Download to read offline
More Related Content
Similar to HealthBIO 2021,_The InFlames Flagship_Timo Veromaa
HealthBIO 2021,_The InFlames Flagship_Timo Veromaa
- 1. InFLAMES Research Flagship HealthBIO2021 – Turku, Finland September 15, 2021 Timo Veromaa, M.D., Ph.D., eMBA Professor of Practice, University of Turku
- 2. Outline of thistalk 1. Introduction 2. InFLAMES 3. Open Access Research Infrastructure 5. Turku Success Stories 6. How Can Finland Compete?
- 3. InFLAMES: Innovation ecosystem basedon the immune system Inflames.utu.fi
- 4. inflames.utu.fi InFLAMES in anutshell Consortium of University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University 50 Group Leaders 29 Professors and 21 Senior Researchers Over 300 Researchers Approx. 70 Doctoral Candidates InFLAMES Doctoral Module, Industrial PhDprogramme 10 Visiting Professors 2 Professors of Practice Steering Committee and Scientific and Impact Advisory Board High quality research infrastructure Unique innovation network and ecosystem InFLAMES is Academy of Finland Research Flagship Program
- 5.
- 6. inflames.utu.fi InFLAMES: Breakthrough science,technology development and innovation Discovery and identify Test and develop Utilize Top research in immunology Patenting Disease models New treatments Successful companies Healthy patient • Develops and exploits novel immunological diagnostics and therapies for personalized medicine • Creates the Finland’s strongest cluster of immunological expertise by establishing Turku Immunology Center • Brings immunological expertise to the benefit of the businesses sector • Key objectives: breakthroughs in drug development, diagnostics, and precision immune medicine.
- 7. inflames.utu.fi InFLAMES Excellence in the scienceof immunology Business innovation ecosystem Expertise in patient care
- 8. inflames.utu.fi InFLAMES Areas of expertise •leukocyte differentiation •immuneactivation •leukocyte migration •humanized mouse models Immunological disease modelling •genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics •single cell omics •bioimaging •computational tools for data analyses Deep immunoprofiling •structure-based drug developmet •small molecule drugs •biological drugs Immunodrug development P L A T F O R M S P I L O T S T U D I E S i n c l u d i n g C L I N I C A L T R I A L S •diagnosis in inflammation in PET •novel tools for diagnostic tests •biomarkers for inflammatory diseases •Precision Immune Medicine (Molecular Immunology Board) Immunodiagnostics •new treatments for inflammation and infections •future vaccinations •immuno-oncology •new targets Immunotherapy
- 9. inflames.utu.fi Scientific Goals Breakthrough scientificexcellence in immunology 1) Elucidate mechanisms of white blood cell differentiation and trafficking in cancer and autoimmune diseases 2) Create multiparameter databanks and biobanks of human immunological organs 3) Develop immunoprofiling and systemic approaches to understand pathogenesis of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases 4) Develop new diagnostics and therapeutics to fight inflammatory diseases and cancer
- 10. inflames.utu.fi InFLAMES Research Flagship- Added value S C I E N C E E C O N O M Y W E L L B E I N G • Replicate success • Strebgthen international cometetitiveness • Creating the strongest cluster of immunology in FInland • Increase visibility of immunology Organisaatioiden vahvempi sitouttaminen • Immunology expertise for business • Local innovations put to use • Public-private partnerships optimizing resourcies • Attract invest-in activity • Driver for the domestic new pharma industry and partner to the National Drug Development Center • Improved diagnostics • Personalized medicine • New medicines • Immuno Health for all • Training of the next generation (scientists, industry, population) InFlames: Engine for the regional knowledge center, where top science strengthens internationalization, economic growth and healthcare.
- 11. inflames.utu.fi InFLAMES: PhD student& postdoc education • Tailored training, courses and events • Facilitated by visiting professors and professors of practice • Industry postdoctoral program Find and identify Test and Develop Utilize Excellence in Immunology Patenting Disease models New therapies Succesful SMEs Healthy patient
- 12. inflames.utu.fi Organization Steering Group Industrial partners University of Turkuand Åbo Akademi City of Turku University Central Hospital PI meetings and young investigator’s forum Patient Organizations Scientific and Impact Advisory Board Support services Director Vice Director Vice Director Sirpa Jalkanen Juhani Knuuti Marko Salmi Pilots Laura Airas Impacts Anne Marjamäki Platforms Riitta Lahesmaa Turun Yliopisto Platforms Cecilia Sahlgren Åbo Akademi InFLAMES Executive Leadership Team
- 13. inflames.utu.fi What’s new inInFLAMES? • Professors of Practice (2) • Visiting professors (10, Europe & US) • Joint positions in University and industry (50/50) • Industrial PhD program expanded • Training and education in industry mindset
- 14. inflames.utu.fi Impact objectives -InFLAMES 1. create an attractive recruitment and training platform for top-international scientists at all career stages, to set up a new model for public-private partnerships in education an industrial postdoc program 2. steadily increase the number of invention disclosures and other business ideas, licensing agreements and the number of start-up companies emanating from the Flagship research, 3. expand the volume of company agreements by 30 %, 4. introduce > 15 new targets to pre-clinical, 6 to diagnostic trials and 4 to phase I clinical trials, 5. carry out 15 clinical trials (includes drugs from big pharma), 6. get market approvals for 3 Flagship-based novel diagnostic tests and 2 immunodrugs, and 7. introduce a new Precision Immune Medicine concept to the Finnish healthcare system
- 15. inflames.utu.fi InFLAMES - MeasuringImpact • We want more of these! • Contact UTU Innovation Services, Anne Marjamäki Invention disclosure Innovation proposal Business proposal, business idea
- 16. inflames.utu.fi High-quality Open AccessResearch Infrastructure
- 17. inflames.utu.fi High-quality Open Access Research Infrastructure High-qualityOpen Access Research Infrastructure is behind the InFLAMES success. Ultramodern and open access research infrastructure in Turku Campus is unique and mutually benefits the academy-industry collaborations Central Animal Laboratory provides services to biomedical research by supplying and producing laboratory animals. Turku Bioscience Centre an advanced core facility and research centre to facilitate research infrastructure services and scientific interactions Turku Bioimaging provide open access services ranging from molecular and cellular imaging and high content analysis to whole animal and human imaging. offers services to both academic and commercially-oriented research projects Turku PET Centre Combines molecular imaging and clinical research and is one of the largest and best equipped PET facilities worldwide Turku Centre for Disease Modeling applies and provides state-of-art research facilities and expertise in studies using experimental animals produces custom-based gene-engineered animals The Western Cancer Center Clinical research unit with extensive experience from Phase 1 through Phase 3 studies Clinical Research Centre (CRC) offers support and services for investigator- initiated clinical studies. Centre for Population Health Research coordinates several exceptional long-standing and internationally recognized population cohorts linked to national health registries and biobanks
- 18. • BioCity Turku –Umbrella organization for life science and molecular medicine related research at Univ of Turku and Åbo Akademi University • Turku Bioscience – Joint department of University of Turku and Åbo Akademi, providing high-end technologies, equipment and expertise for academic and industrial research irst-in-human facilities for clinical trials • TERTTU testbeds services – Enables co-creation of new solutions with health care professionals Examples of Research Infrastructure in Health Campus Turku… 22.9.2021 18 Auria Biobank and Auria Clinical Informatics – First clinical biobank in Finland, targeting on personalized medicine. Auria Clinical Informatics provides both research as a service (RaaS) and secure data analysis platform (DAP) service for data-driven real-world analysis studies National PET Centre – Highly advanced bioimaging for research and diagnostic purposes Euro-BioImaging ERIC – Headquarters and a Node of this European landmark research infrastructure for biological and biomedical imaging
- 19. inflames.utu.fi Turku Bioscience CoreFacilities
- 20. inflames.utu.fi High-quality Open Access ResearchInfrastructure Turku Bioscience Centre • an advanced core facility and research centre to facilitate research infrastructure services and scientific interactions • offers services to both academic and commercially-oriented research projects Functional Genomics Cell Imaging and Flow Cytometry Bioinformatics Single Cell Omics Proteomics
- 21. inflames.utu.fi High-quality Open AccessImaging Research Infrastructure The headquarters of Euro-BioImaging and leads Euro-BioImaging Finland provide open access services ranging from molecular and cellular imaging and high content analysis to whole animal and human imaging. Combines molecular imaging and clinical research one of the largest and best equipped PET facilities worldwide with 4 cyclotrons, 26 tracer synthesis hot cells, 8 scanners and nearly 100 different imaging tracers. employs more than 200 staff and investigators. T u r k u P E T C e n t r e T u r k u B i o i m a g i n g
- 22. inflames.utu.fi 22 Auria Biobank • Hospitalintegrated biobank • Owned by the University of Turku and Hospital districts of Southwest Finland, Satakunta and Vaasa • Authorized to operate in March 2014 • >200 biobank studies with academic investigators and pharma and diagnostic industry Oncology 64% Auria’s biobank projects (n>200) by disease group in 2014-2020
- 23. inflames.utu.fi 23 Auria biobank’s Offering •Human biological samples with related real-life clinical data (EHRs) for various biomedical research purposes ü Archive of >1,5 M FFPE samples ü Collection of fresh/frozen tissue samples ü Tissue microarrays (TMAs) and digipathology ü Whole blood, plasma, serum, likvor, DNA • Genotype data • Algorithm development for text mining • Deep learning and AI • Evidence-based feasibility studies for clinical trials • Recruitment for clinical trials
- 24. inflames.utu.fi 24 Deep clinical real-worlddata Auria Biobank’s sample and data register Hospital Electronic Health Records Clinical data in data lake Real-world data: Clinical patient data that is generated in healthcare outside clinical trials National registers Biobank studies • In electronic format ~2004 onwards • Longitudinal information • Diagnoses, treatments, outcomes, etc. • Possible to combine hospital EHRs with biobank specimens • Data depends on the healthcare processes that created the data: needs knowledge of local clinicians and other domain experts • Many concepts are only expressed in patient texts: need domain experts and text mining • What kind of operations are done? How they are done? What was the outcome?
- 25. inflames.utu.fi 25 Finnish Public Biobanks Healthand Social Data Permit Authority Finnish Biobanks FINBB – a public biobank cooperative Arctic Biobank
- 26. Fingenious® Slide courtesy ofMarco Hautalahti
- 27. Evolving Fingenious® Ecosystem FOUNDING UNIVERSITIES FOUNDING HOSPITALS FINNISH HOSPITAL DISTRICTSBIOBANKS STRATEGIC COLLABORATION + Patient, data and sample finding + Study set-up and single point of contact + Data and sample delivery and analytics Researchers Finnish SMEs Slide courtesy of Marco Hautalahti
- 28. inflames.utu.fi High-quality Open AccessResearch Infrastructure: FICANWest - The Western Cancer Center • FICANWest: clinical research unit with extensive experience from Phase 1 through Phase 3 studies. • Permanent staff includes six specifically trained and dedicated study nurses, One full-time investigator and ten PIs/ subinvestigators. • The center initiates 15-20 new clinical trials on a yearly basis, covering all cancer types. Both sponsored and academic trials are included; from first-in-man to phase 3 studies, drug trials from basket and umbrella trials to radiation and quality of life trials. • Altogether 90 open drug trials and 40 actively recruiting trials ongoing. • The Center is very active and currently receiving significant interest from sponsors. • Ethical approval takes about 4 weeks and the center can provide a centralized feasibility process.
- 29.
- 30.
- 31.
- 32. 22.9.2021 32 HealthTurku – companiesand industry 21 out of the total 22 marketed drugs originating from Finland have been developed by companies operating in Turku About half of Finland’s pharma and diagnostic industry is located in Turku. 100+ Life Science companies in the region ca. 75% of Finnish pharmaceutical exports and 50% of in vitro diagnostics export come from Turku region life sciences employ 20% of the industrial workforce in Southwest Finland Data courtesy of Turku Business region
- 33. Turku life-science solutionshave global-wide outreach and have an impact on our everyday lives. Top expertise in health and well-being 22.9.2021 33 MIRENA® (Bayer), Finland's largest pharmaceutical export product, was developed and is produced in Turku. In 2019, Mirena sales amounted to 1 223 M €. (+100 employees in and 35M€ investment program in 2020) Orion is a globally operating Finnish pharmaceutical company. Orion has concentrated its early drug discovery functions and its biological & translational research in Turku. (17M€ investment program in 2020) Data courtesy of Turku Business region
- 34. World-Class Diagnostics 34 Turku regiondiagnostics companies are global market leaders e.g. in screening of newborns and pregnant women, cardiac markers chemicals and blood gas testing. At PerkinElmer, a pioneer in neonatal screening, a team of 600+ people develops and produces products that enable screening of 40 million newborns annually in over 100 countries. In total, around 500 million babies have been screened so far. ( 150+ new employees in 2020) HyTest is a globally recognized leader in producing antibodies and antigens for the diagnostic industry. For over 20 years, HyTest has been at the forefront of the development of reagents for cardiovascular diseases diagnostics. Radiometer pioneered blood gas testing in 1954. The Turku site focuses on POC diagnostics: rapid growth in turnover (50M€) and employment (220+). Data courtesy of Turku Business region
- 35. • ArcDia Ltd:the mariPOC® platform, rapid POC, CE-registered • Abacus Diagnostica Ltd: GenomEra, PCR, rapid POC, CE-registered • Perkin Elmer Wallac: COVID-19 lab test, upscaling production, CE-registered • HyTest: a series of COVID-19 antibodies and antigens developed, CE-registered • Aqsense Health Ltd: new non-invasive technology Turku Life Science Companies on the Frontline of the Fight against COVID-19 22.9.2021 35 Data courtesy of Turku Business region
- 36. Turku Life ScienceCompanies on the Frontline of the Fight against COVID-19 22.9.2021 36 Biovian Ltd: company has signed an agreement with a European drug development company for the initial production of the COVID-19 vaccine preform. Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd: developing a drug for treating COVID-19. Approved for fast track. Participating in 2 WHO projects. VetroSpace Ltd: Modules with antimicrobial surfaces, which filter out up to 99,95 % of particles from the incoming air, corona virus included. Data courtesy of Turku Business region
- 37. …but the FinnishDrug Development Center* is sorely missed. *A.k.a. Lääkekehityskeskus
- 38.
- 39. Everybody else is doing it. Let’sget the job done!
- 40.
- 41. inflames.utu.fi What specifically wehave in Finland that’s not easily available elsewhere? • Stable society, clean nature, excellent schools, happiest nation! • Science minded citizens, eager participation in clinical trials, support for Red Biotech • Everybody speaks English • Electronic health records, biobanks, highly digital society compared to many others • Legislation exists to enable developing the digital healthcare • Social distancing (!), remote working or schooling really not a big deal in Finland in comparison to almost anywhere else
- 42. inflames.utu.fi So what amI supposed to be doing? • Strengthen the academia-industry relationship • Help in recognizing commercial potential of science • Offer hands-on practical advice in commercialization • Provide been-there-done-that know how • Mentoring and individual career planning • Contribute to business training and education on all levels
- 43.
- 44.