Nordic Life Science 1
collaboration with European and North American pa
rtners at Bio International Convention,” she says. “Initiatives like the Nordic I-O Mission, and organizing Innovation Days for global pharma companies and investors in Oslo, are helping to create visibility for both individual companies but also for the entire innovation milieu.” The Oslo Cancer Cluster aims to be an active interface for both international partners, searching expertise, technologies and assets, and for its members in need of partners and complementary skills for bringing their products to the global market. “Our members’ success is key and we use our various initiatives and communication channels to promote their achievements and enhance their visibility. A growing number of successful companies also serve as great ambassadors. One such example is Vaccibody [today Nykode], who presented at our very first international Cancer Cluster Showcase in Boston ten years ago. After an amazing journey, they now attract a lot of visibility to the Norwegian milieu,” describes Jutta. here is a growing pipeline of innovation projects and startups in Norway’s life science industry, and Jutta also points to the political will and support for building the healthcare industry in Norway. “We have a dynamic ecosystem, with increasing collaboration among health clusters that supports convergence among biopharma, medtech and digital solutions,” she says. “Health data in national registries, a public healthcare system and a highly digitized population also provides unique opportunities for precision medicine and digital health innovation.” Challenges include access to talent, experienced (international) management, smart international capital, and R&D investment to further professionalize the startups and biotechs and thereby the industry as a whole, believes Jutta. The graduates from SPARK Norway’s innovation programme. From left: Vice-Rector Per Morten Sandset, Maria Vistnes, Krister Andersson (Project leader Ana Lobato-Pascual was absent), Gjermund Henriksen, Malin Bern, Aina Anthi and Leader SPARK Norway, Morten Egeberg. Ole Jørgen Kaasbøll participated digitally. I also asked her about what the key challenges in developing new cancer treatments are today and how OCC’s members are addressing them. “The shift from blockbusters to precision medicine affects both, R&D and implementation. When it comes to implementation, the national PCM initiatives are addressing these challenges in Norway and via international collaboration. Within research, our members are developing new cell therapy concepts and candidates, individualized vaccination approaches, novel diagnostics and biomarkers, as well as data and AI based approaches,” says Jutta. Oncology is still an area with high unmet need, and large R&D investments globally have spurred tremendous progress over the past decade. However, there are also an unprecedented number of novel treatments in the global pipeline, so OCC’s members are in a highly competitive space. 38 The Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator PHOTO FARTEIN RUDJORD/UIO