The laboratory where Bergenbio develops new treatments. Photographer: Nils Olav Mevatne

Cancer treatment helped corona patients

Picture of work in the lab

Ventilator-free survival is improved for more than 50% of corona patients, by a Norwegian cancer medicine from our member Bergenbio.

A drug produced by the Norwegian biotech company Bergenbio can be effective against serious corona disease. The drug was originally developed to treat cancer and has been in clinical testing since the beginning of the pandemic.

A recent clinical trial showed that fewer hospitalised corona patients needed to go on a ventilator after receiving the medicine. The results were presented in a press release from Bergenbio last week.

During the clinical trial, 58 hospitalised covid-19 patients in India and South Africa received the drug. The patients had a less complicated hospital stay and less need for ventilator treatment.

Ventilator-free survival was increased for more than half of the patients. Ventilator-free survival means surviving to day 29 without admission to intensive care unit and need for ventilator-assisted breathing.

“The potential of bemcentinib to increase the rate of ventilator-free survival in more than 50% of hospitalised COVID-19 patients is very encouraging,” Richard Godfrey, Chief Executive Officer of BerGenBio, commented.

The trial also showed the drug has the same effect on mutations of the coronavirus.

Need for covid-19 treatments

There is still a large unmet need for effective treatments of covid-19. Seriously ill covid-19 patients end up hospitalised in intensive care units (ICU) and may need to be put on ventilators.

“The greatest challenge faced by hospitals worldwide is an unmanageable demand for ICU capacity and ventilator support for COVID-19 patients,” Professor emeritus Stener Kvinnsland MD PhD, Director of BerGenBio and former Chair of Norwegian Korona Commission, commented.

“For the foreseeable future, in spite of recent progress with vaccinations, there remains a substantial global need for effective treatments for COVID-19 patients that offers survival benefit and relief for intensive care demand on hospitals,” Kvinnsland continued.

A Norwegian invention

Bergenbio is a Norwegian biotech company with a research team based in Bergen and a clinical development team based in Oxford.

The company has identified a protein called AXL that exists on the surface of cells. The AXL protein plays an important role when the immune system fails. It keeps cells resistant to treatment and can conceal cells from the body’s immune system.

Bergenbio has developed a drug that turns off the AXL signals, which makes treatment more effective as the immune system can be activated.

The drug was developed as a cancer treatment and was in phase 2 of clinical testing when it was selected for the ACCORD programme, a large clinical study against covid-19.

Carlos de Sousa, CEO of Ultimovacs. Photo: Ultimovacs

Cancer vaccine effective for 60% of patients

Picture of Carlos de Sause, CEO of ultimovacs

60% of melanoma patients responded to universal cancer vaccine, according to new data from our member Ultimovacs.

A clinical trial against advanced melanoma (a serious form of skin cancer) has shown positive effects in 60% of all patients. The Phase I clinical trial is led by our member Ultimovacs, a Norwegian company that develops vaccines against cancer.

“These very strong and exciting data further strengthen the foundation for our broad Phase II clinical program for UV1,” said Jens Bjørheim, Chief Medical Officer at Ultimovacs.

The cancer treatment is a universal cancer vaccine called UV1 in combination with an immunotherapy drug called pembrolizumab. The results of the treatment show a 60% objective response rate in patients with advanced melanoma. This includes 30% complete responses and 30% partial responses.

The potential of immunotherapy

The reason for choosing this treatment is that immunotherapy has good effect on melanoma patients and many new combinations of immunotherapy show great potential.

Immunotherapy mobilises the cancer patient’s own immune system to identify and kill the cancer cells.

The melanoma patients often don’t have the right T cells present in their bodies to experience the full effect of the immunotherapy pembrolizumab.

T cells are part of the immune system, help to protect the body from infection and may help to fight cancer.

The cancer vaccine UV1 increases the number of the right T cells so a stronger and broader immune response can be achieved, in combination with pembrolizumab.

Accepted to ASCO

The data will be presented at a poster session at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2021 Annual Meeting – the world’s largest cancer conference – on 4-8 June. The poster presentation will also be published on Ultimovacs website.

“These data reinforce our conviction that UV1 can play a transformative role in the treatment of conditions such as malignant melanoma,” said Carlos de Sousa, CEO of Ultimovacs.

“It suggests that UV1 in combination with checkpoint inhibitors like pembrolizumab can mobilize the immune system to fight cancer. This is very encouraging for melanoma patients and for those involved with the roll-out of Ultimovacs’ broader programs in solid cancers,” de Sousa continued.

Read more in the press release from Ultimovacs.

Rapportens forsidebilde illustrerer produksjon. Foto: Menon Economics

Ny rapport: stort potensial for eksport av helseindustri

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.

 

 

Old and new leaders of OCC Incubator. From the left: Bjørn Klem, Janne Nestvold and Ketil Widerberg in front of OCC Innovation Park. Photo: Oslo Cancer Cluster

New leadership in OCC Incubator

picture of Bjørn Klem, Janne Nestvold and Ketil Widerberg in front of OCC Innovation Park red framed windows. Old and new incubator leadership.Oslo Cancer Cluster

A new leadership duo strengthens Oslo Cancer Cluster (OCC) Incubator, as General Manager Bjørn Klem steps down after six years.

“Six years as general manager of OCC Incubator has been a fantastic journey. We have moved from a small office in Lysaker to a dream come true in a building housing an entire innovation system for startups and enterprises next to the Radium Hospital in Oslo,” says Bjørn Klem, soon-to-be-former general manager of Oslo Cancer Cluster (OCC) Incubator.

OCC Incubator plays a central role in the start-up scene in OCC Innovation Park. Many newly established start-ups in cancer innovation have advanced to a higher level of development thanks to the OCC Incubator during the past six years. Through the Accelerator programme, companies have attracted public and private funding, created job opportunities and added value through innovative treatments.

There is no slowing down with the new leadership duo. OCC Incubator will continue to build the Norwegian health industry and be an essential part of a unique environment for establishing new businesses in cancer.

New Chief Operating Officer

“The leadership of OCC Incubator is in safe hands with Janne Nestvold, who has built several impressive laboratories over the last years,” says Klem.

Nestvold is currently laboratory manager at OCC Incubator. She holds a PhD in Immunology from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo. Her research experience is from academia and biotech companies within the field of immuno-oncology.

“The OCC Incubator team is grateful to Bjørn Klem for his supportive and open-minded leadership. I am enthusiastic to further develop OCC Incubator and continue Klem’s solid work in the organization,” says Nestvold, new Chief Operating Officer (COO) in OCC Incubator.

Closer ties with the cluster

Ketil Widerberg steps in as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of OCC Incubator, bringing seven years of solid experience as general manager of Oslo Cancer Cluster. Widerberg will continue as general manager of Oslo Cancer Cluster, while leading OCC Incubator in partnership with Nestvold. Widerberg is also Chairman of the Board at Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator.

“I look forward to ultimately obtaining Ketil Widerberg’s know-how and experience into the team,” says Nestvold.

Widerberg thinks working with Nestvold is a natural step towards a closer collaboration between the cluster and the incubator.

“OCC Incubator has become increasingly important in the development of a rich cluster environment with strong start-ups in OCC Innovation Park. For the start-ups in the incubator, closeness to larger private companies and public institutions, through the cluster, is essential. This is why I think our new organization is ideal right now,” says Widerberg.

Leading a start-up

Klem goes on to new adventures in the start-up scene in OCC Innovation Park, as the new CEO of AdjuTec Pharma from 1 July. AdjuTec Pharma is a Norwegian pharmaceutical start-up developing a new technology to combat antibiotic resistance.

“I am happy to say AdjuTec Pharma is a true product of the Accelerator programme. I will still have my office space in OCC Incubator and be part of the Accelerator programme as the head of a start-up,” Klem says.

“Finally, I want to thank the team and partners for unforgettable years at OCC Incubator. And I hope I will still get a homemade bun from the students with the baking project at Ullern Upper Secondary School every Friday.”