MVA newsletter no 06, June 2005

: MVA HIGHLIGHT: Amazing spring in Medicon Valley
– new MVA publication preparing young companies for clinical development 
by Niels Gerner Larsen, Project Manager, Medicon Valley Academy

Companies in Medicon Valley are more successful than ever: More than a DKK billion to the young R&D companies since November. Last week TopoTarget broke the 'IPO ice age' and went public on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, and added another DKK 225 million. Also, major agreements have recently been signed between biotech companies in Medicon Valley and big pharma around the world.

However, the future success of Medicon Valley depends on a continuous flow of proof-of-concepts in clinical testing among the young innovative companies. Therefore, it is important to increase awareness of the development challenges for the many young companies facing the drug or device development for the first time.

MVA offers a new and useful tool in the publication - Medicon Valley Drug and Device Development Guide - released today. The guide focuses on how to prepare the development process by introducing important aspects in the planning process. You can also find input from experienced CROs as well as from companies with recent experience of preclinical and clinical development.

More than 20 organisations have contributed with experiences from hundreds of clinical studies and Medicon Valley is likely to be the first bioregion in the world offering R&D companies such information.

: NEWS INDEX

> New MVA publication: Medicon Valley Drug and Device Development Guide
> NEW on www.mva.org: Drug development advices from Medicon Valley experts
> Inauguration of the Øresund House in Lund
> MVA at BioTech Forum + ScanLab 2005
> Mapping of Medicon Valley for ScanBalt Clinical Research Network
> Register for 12th European Conference on Biotechnology
> Used equipment for sale in Medicon Valley
> Jobs in Medicon Valley
> Nuevolution and Biovitrum in drug discovery collaboration
> New ScanBalt project 'Campus' initiated
> Medicon Valley based TopoTarget enters Copenhagen Stock Exchange
> 7TM Pharma enters discovery collaboration with Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical
> EU grant to Swedish cancer research group and international network
> BioInvent and Cambridge Antibody Technology sign licensing agreement
> Exiqon secures USD 20 million capital injection for further product development
> University of Copenhagen part of Global University Alliance
> LifeCycle Pharma successfully completes EUR 15 million financing

: MVA NEWS


New MVA publication:
Medicon Valley Drug and Device Development Guide
This MVA guide gives good advice on how to prepare the drug development process and focuses on important aspects in the planning process. The guide introduces input from experienced CROs as well as from companies with recent experience of preclinical and clinical development. More than 20 Medicon Valley organisations with firsthand knowledge from hundreds of development projects have contributed with profound insight, mainly on drug development. The guide also introduces information and cases on medical devices and diagnostics and includes contact info and profiles on 49 Medicon Valley based organisations, which provide various types of expert assistance throughout the development process.



NEW on www.mva.org: Drug development advices from Medicon Valley experts
"Good preparation is pivotal for a good clinical trial" - Interview with Peter Buhl Jensen, CEO, TopoTarget A/S based in Denmark.

Inauguration of the Øresund House in Lund
14 June 2005, the Øresund House (Öresundshuset) in Lund was inaugurated with seminar and debates on ethics and innovation. See pictures and presentations.

MVA at BioTech Forum + ScanLab 2005
11-13 October 2005 / Stockholm / Sweden
MVA is organising a scientific track focusing on food versus drugs at BioTech Forum + ScanLab in Stockholm in October 2005. In addition, MVA is organising a Medicon Valley exhibition area at the trade fair. MVA's exhibition booth will be surrounded by a wide range of the region's companies and organisations.

Mapping of Medicon Valley for ScanBalt Clinical Research Network
MVA is part of the newly established ScanBalt Clinical Research Network. The aim of the network is to gather academia, industry and hospitals within specific clinical research areas and thereby improve the competitiveness of the ScanBalt Bioregion on a global scale.


Register for the 12th European Congress on Biotechnology
21-24 August 2005, Danish Biotechnology Forum, Danish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Medicon Valley Academy invite to the 12th European Congress on Biotechnology (ECB12), which will address cutting edge research in the fields of modern biology and biotechnology. The scientific programme will include symposia on: Genomics, Proteomics and Protein Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Pharma Biotechnology, Industrial Biotechnology, Food Biotechnology, and Environmental Biotechnology.


Used equipment for sale in Medicon Valley
Egalet are selling miscellaneous laboratory equipment, e.g. Tapped Density Tester, Melting Point Apparatus, Vacuum Oven, Laboratory Fume Hood, Symplicity Water Purification System and Autotitrator. Other organisations and companies in Medicon Valley can also list used laboratory equipment for sale on our website. The service is free for all Medicon Valley Academy members.

Jobs in Medicon Valley
Visit MVA's job site and view the latest job descriptions in the region from ALK-Abelló, CMC Biopharmaceuticals, Coloplast, Ferring, H. Lundbeck, Hartmanns, InPac, Kelly Scientific Resources, Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, Rheoscience, Statens Serum Institut and University of Copenhagen.


: MEDICON VALLEY NEWS

Nuevolution and Biovitrum in drug discovery collaboration
Nuevolution A/S of Copenhagen, Denmark and Biovitrum AB of Stockholm, Sweden have signed a drug discovery collaboration focused on the indication area of metabolic diseases.
 
New ScanBalt project 'Campus' initiated
ScanBalt Campus, a transnational showcase for a shared university structure was initiated 14 June 2005 at a conference at Lund University, Sweden. Behind it are 31 universities, regional networks, technology transfer organisations and companies from 11 countries located in ScanBalt BioRegion.

Medicon Valley based TopoTarget enters Copenhagen Stock Exchange
The Danish research-based biopharmaceutical company TopoTarget A/S has entered Copenhagen Stock Exchange. The offering of shares in the company met with substantial interest among Danish and international investors, leading to the offer being more than six times subscribed.

7TM Pharma enters discovery collaboration with Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical
7TM Pharma A/S (Denmark) recently announced that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement and research collaboration with Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, to further develop 7TM Pharma's program on novel oral compounds for the treatment of asthma and allergic diseases.

EU grant to Swedish cancer research group and international network
The international cancer research network GenoMel (Melanoma Genetics Consortium) was recently granted EU's Network of Excellence of EUR 10 million. The network comprises 12 research groups from all over the world, including a Lund based research group. The mission of GenoMel is to develop and support collaborations between member groups to: Identify melanoma susceptibility genes; Assess the risk of melanoma and other cancers related to variations in these genes; and Evaluate gene-environment interactions.

BioInvent and Cambridge Antibody Technology sign licensing agreement
BioInvent International AB recently announced that it has entered into a license agreement with Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT). Under the agreement, BioInvent and its partners receive rights to use CAT´s antibody phage display patent estate to develop products from BioInvent´s n-CoDeR antibody libraries.

Exiqon secures USD 20 million capital injection for further product development
Medicon Valley based biotech company Exiqon A/S (Denmark) has completed a third round of financing providing USD 20 million in additional funding. The funding is earmarked for developing products from its growing product pipeline. The investors include Teknoinvest (Norway) as lead investor and Scandinavian Life Science Venture (Denmark/Sweden), Nobel Group (Denmark), LD Pensions (Denmark), BioFund (Finland) and Danske Bank (Denmark).

University of Copenhagen part of Global University Alliance
University of Copenhagen has entered a collaboration alliance with world-leading universities - Global University Alliance, which also includes Yale University, Berkeley (University of California), Beijing University, University of Tokyo, National University of Singapore, Australia National University, Oxford University and ETH Zürich.

LifeCycle Pharma successfully completes EUR 15 million financing
LifeCycle Pharma A/S recently announced that it has successfully completed a EUR 15 million private placement. The Series C round was led by Alta Partners, a major US based life science investor active in both Europe and North America.


: FUTURE EVENTS - see all events

Health meets technology
18-19 August 2005 / Campus Varberg / Sweden
A scientific conference for scientists, companies, students and other actors working in the health sector.

Workshop on Alternatives to Mammography
29-30 September 2005 / Hotel Phoenix / Copenhagen / Denmark
The workshop provides a forum to discuss, compare and combine several currently used and experimental techniques to image the breast. Presentations will be focused on reviewing the state of the art in various techniques.

SICEF 2005 - The Scandinavian International Career & Education Fair
29-30 September 2005 / Øksnehallen / Copenhagen / Denmark
The SICEF fair is the largest career and education fair for Scandinavian students in their last years of undergraduate or graduate studies at business schools, universities and technical universities, as well as recent graduates with up to three years of working experience. SICEF 2005 is embracing the challenge of creating a better dialogue between the pharmaceutical industry and students of natural science, pharmaceuticals and engineering.

Nordic Venture Summit
4 October 2005 / Copenhagen / Denmark
The 3rd edition of the Nordic Venture Summit brings international contacts interested to invest in and partner with Nordic high growth tech and biotech companies to Copenhagen. Active tech & biotech investors and corporate contacts will listen to the entrepreneurs' presentations and will meet with them in pre-booked One2One meetings.


4th ScanBalt Forum: Campus - Research and Educational Excellence
3-4 November 2005 / Oslo / Norway
ScanBalt Forum provides opportunities for collaboration, the initiation of new projects and a dialogue with policy makers and key figures. The Forum's sessions, presented by the BioRegion's scientific and business leaders, will include stem cell research, marine biotechnology, clinical research and agro-biotechnology within the theme of ScanBalt Campus, a ScanBalt project aiming to increase public-private cooperation in education, research and innovation. The Forum is hosted by Medcoast Scandinavia, a network organisation promoting the biomedical sector in the Oslo - Gothenburg region.


: NEW MVA MEMBERS - see complete membership list

Action Pharma A/S - www.actionpharma.com - a Danish biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel drugs with significant therapeutic improvement within inadequately treated cardiovascular diseases. Key areas include cardioprotective drugs.

Evolva A/S - www.evolvabio.com - evolves small molecule drugs and related compounds. Evolva see “evolved small molecules” as both an alternative to, and synergistic with, traditional synthetic-medicinal chemical approaches.

Inpac AB - www.inpac.se - is the Scandinavian leader in contract packing. Inpac have packed products for various companies since 1948, with a specialist department which packs for clinical trials for the drugs industry.

Join Business & Technology AB - www.join.se - serves as the runway for newly started companies that are focusing on technological development, or as the traffic controller for established companies that want to fly towards new goals. Join offers business and market surveys, technology due diligence, concept development, problem solving, project planning, management and coaching.

Medchem Aps - www.medchem.dk - a Danish start-up company aiming to be a strategic partner for biotech companies and the pharmaceutical industry. MedChem takes on and engage in projects to develop hits and new leads.

Niconovum AB - www.niconovum.se - exploits the exclusive know-how of its founders within Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRT) specifically in designing products, which would be more effective than current products. Further, the idea is to exploit the commercial opportunities of identified new product formats.