YOur vision

We are committed to improving the lives of cancer patients by accelerating the development of new cancer diagnostics and medicines. We will be one of the world leading cancer clusters by 2013e!

 

 

YOur strategy
Oslo Cancer Cluster will accelerate the development of new cancer diagnostics and medicines through:

• Local collaboration and international partnership.
• Increasing our member companies’ ability to attract capital
• Creating an efficient clinical trials network to shorten development timelines
• Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park bridging research, biopharma and education, to help develop the Life Science workforce for tomorrow.!

World-class cancer research

The incidence of cancer in Norway and internationally continues to rise, one in third person will experience to get diagnosed with cancer during life. This challenge needs to be met as a matter of urgency.

In Norway the cancer research and its application are in world-class in terms of innovation and quality. Norway’s unique infrastructure, from biobanks to extensive patient registries, accelerates translational research which is crucial to convert ideas from the lab into diagnostics and treatment.

Over 70% of all cancer research in Norway is done in the region of Oslo, and the Norwegian member companies in Oslo Cancer Cluster has a large R&D pipeline with over 50 projects in preclinical and clinical phases.

Oslo Cancer Cluster already has 60 members, including industrial companies, academic research institutions, health initiatives and support groups in the field of biotechnology with the main focus on cancer. The members consist of the Norwegian branches of major pharmaceutical companies, established Norwegian international companies and Norwegian start-up and venture companies. 

Genome Technology named Oslo one of the 20 best places for biotech in the world in June 2008.

All the elements for success

Oslo Cancer Cluster aims to become Europe's leading comprehensive cancer cluster along the lines of the highly successful US model from MD Anderson Cancer Center and Memorial- Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

These factors include world class research at the University of Oslo and the University hospitals, a strong domestic biotech-industry, leading international pharma-investment and collaborations, augmented by specialized clinical trials expertise at The Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) at Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital. This would lead to considerable economic, social and employment benefits, and especially benefit the cancer patients.

Oslo has all the required elements for success: The CCC at the Norwegian Radium hospital including Institute for Cancer Research and the Norwegian Cancer Registry, furthermore the new Cancer Center at Ullevål University Hospital, an epidemiological network, and a strong industrial base of oncology-related companies that is ranging from spinouts to international biotech companies.

Long-term governmental funding

Oslo Cancer Cluster was established in 2006 and awarded Norwegian Centres of Expertise (NCE) status by the Norwegian government in June 2007. By the NCE status the cluster was provided with long-term funding. The NCE program aims to strengthen innovation and internationalization processes in clusters based on collaboration between companies, R&D and educational institutions and public sector.

A dynamic OCC will be characterized in the next 5 years by three distinct dynamics:

1: local dynamism and increased productivity and competitiveness among the member companies

2: global attractiveness by the research performed inside the cluster

3: global market reach for the diagnostics, therapies and products developed inside the cluster

The Oslo Cancer Cluster team

(From left: Communication advisor Elisabeth K. Andersen, CEO Bjarte Reve, International advisor Jutta Heix, Head of Business Development Anders Tuv and Advisor Marthe Brovold Løberg)