technologies, and (mostly preclinical) assets,” commented Jutta Heix, Head of International Affairs, Oslo Cancer Cluster and coordinator of the ICCS programme. 

Jutta Heix, Head of International Affairs at Oslo Cancer Cluster, welcomed the audience to the 12th International Cancer Cluster Showcase.

Promising Norwegian companies

NaDeNo, Hemispherian and One-Carbon Therapeutics represented the Nordic region during the event, which included four-minute pitches from each company. 

“Attending the BIO International conference for the first time as a small Norwegian start-up we highly appreciated the opportunity to share our story to a larger audience! Being visible in this way accelerates new relationships and valuable networking, and it really kick-started the conference for us. Many thanks to OCC for giving us this opportunity,” commented Annbjørg Falck, CEO and co-founder of NaDeNo.  

Adam Robertson, CSO of Hemispherian, presented one of the Nordic companies.

“The International Cancer Cluster Showcase presents a tremendous opportunity for Hemispherian to showcase our pharmaceutical development program on a global stage. This international exposure serves to highlight the exceptional nature of our technology and the expertise of our team. We are thrilled to have the privilege of presenting alongside other outstanding companies, which also provides us with a platform to showcase the rapidly growing Norwegian biotechnology sector. The event allows us to further establish Hemispherian’s reputation, attract attention to our innovative approach, and foster collaborations in the fight against cancer,” commented Adam Robertson, CSO of Hemispherian. 

Returning to Boston

This was the 12th edition of the International Cancer Cluster Showcase. Since 2012, the event has presented about 200 oncology start-ups and biotech companies as a satellite event to BIO International Convention and now returned to Boston where this format was started. The event connects emerging oncology companies from different innovation hubs with potential partners from the global oncology community gathering at BIO. 

The International Cancer Cluster Showcase 2023 was organized by Cambridge Innovation Partners, Montréal InVivo, The Wistar Institute, Oslo Cancer Cluster, OBN, Biopôle and Matwin. 

The event was kindly sponsored by Precision for Medicine, BIO and The Wistar Institute. 

 

 

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Forenkler testing av helseteknologi sammen

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The following article is in Norwegian. It is about a new collaboration agreement between NorTrials Medical Equipment and HealthCatalyst with the aim to develop Norway as a test nation for health technologies. Please visit the Health Catalyst website if you want more information about the initiative.

NorTrials Medisinsk utstyr har inngått en samarbeidsavtale med HealthCatalyst AS for å utvikle Norge som testnasjon for helseteknologi.

Akselererer innovasjon i helsesektoren

HealthCatalyst AS er et samarbeid mellom de tre norske helseklyngene Norwegian Smart Care Cluster, Oslo Cancer Cluster og Norway Health Tech. Selskapet har som mål å bygge et ledende globalt test- og innovasjonssenter som utvikler Norges posisjon som en unik testside for fremtidens helse- og teknologitjenester.

HealthCatalyst AS er et non-profit selskap som eies med like deler av de tre klyngene. Selskapet vil bidra til økt konkurransekraft og økt verdi for den norske helseindustrien. Selskapet vil også bidra til å akselerere innovasjonsprosessen fra ide til marked for å skape robuste selskaper innen digital helse, medisinsk robotikk, og innenfor kunstig intelligens (AI). Dette vil bidra til å tiltrekke store utenlandske aktører til å legge test/utviklingsoppdrag i Norge.

NorTrials er et samarbeid mellom regionale helsemyndigheter og organisasjonene for legemiddel- og medisinteknisk industri, etablert på oppdrag fra Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet i 2021. Målet med NorTrials er å styrke og effektivisere kliniske studier i Norge gjennom å tilby et samarbeidsnettverk mellom ulike aktører i helse- og forskningssektoren.

Medisinsk utstyr er helt sentralt i det meste av diagnostikk og behandling av pasienter i sykehusene. Kliniske studier i forskning, utvikling og utprøving av medisinsk utstyr (teknologi) er noe de fleste sykehus driver med i større eller mindre grad, enten i egen forskning, samarbeidsprosjekter med universiteter og forskningsinstitutter, eller i samarbeid med industri. NorTrials Medisinsk utstyr er lagt til St. Olavs hospital HF.

Testkonsept for digitale løsninger

Samarbeidet mellom HealthCatalyst AS og NorTrials Medisinsk utstyr vil blant annet omfatte et felles kontaktpunkt for brukere der bedrifter, helsepersonell og forskere kan ta kontakt og få hjelp til det videre løp. Det vil også innebære utvikling av testkonseptet for digitale løsninger, inkludert forretningsmodeller, post market evaluering og tjenestemodeller. Internasjonal markedsføring vil også være en del av samarbeidet.

For å sikre at samarbeidet utvikler seg som begge parter ønsker, vil det etableres en styringsgruppe og en arbeidsgruppe. Arbeidsgruppen vil ha ansvaret for å definere konkrete oppgaver og aktiviteter for samarbeidet og legge til rette for at samarbeidet utvikler seg positivt. Det vil utvikles en strategi med handlingsplan for samarbeidet.

Milepæl for norsk helseteknologi

Dette samarbeidet vil være en milepæl for norsk helseteknologi og vil bidra til å øke Norges posisjon som en testnasjon for helseteknologi. Det vil også være et viktig bidrag til å utvikle norsk helseindustri og skape nye arbeidsplasser.

 

Foto: Thor Nielsen

 

Thomas Langø, faglig leder NorTrials Medisinsk utstyr. Foto: Nortrails

 

Jan Gunnar Skogås, senterleder NorTrials Medisinsk Utstyr. Foto: Nortrials