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International Cancer Cluster Showcase 2020

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The 9th International Cancer Cluster Showcase has been launched on June 8th as a virtual event presenting 20 early-stage oncology companies.

For the first time, the annual International Cancer Cluster Showcase (ICCS) is presented in a digital format. Although we are missing the lively networking elements this year, there is a clear advantage: participants from around the globe can view the full program or selected presentations whenever suitable until July 8th – independent of time-zones and location. The record-high participation with about 400 registrations confirms that this flexible format offers an interesting opportunity to meet new companies in times when travelling is limited.

The organising partners from North America and Europe have jointly selected 20 emerging oncology companies from 8 countries advancing novel therapeutic, diagnostic and digital solutions. The CEOs of this outstanding group of early-stage companies present their latest innovations and partnering opportunities in four thematic sessions.

“We hope that this 9th International Cancer Cluster Showcase again creates novel collaboration opportunities and contacts for presenters and participants and stimulates relevant discussions.”

Jutta Heix, Head of International Affairs, Oslo Cancer Cluster.

A joint welcome from the organising partners opens the first session with the theme Targeting novel mechanisms. Our member EXACT Therapeutics is one of the companies selected for this session. CEO Rafiq Hasan introduces the company’s unique Acoustic Cluster Therapy for ultrasound-mediated, targeted therapeutic enhancement.

“It was important for EXACT Therapeutics to participate at ICCS as this is one of the leading opportunities for us to communicate progress with our innovative Acoustic Cluster Therapy (ACT) platform in oncology to key stakeholders and potential partners.

“We are impressed by the virtual format and the agility with which the in-person meeting was transformed to a digital platform. This ensures that the objectives of the meetings are achieved despite the challenges of the current situation.”

Rafiq Hasan, CEO, EXACT Therapeutics

CEO Rafiq Hasan, EXACT Therapeutics

Rafiq Hasan, CEO of EXACT therapeutics, is one of the presenters at ICCS 2020.

The theme of the second session is Immuno-Oncology and Cell therapy. Here the Oslo Cancer Cluster member Nextera introduces their NextCore technology and relevant applications in oncology.

“It was important for Nextera to present our unique drug and target discovery platform at the stage we are now, since we believe we can enable immuno-oncology therapies to new levels both from efficacy and safety points of view.

“The digital format fosters a great flexibility as well as the message reaches a larger audience.”

Ole Henrik Brekke, Chief Business Officer, Nextera

Geir Åge Løset, CEO of Nextera, presented at ICCS 2020.

Geir Åge Løset, CEO of Nextera, is one of the presenters at ICCS 2020.

The third session has the theme Immuno-Oncology, oncolytic viruses and vaccines, featuring companies from the US, UK and France showcasing their technologies and lead candidates.

As final Nordic company, our member Kaiku Health presents their platform for personalized digital health interventions in the fourth session titled Diagnostics and digital health interventions.

“ICCS is a good platform to reach like-minded innovators in oncology interested in making cancer care more personalised. We were happy to have the opportunity to go virtual during these exceptional times.”

Lauri Sippola, CEO and Co-Founder, Kaiku Health

Lauri Sippola, CEO of Kaiku Health, is one of the presenters at ICCS 2020.

Lauri Sippola, CEO of Kaiku Health, is one of the presenters at ICCS 2020.

The Virtual International Cancer Cluster Showcase is available online, via the official ICCS website, until 8 July 2020.

Details of all the presenters can be found in the ICCS 2020 event guide.

We kindly thank the sponsors and partners BIO, DNB, Precision for Medicine and Takeda for their ongoing support and program contribution.

 

Organising partners:
Logos organizing partners

Sponsors:
logos sponsors

International Collaboration in Cancer Innovation

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24 oncology innovators from 9 international hubs attended the 6th International Cancer Cluster Showcase in San Diego.

 

The International Cancer Cluster Showcase (ICCS) was born back in 2011 in Washington DC, during the world’s largest biotech conference, BIO International Convention. International cluster managers and representatives from the oncology field in Boston, Toulouse and Oslo met during a networking reception and agreed to team up for a joint initiative to expose their emerging oncology innovators to the global oncology community gathering at BIO.

This idea matured in a stimulating and dynamic annual meeting featuring oncology innovators from several North American and European innovation hubs.


Exciting partnering opportunities
During the  6th edition of ICCS around 200 delegates learned about exciting partnering opportunities pitched by 24 companies from 9 innovation hubs.

Oslo Cancer Cluster was represented by its member companies Oncoimmunity AS and Nordic Nanovector. The two companies presented their preclinical and clinical candidates for treating hematological cancers. Inven2, Norway’ largest tech transfer organisation, gave a glimpse into their growing oncology portfolio.

An overwhelming amount of cutting edge oncology innovations from leading North American and European industry clusters were presented in compact presentations. Poster sessions, networking parts and a final reception allowed the participants to connect and discuss collaboration opportunities.

– I hope that the ICCS 2017 reception was as productive for the participating biotechs as the BIO reception in Washington 6 years ago was for the founders of ICCS, said Jutta Heix, International Advisor at Oslo Cancer Cluster and coordinator for the event.

Jutta Heix representing Oslo Cancer Cluster, that organizes international events.

Our International Work

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Oslo Cancer Cluster aims to enhance the visibility of oncology innovation made in Norway by being a significant partner for international clusters, global biopharma companies and academic centres.

– Our goal is to support our members in their effort to attract international partners, investments and successful academia-industry collaborations, says International Advisor Jutta Heix.

Heix is responsible for the cluster’s international initiatives, cluster network and partnering activities.

– Back in 2008, Oslo Cancer Cluster was not visible internationally, and few people knew about oncology innovation in Norway. We began to seek out partners and actively approach international pharma companies and other clusters offering relevant synergies, says Heix.


Building relationships abroad
The relationships thrive on joint initiatives. These include invitations to Norway with tailored programmes, where potential collaboration partners can meet academic teams, start-ups and biotechs. Oslo Cancer Cluster has also joined forces with other hubs and clusters internationally.

One such collaboration is the International Cancer Cluster Showcase (ICCS) at the global biotechnology gathering BIO International Convention in the US. In 2017, it is arranged for the 6th time, with European and North American partners, including the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center, The Oncopole in Québec, The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, Medicen in Paris and BioCat in Catalonia.

– This year the ICCS will showcase 24 innovative oncology companies from nine international innovation hubs and clusters. Three of our member companies in Oslo Cancer Cluster will use the opportunity to pitch their products and ideas to a global oncology audience, says Heix.

Jutta Heix is Oslo Cancer Cluster's international advisor.

Jutta Heix is Oslo Cancer Cluster’s international advisor.


European and Nordic arenas
Meeting places are important in Europe too, with BIO-Europe, BIO-Europe Spring and Nordic Life Science Days at the top of the list. Oslo Cancer Cluster is the oncology partner at the Nordic Life Science Days. As a region, the Nordic countries are of international importance in the field of cancer research and innovation, especially in precision medicine, and Oslo Cancer Cluster participates in advancing Nordic collaboration.

Oslo Cancer Cluster also engages in more cancer specific European events. One example is the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy Meeting (CIMT), which is the largest European meeting in the field of cancer immunotherapy, also known as immuno-oncology.

– Many of our members are active in the field of immuno-oncology, so for a couple of years we have organized an event called CIMT Endeavour with German partners. The aim here is to discuss and promote translational research and innovation in immuno-oncology, says Heix.


Hot topics
Cancer immunotherapy has had a major impact on cancer treatment and global research and development in the cancer field. The concept took off with the approval of the first immune-checkpoint inhibitor, called Ipilimumab, in 2011. It offered a ground breaking new treatment for melanoma. In 2013, Science Magazine defined cancer immunotherapy as the breakthrough of the year. Since then, immunotherapy has been dominating the agenda of oncology meetings.

Other hot research and development topics are precision medicine and the increased digitization of the health sector. Oslo Cancer Cluster incorporates these topics in the international work, and aims to expand the services it provides for its members. The cluster recently got funding from Innovation Norway to do this, by adding an EU-advisor to the team.

– We want to increase our members’ involvement in EU’s research and innovation programme Horizon 2020. The new EU-advisor will help our members identify relevant funding schemes, find partners and prepare the applications, says Heix.

This initiative has already started to show some results. In the spring of 2017, Oslo Cancer Cluster member OncoImmunity AS won a prestigious Horizon 2020 SME Instrument grant, tailored for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This grant targets innovative businesses with international ambitions — such as the bioinformatics company OncoImmunity.

 

New meeting places
– Member needs are important for us, as it is for clusters in general. Our network is for the benefit of our members. A good way of leveraging the network, is by creating relevant initiatives and new meeting places – to keep things moving forward, says Heix.

Oslo Cancer Cluster has new international initiatives coming up. One is in immuno-oncology, bringing Norwegian biotechs to the well-established research communities on the US East coast. The biotechs will get training and support, and will meet academic medical centres and biopharma companies in Boston and other cities. This initiative is supported by Innovation Norway’s Global Growth programme.

Another new initiative takes on academic innovation. More good ideas from academia should make it into patents, start-ups and investment opportunities for industry partners.

– Stanford University has a programme called SPARK. We are working with Norwegian partners, including The University of Oslo Life Science and The Norwegian Inflammation Network (NORIN), on implementing a Norwegian SPARK-programme. This will be part of the global SPARK-network, and we are already building a European node together with Berlin and Finland, Jutta Heix says.