MVA newsletter no 07, June 2005

: MVA HIGHLIGHT: New challenge spells spallation in Medicon Valley
by Stina Gestrelius, Acting CEO, Medicon Valley Academy



The chance to host the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund has increased after a positive report to the Swedish government this month. The SEK 11 billion neutron source would strengthen many types of research and imply new possibilities to study for example membrane proteins and organelles in cells in a non-destructive manner. All numbers are big - imagine 5,000 scientists visiting the center every year. The project is proposed to become a Public Private Partnership, where industry is involved from the very beginning.

At this time point, laboratories in 11 European countries have developed the plans, and the hope is to create a North European center together with the planned national synchrotron MAX-lab IV. The existing MAX-lab III in Lund is already used by the pharma and biotech industry, among them Novo Nordisk (Copenhagen) and AstraZeneca (Lund), and Medicon Valley Academy’s Chairman of the Board, professor Per Belfrage has given strong support to the project on behalf of our organisation:

“Besides the direct use of the equipment, the Medicon Valley in total will benefit from the global focus on biological structure analysis, which the region would obtain, and visits of several thousands of international scientists. The fulfilment of the ESS plan would lead to an unprecedented attention from the global life science scientific and industrial community.”

From Lund and Medicon Valley we hope for a successful outcome of this challenge. And more short-term may the Medicon Valley Academy staff and I wish you a sunny summer and a relaxing vacation!


: NEWS INDEX

> UK-Medicon Valley workshop regarding hospitals and technology transfer
> MVA at BioTech Forum + ScanLab 2005
> NEW on www.mva.org: Drug development advices from Medicon Valley experts
> Register for the 12th European Congress on Biotechnology
> Used equipment for sale in Medicon Valley
> Jobs in Medicon Valley
> Positive report on the establishment of the European Spallation Source in the Øresund region
> Swedish governmental research organisations grants approx. SEK 3 billion for research the next ten years
> University of Copenhagen and PerkinElmer Inc announce licensing agreement for important new maternal health marker
> The Danish foundation "Cancerforskningsfonden af 1989" and Bayer settle patent dispute over PAI-1 antibodies with American Diagnostica
> Medicon Valley based Nuevolution A/S signs agreement with Schering AG on drug discovery
> New biotech incubator at Biomedical Center (BMC) in Lund
> BioInvent's drug candidate to treat HIV infection has today been given to the first patients
> Malmö based StratoSphere Pharma among the finalists in VINNOVAs innovation competition


: MVA NEWS

UK-Medicon Valley workshop regarding hospitals and technology transfer
31 August 2005 / Copenhagen
Please reserve the date, more information will follow.

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.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1331.htm


NEW on www.mva.org: Drug development advices from Medicon Valley experts
"Make early decisions and do more processes in parallel" - Interview with Steven Glazer, VP Clinical and Regulatory Affairs & Roland Carlsson, VP Preclinical Research, BioInvent International AB based in Lund, Sweden.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1656.htm


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. NB! Deadline for online registration is 20 July 2005.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1290.htm

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.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1434.htm

Jobs in Medicon Valley
Visit MVA's job site and view the latest job descriptions in the region from ALK-Abelló, CMC Biopharmaceuticals, Coloplast, H. Lundbeck, Hartmanns, InPac, Kelly Scientific Resources, Novo Nordisk, Novozymes and Statens Serum Institut.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/jobs


: MEDICON VALLEY NEWS

Positive report on the establishment of the European Spallation Source in the Øresund region
In July 2004, the Swedish Government appointed Allan Larsson, former Minister of Finance, as special negotiator to assess the possibilities to locate the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Sweden. Now, Allan Larsson has published a positive report on the establishment of the ESS in Lund, Sweden. The ESS will, if realised, be the premier neutron source in the world and provide scientists with unique and powerful neutron scattering tools for studying the properties of materials and molecules – knowledge which is essential for growth in strategic areas such as nanotechnology, life science, biotechnology, hardware for information technology and energy technology.
Read more here (in Swedish) www.mva.org/composite-1653.htm

Swedish governmental research organisations grants approx. SEK 3 billion for research the next ten years
The Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA), the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas) and the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS) has granted approximately SEK 3 billion for strong research environments the next ten years.
Read more here (in Swedish) www.mva.org/composite-1654.htm

University of Copenhagen and PerkinElmer Inc announce licensing agreement for important new maternal health marker
PerkinElmer Inc., a leading provider in genetic screening, drug discovery, life science research, and analytical solutions, has entered into a global licensing agreement with the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, to develop assay kits for the biochemical marker ADAM12.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1647.htm

The Danish foundation "Cancerforskningsfonden af 1989" and Bayer settle patent dispute over PAI-1 antibodies with American Diagnostica
Bayer HealthCare, Diagnostics Division, a member of the Bayer Group recently announced, that it has granted a license to American Diagnostica, Inc. relating to certain cancer marker assays. Bayer has an exclusive worldwide license from the Danish research foundation "Cancerforskningsfonden af 1989" to market and sell PAI-1 antibodies for diagnostic use.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1649.htm

Medicon Valley based Nuevolution A/S signs agreement with Schering AG on drug discovery
Nuevolution A/S recently announced the signing of a drug discovery agreement with Schering AG, Germany. Under the terms of the agreement, Nuevolution will use its proprietary Chemetics drug discovery technology to find new drug leads against targets provided by Schering AG.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1645.htm

New biotech incubator at Biomedical Center (BMC) in Lund
According to Rapidus, the news service for growth in the Øresund region, Lund University are planning to build a new biotech incubator at Biomedical Center in Lund. The incubator will cover 1,400 squaremetres with advanced laboratory equipment and house 10-15 companies from June 2006.
Read more here (in Danish) www.mva.org/composite-1646.htm

BioInvent's drug candidate to treat HIV infection has today been given to the first patients
Medicon Valley based BioInvent (Lund, Sweden) has initiated clinical phase I/IIa studies of its candidate drug, BI-201, to treat HIV-infection. The primary objective is to study safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic properties of the candidate drug. A secondary objective is to study the effect on the viral load and thereby get the first indication as to how effective an antiviral drug BI-201 may be. The study is expected to be presented in the second quarter of 2006.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1644.htm

Malmö based StratoSphere Pharma among the finalists in VINNOVAs innovation competition
The Malmö based medtech company StratoSphere Pharma won SEK 300,000 in the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA) innovation competition. StratoSphere Pharma develops new drug delivery systems through the use of recombinant proteins.
Read more here (in Swedish) www.mva.org/composite-1641.htm


: FUTURE EVENTS - see all events

JobØresund 2005
1 September 2005 / Copenhagen / Denmark
At JobØresund, representatives from the business sector, trade organisations and the public institutions in the Øresund region meet and exchange experiences, visions and results.
Read more here (in Danish) www.mva.org/composite-1634.htm

IHE-FORUM 2005: Medicine of the Future
1-2 September 2005 / Lund / Sweden
At IHE's annual conference in Lund, Swedish decision-makers and practical implementers in the health service meet for discussion and debate on current issues, research reports, reforms, etc.
Read more here (in Swedish) www.mva.org/composite-1591.htm

European Partnering & Investment Conference 2005 (EPIC)
13 September 2005 / London / UK
EPIC is a partnering and investment conference which showcases UK, European and Israeli biotechnology companies. The event is attractive to investors and big pharma, with presentations covering: Anti-infectives, Cancer, Cardiovascular, CNS, Vaccines/Immunology, Regenerative Medicine, Metabolic, Platform/Discovery and University Challenge.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1652.htm

"Making IT happen"- Challenges & solutions in international eHealth projects
26 September 2005 / Børsen / Copenhagen
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI-Denmark) is in partnership with FDIH (Association of Danish eBusiness) and the co-sponsors Sundhed.dk (Danish eHealth Portal) and Øresund IT Academy organising a one-day eHealth conference in Copenhagen. It aims to highlight the challenges facing national health systems delivering value-added, coherent and up-to-date health services to their populations.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1658.htm

Medicinteknikdagarna 2005
27-28 September 2005 / Stockholm / Sweden
Medicinteknikdagarna is a yearly conference on medical devices for actors within research, health, and the biotech and pharma industry. One of this years topics is the interdisciplinary overlap between medtech and IT.
Read more here (in Swedish) www.mva.org/composite-1592.htm

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.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1550.htm

World Life Science Week 2005
9-13 October 2005 / London / UK
World Life Science Week is a joint venture between Reed Elsevier and Technology Vision Group. The event begins with Europe's longest-running partnering event, BioPartnering Europe (9-11 October) and continues with the second edition of CORDIA Biotechnology Convention (11-13 October). Together, these two prestigious conferences have provide a world-class stage for a week of key life sciences industry events and created the most productive platform for delegates from the pharma and biotech industries in Europe, the U.S. and Asia to do business.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1651.htm


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.
Read more here (in English) www.mva.org/composite-1515.htm


: 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.