MVA newsletter no 09, October 2005

: NEWS INDEX

> MVA news
> Medicon Valley news
> Business highlights from www.mediconvalley.com
> Jobs in Medicon Valley
> Funding opportunities
> Future life science events
> New MVA members


: MVA NEWS

Welcome to the Medicon Valley exhibition area at BioTech Forum 11-13 October 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden
Medicon Valley Academy, Copenhagen Capacity, Position Skåne, companies and organisations from the Medicon Valley region are present at BioTech Forum in Stockholm this week. Visit us at stand number: C02:51.

Food as Drugs - Focus on Gastrointestinal Diseases

12 October 2005 / Stockholm / Sweden
One-day seminar presenting talks and discussion on Diet and Gastrointestinal Diseases, Nutrigenomics, Dietary Fibers, Probiotics, Gluten Intolerance, Lactobacillus Reuteri, Functional Food Applications, Healthy Oat Products and Industry in between Food and Drugs. The seminar is organised by Medicon Valley Academy and Øresund Food Network, and is part of the BioTech Forum 2005 Conference Programme.


VINNVINN Life Science - a project improving recruitment and growth in Medicon Valley companies (in Swedish)
Region Skåne, VINNOVA, Arbetsförmedlingen/Länsarbetsnämnden and Medicon Valley Academy are now cooperating for growth and new jobs in Medicon Valley. They are launching a new recruitment project matching Medicon Valley companies with the best academics in the region.

Founding meeting for Project Management Network
14 October 2005 / Copenhagen / Denmark
Medicon Valley Academy member Synarc has proposed the start of a new network for experience exchange, inspiration and mutual learning between project managers within CROs and similar organisations.

MVA biostatistics network course: An Introduction to Applied Statistics for Non-Statisticians
16 November 2005 / Lund / Sweden
The course includes: Basic statistical measurements such as measures for location and variability; Randomisation and blinding; Statistical hypotheses and tests, including p-values and confidence intervals (t-test, analysis of variance, chi-squared test, non-parametric methods, etc.); and Sample size calculations, level of significance and power.


Order Medicon Valley Drug and Device Development Guide
The Medicon Valley Drug and Device Development 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. The guide also presents 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.


: MEDICON VALLEY NEWS

New Medicon Valley start-up QuNano AB based in Lund raises capital from the Nordic venture capital firm Teknoinvest
QuNano AB has announced that it has received an investment from the Nordic venture capital firm Teknoinvest. QuNano was founded in 2005 by Professor Lars Samuelson and his colleagues at Lund University / Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden, BTG plc, a medical innovations company headquartered in the UK and LUAB, Lund University Holding Company. It was established to develop and commercialize promising research results covering novel nanowire heterostructure technology from Prof. Samuelson and his team.

Medicon Valley based CMC Contrast AB starts clinical phase III studies with new agent for MR imaging of the liver
CMC Contrast AB starts Clinical Phase III studies on new promising contrast medium for scanning of liver tumours by means of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The Clinical Phase I and Phase II studies have given excellent results. CMC Contrast AB started the development in 2000 based on a patent held by inventor professor Henrik Thomsen at Department of Radiology, Herlev University Hospital outside Copenhagen.

NNE builds new vaccine facility for Bavarian Nordic in record time
In the record-breaking time of 11 months, NNE, an engineering and consultancy company focused on Life Sciences, has built a new vaccine production facility for the biopharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic A/S. The new facility, based in Kvistgaard, Denmark started production in July 2005.

Ralf Hemmingsen appointed new rector of University of Copenhagen (in Danish)
Professor Ralf Hemmingsen, currently dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, has a strong scientific background in clinical and experimental psychiatry and neuro biology. He is appointed as the new rector of University of Copenhagen as of 1 November 2005.

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations launches first worldwide clinical trials portal
The IFPMA Clinical Trial Portal currently contains more that 250,000 links. The Portal's search engine has been programmed to access relevant on-line sources of clinical trial information. These include individual pharmaceutical company sites, sites run by third parties working on behalf of these companies, pharmaceutical industry association resources and government sites. Other on-line clinical trial information resources, such as the European Union's planned Europharm facility, may be linked to as and when they become available.

Swedish government proposes R&D tax credits to stimulate innovation, research and development
In the budget bill presented 20 September 2005, the Swedish government proposed SEK 200 million in tax reductions for SMEs to stimulate innovation, research and development. The proposal will take full effect in 2007 and for 2006 a total of SEK 100 million is provided for research and development in SMEs.

The Lundbeck Foundation donates DKK 120 million for the establishment of three new research centres (in Danish)
The donation includes at least 50 PhD grants at three