Nordic Life Science 1
TOP STORIES BUSINESS BUSINE S S Therapeutic oligo
nucleotides are small molecules made up of the genome’s own building blocks, known as nucleotides. This new type of pharmaceutical targets the genes that need to be affected with great precision and without causing permanent changes in the genome. (melphalan flufenaP L AT F ORM mide, also known as melflufen), has been approved in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior lines of therapy and whose disease is refractory to at least one proteasome inhibitor, one immunomodulatory agent, and one CD38-directed monoclonal antibody. It is the first anticancer peptide-drug conjugate approved by the FDA. “We look forward to receiving data from the phase 3 OCEAN-study in relapsed refractory multiple myeloma, in the second quarter. The comparative study with pomalidomide, is designed to support a future supplementary New Drug Application to expand the label,” says Marty J Duvall, CEO, Oncopeptides. Using the new platform, Swedish refor Molecular and Translational Medicine has been awarded SEK 54 million by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, and SEK 48 million from SciLifeLab and the University of Gothenburg, to create the national technology platform, called OligoNova Hub. 10 searchers will be able to further develop their scientific discoveries in the direction of new drugs. The hub will also become part of SciLifeLab’s Drug Discovery and Development (DDD) platform. During the buildup phase (2020/21), this initiative is being funded by Vinnova through Swelife, the strategic innovation program. NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG Marty Duvall, CEO, Oncopeptides