Data power and moonshots
The Cancer Mission Hub Norway arranged its yearly high-level meeting for the fourth time.
The cancer mission is bold, concrete, and measurable, aiming to change a key challenge in society, namely how we jointly approach cancer. It is about understanding, preventing, diagnosing, treating, and following up cancer patients and their families, and it aims to improve the lives of three million people by 2030.
The goal of the Norwegian Mission Hub, one of the first cancer mission hubs established in Europe, is to work jointly on this societal challenge in effective ways.
EU’s holistic approach
The first keynote speaker on the programme was Cathrine Marie Lofthus, Secretary General of the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services. She underlined that Norway shares the same cancer challenges as the EU states.
“We commend the holistic approach chosen by the EU,” Lofthus said and underlined how Norway is in line with the EU in the cancer mission.
Her ministry is on the verge of presenting a new national cancer strategy next year, replacing the current strategy called Living with cancer.
“We will pay more attention to the patient’s psychosocial health needs and the need for follow-up in the new cancer strategy.” Cathrine Lofthus.
Genetic testing is also one of the areas with more emphasis in the new strategy.
Harnessing the power of data
The second keynote address was by Mark Lawler, Associate pro-vice-chancellor, professor of digital health, and chair in translational cancer genomics at Queen’s University Belfast. He spoke about the research project European Groundshot: Reimagining cancer research and its implementation across Europe.
“If you will remember only one thing from my speech: Data eats opinion for lunch.” Mark Lawler
The research project European Groundshot looked at the impact of Covid 19 on cancer screenings and diagnosis, investigating the impact of real-time data analysis from Hospital Trust across the UK.
“And we were shocked,” Mark Lawler said to an attentive audience.
One of the findings was that 7 out of 10 people with a suspicion of cancer were neither going to their GP nor a specialist for help.
Another was that the war in Ukraine does have an impact on cancer in Europe since Ukraine and Russia are two big contributors to clinical trials in cancer.
A third point was that health research is very important, and effective, to improve people’s health, and should be seen as an investment in our health.
“Working together does make sense,” said Mark Lawler, and added that comprehensive cancer centers do lead to better cancer care.
- You can find out more details about the research project European Groundshot in this article on the webpage of Queen’s University Belfast.
- Here are the ten recommendations to the UK government on a national cancer plan, which Mark Lawler recently contributed to.
Cancer Moonshot 3.0
The third keynote address was a perspective from the US Cancer Moonshot, by Jason Paragas, CEO DVLP Medicines, Former Director of Innovation, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory & Ex Officio member of the Blue-Ribbon Panel.
“In our government, everybody is in favor of coordination, but nobody wants to be coordinated. That is what a moonshot truly is,” Jason Paragas said, continuing with a reference to Albert Einstein’s letter to US President Franklin Roosevelt in 1939, and the outcome of this letter, the Manhattan Project.
Read the story of the letter that sparked the atomic bomb on the webpage of the American Museum of Natural History.
“What makes a successful Moonshot: a clear goal that is only possible from collective action.” Jason Paragas
The outcomes from successful moonshot programs can be these, Paragas argued: The US testing weapons on supercomputers instead of in the desert. As a bonus, we have supercomputers evolving from this goal, becoming increasingly faster and more powerful. Another example is the outcome of the single goal of Operation Warp Speed: a functioning vaccine technology against Covid 19.
“And where did we fail with moonshots? I will argue that it is the Cancer Moonshot. It did not have a clear single goal.”
So, what can we do? This is the question to use to frame a moonshot. Jason Paragas lists these questions to spark our imagination:
- Can we diagnose all cancers by stage 0-1?
- Can we make 100 % of all cancers targetable?
- Can we make cancer the 10th leading cause of death?
- Can we diagnose cancer right 100% of the time?
What is the one goal?
After the keynote addresses, the high-level meeting facilitated three moderated panel discussions. The first was called Global cooperation in cancer with societal impact and was moderated by Ketil Widerberg. His first question was an encouragement to think in the moonshot way: What would be – from your angle, a bold, concrete, and measurable action we should take tomorrow to reach the cancer mission’s objective?
“We need a quick win,” Mark Lawler said, following up with a concrete quick-win goal in cancer that we can collaborate on across borders:
“We can eliminate HPV-cancers, we can do that as a collective in Europe.”
Toward the end of the discussion, Widerberg repeated this first question. Would he get other answers? Here are some of the answers he got:
- We can start with a work package on health data.
- Let us cut the time it takes research to become treatment in half.
- A lesson from technology is that we need a multisided platform. Start with one problem in Norwegian health data, with cancer, and solve other health issues in addition.
The most important advice
The second panel was a conversation including the Norwegian reflections on the common effort in the cancer mission. Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross, General Secretary of the Norwegian Cancer Society, moderated the panel. She asked: What is the most important advice for the mission hub?
“To involve politicians and get commitment from the top is important to succeed with missions. Another advice is to monitor the projects that are set in motion and set interim goals. Also, it is to collaborate with others than the ones you apply for research funding with,” said Espen Solberg, Research Leader at the Norwegian Institute for Research and Education Studies (NIFU).
Wanting the same thing
The third panel was a conversation about the engagement of the health industry in a mission-oriented innovation system, and ways of collaboration. Ole Johan Borge, Director of health and public sector at the Research Council of Norway, moderated the panel, and asked the question: What is your strategy to start new initiatives and pave the way towards so-called impossible solutions?
“It is important to want something and then work systematically with this one thing,” said Kjetil Taskén, Director of the Institute of Cancer Research at Oslo University Hospital.
Taskén won the Innovation Prize of the University of Oslo earlier this year and is the coordinator of a large new EU project called PRIME ROSE.
“And everyone has to want the same thing, it cannot be about single institutions or even single countries,” Taskén added.
Read more about our EU Cancer Mission initiatives and the work of the Mission Hub in these articles from our archive:
- Positioning Norway towards the EU Cancer Mission
- Missions: a new way of doing politics
- Europe united against cancer
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Member companies secure NOK 92 Million
Oslo Cancer Cluster Members secure a staggering NOK 92 Million from the Research Council of Norway.
The Research Council of Norway allocates NOK 494 million to 39 research-based innovation projects in companies across the entire country, marking a significant boost for cancer innovation. Oslo Cancer Cluster celebrates the success of several member companies, who collectively secured a remarkable NOK 92 million of the funds. Our member companies are:
- Oncosyne
- DoMore diagnostics
- Hemispherian
- AdjuTec Pharma
- Blue Wave Therapeutics
- Augere Medical
Kjetil Widerberg, Oslo Cancer Cluster’s General Manager, expresses his excitement, stating
“This fantastic news is a testament to the hard work and risk-taking spirit of individuals in these companies. It validates the quality of our ecosystem, bringing us significant steps closer to improving cancer patients’ lives through the acceleration of new diagnostics and treatments.”
Oslo Cancer Cluster extends recognition to The Research Council of Norway for the acknowledgment of the high quality of these Norwegian cancer companies, some of which are integral to Oslo Cancer Cluster (OCC) Incubator.
This funding injection serves as a powerful catalyst, propelling these innovative projects into new realms of possibility and advancing the frontier of cancer research and treatment.
Thrilled and Grateful
Oncosyne, a biotechnology start-up in the OCC Incubator, received a NOK 16 million grant for “clinical feasibility of in vitro diagnostic drug testing for pancreatic cancer.” Cofounder & CTO, Peter W. Eide, shares his gratitude for the Research Council’s support, emphasizing the opportunity to enhance their drug modeling platform and initiate vital clinical studies for pancreatic cancer patients.
DoMore Diagnostics, also an OCC Incubator company, secures NOK 16 million for clinical validation and implementation of the AI-based digital biomarker Histotype Px, to personalize treatment in colorectal cancer. CEO Torbjørn Furuseth shares the excitement of competing with strong applicants and expresses the motivation to accelerate plans.
Hemispherian receives a substantial NOK 16 million grant towards “a one-of-a-kind approach to treat Ovarian Cancer.” Hemispherian CEO, Zeno Albisser, expresses immense gratitude for the support,
“We are immensely grateful for this support from the Research Council of Norway. Our team is excited to advance our second asset, GLIX5, towards clinical use. We are dedicated to developing therapies that will make a tangible difference in the lives of those battling cancer.”
AdjuTec Pharma, also part of the OCC Incubator, secures NOK 16 million towards the “development of a novel broad-spectrum antibiotic-resistant inhibitor product.” CEO Bjørn Klem acknowledges the award’s significance, serving as both external validation and a catalyst for private capital raising to propel the project into the clinical phase.
Blue Wave Therapeutics also receives NOK 16 million towards their project ALPHAGLIO: Development of a novel treatment for glioblastoma.
“It feels incredibly good. This is the third time we’ve applied, so now it will be fantastic to finally get started with this project.” says CEO Jostein Dahle
Augere Medical is thrilled to announce the acceptance of its application for the IPN grant by the Research Council, securing close to NOK 12 million towards the project “ColoCompare: colonoscopy guidance and AI-assisted procedure comparison.”
Augere CEO and Co-founder, Pia Helén Smedsrud, expresses gratitude for the opportunity
“These funds will enable further research into novel technologies that can improve the detection and prevention of colorectal cancer. We are thankful for the opportunity and look forward to sharing our progress and technology with the public in the next few years.”
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Highlights from Oslo Cancer Cluster in 2023
OCC/ Dark Arkitekter / Hufton Crow
Here are seven highlights from this eventful year.
2023 has seen the crystallization of several significant developments at Oslo Cancer Cluster. We’ve immersed ourselves in the cancer mission, initiated new endeavors both nationally and across Europe, and welcomed new members into our community.
Growing the Community
Throughout the year, we’ve been delighted to witness growth in both our membership and physical space. Discover more about some of our new members through these articles:
For a sneak peek at the ongoing construction between the Innovation Park and the Institute for Cancer Research, you can visit the live building site webcam on the Innovation Park website.
Connecting Efforts
A new cluster collaboration came to life in 2023. A primary task at Oslo Cancer Cluster is to foster connections within the cancer innovation sphere. Facilitating investment opportunities for emerging companies is a vital part of this process. At the start of the year, we reinforced our collaboration with other health and life science clusters in Norway to achieve this, aiming for increased success among Norwegian companies. This initiative is led by The Life Science Cluster and supported by Viken County for two years.
Read more about the collaboration in this article from February.
The non-profit company HealthCatalyst brings together Oslo Cancer Cluster, Norway Health Tech, and the Norwegian Smart Care Cluster to enhance testing facilities for health companies. In June, the company forged a new collaboration agreement with NorTrials Medical Equipment, aiming to elevate Norway as a testing ground for health technologies.
Explore the collaboration’s details in this article on our website.
The CONNECT consortium for precision cancer medicine has had a remarkable year. Discover this year’s milestones for the consortium in a separate article on the CONNECT-website. ADD LINK
And here is the animation explainer that CONNECT made to explain personalised medicine (in Norwegian only).
Big and Small Meeting Places
Cancer Crosslinks 2023 centred around the theme “New dimensions to the hallmarks of cancer: How is the last decade of discoveries advancing our understanding of cancer biology and transforming precision medicine.” It served as a day of inspiration, insights, and interactions for professionals from across the cancer field in Norway and beyond.
Read this article about the 2023 Cancer Crosslinks.
Interested in joining Cancer Crosslinks 2024? The theme for next year is “Bridging innovations to improve clinical outcomes for cancer patients.” Registration is open!
Throughout the year, we’ve organized smaller gatherings for our members and community, such as the Summer gathering and the December gathering. These meetings occur every June and December, and we hope to see you there next year!
Our incubator has also facilitated smaller meetings between start-ups and potential investors. During one such occasion in the summer, US healthcare and life science investors visited. Read about their interaction in this article.
Finally, we were present at the large venues too. One of these was the Nordic Life Science Days in Copenhagen, where Oslo Cancer Cluster coordinated the joint booth Norway for Life Science, promoting the Norwegian healthcare and life science industry. This is the article and this is part of our team in front of the Norwegian booth:
Our Take on the Cancer Mission
This year, we’ve raised the question, “How can Norway succeed with the EU’s Mission on Cancer?” loudly and clearly. Explore discussions and insights from two seminars in the meeting series “The Future of Cancer Treatments” held during 2023. The seminars are also available on our YouTube channel.
Find more about the meeting series on our project page.
The Cancer Mission Hub Norway is another crucial arena for the same topic. Oslo Cancer Cluster proudly collaborates within this hub. In May 2023, we commenced work with 56 other organizations spanning 28 countries in the EU project called ECHoS. It received a 6-million-euro grant from The European Union. Read about our plans through this consortium in these two articles:
Health Industry Milestones in Norway
Oslo Cancer Cluster continued to act as a Changemaker in 2023. In the cluster strategy for 2023-25, this is one of our three roles, aiming to improve the framework for cancer innovations in the Norwegian health industry. This involves contributing input to relevant national policies and addressing specific challenges. Discover more on our webpage or read our input to the State budget proposal. Additionally, watch our participation in the parliamentary health committee hearing on our YouTube-channel. Note that most of the content is in Norwegian.
In late summer, the government published its roadmap for the health industry, focusing on commercializing research and developing health as a green export success. Read more in this article.
Young Talents
Ullern Upper Secondary School and Oslo Cancer Cluster have a mutually rewarding school collaboration. In 2023, numerous engaging activities took place with students, their mentors, student research projects, and student work placements.
Explore the students’ activities on the school collaboration homepage (all news in Norwegian) and contact us if you have questions about the collaboration. You can find our emails on the team page.
Projects Coming Together
Throughout the year, we’ve closely followed the AnteNor-project, learning extensively about polygenic risk scores (PRS) and their significance in future cancer prevention and early detection.
Discover more about the AnteNor-project in these articles:
- More personalised breast cancer screening
- Guidance on polygenic risk scores
- Polygenic risk scores: a European cancer priority
- New research on genetic breast cancer
- Personalising breast cancer screening in Norway
Exploring the improvement possibilities in manufacturing T-cell therapies was the focal point at a workshop organized by the CellFIT project in Trondheim in October. The seminar convened project partners and experts to address a significant challenge for cell-based cancer therapy – the need for efficient and scalable production. Discover more about their discussions in this article.
- Stay updated on our events in 2024. Have a look at our event calendar!
The post Highlights from Oslo Cancer Cluster in 2023 first appeared on Oslo Cancer Cluster.