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Global Business Update funding for further development of its cancer vaccine TG01 in pancreatic cancer. Also in 2012, BerGenBio completed an $8.8 million Series A financing round to take its lead oncology compound BGB324 into clinical trials and to develop a companion diagnostic. Lead investors included Sarsia Seed, a Norwegian seed capital fund, and Investinor, a government-funded investment company. This funding will allow BerGenBio to make the step from preclinical to clinical development. "We see BerGenBio's success as 'seeding' a long-awaited biotech cluster here in Bergen," says Sveinung Hole, CEO of Sarsia Seed. BIOTEK2021 BIOTEK2021 (Research Programme for Biotechnology for Innovation) is the Research Council of Norway's most recent biotechnology funding initiative. It will run from 2012 through 2021 and follows the completed Functional Genomics in Norway (FUGE) program. The aim of BIOTEK2021 is to help the Norwegian biotech industry to mature and make sure that the knowledge gained from FUGE, which had more of a focus on basic research, isn't lost. The program will have around NOK140 million (approximately $24 million) available each year. "Until now, Norway has spread its funding rather thin, giving small amounts to many groups of researchers. BIOTEK2021 gives larger grants to consortia with a long-term perspective," says Andersen. "It has industrial relevance written in." The Research Council of Norway also provides funding for individual projects, awarding up to 50% of total costs for companies, and 100% for universities and research institutions. These grants, which are worth between one and ten million kroner each year, are for earlystage research projects lasting up to three or four years. THE U.K.-NORWAY COLLABORATION In February 2011, at the BIOPROSP bioprospecting conference in Tromsø, Norway, the United Kingdom's Technology Strategy Board (the U.K.'s innovation agency) and Innovation Norway signed a five-year memorandum of understanding to support collaboration between industry in Norway and the U.K. in industrial biotechnology and biorefining. While this isn't a new source of funding, it is ongoing and will fund a new group of projects every year of the project. The collaboration has funded eight projects so far, four in 2011 and four in 2012, at a total value of just over €2 million. Organizations involved have included seven U.K. companies, eight Norwegian companies, and one U.K. university. Merlin Goldman, lead technologist in high-value manufacturing, Technology Strategy Board, confirmed that he expects to see a similar number of new projects supported for 2013. "The aim of the collaboration is to generate projects and create more high-value chemicals and in the process grow the Norwegian biotech sector, which is still young. Norway has biorefining expertise and access to biomass from the wood, fishing, and agricultural industries, and the U.K. has expertise in industrial biotechnology and specialist areas such as biocatalysis and formulation. Working together, we can drive discoveries toward the marketplace," says Goldman. "The U.K. companies had a free choice as to whether to partner with a U.K. or Norwegian company. We were pleasantly surprised to see how many of them chose a Norwegian one." Two of the first four funded projects are expected to launch products this year. One of these is a collaboration between Borregaard, Unilever, and Croda to develop alternative sources for cellulose as an ingredient in cosmetics. Borregaard is a Norwegian biorefinery company, making environmentally friendly biochemicals, biomaterials, and bioethanol from sustainable biomass, including waste timber. The second is the result of a collaboration between Aquapharm Biodiscovery in Scotland and Aqua Bio Technology in Norway. The Oban-based company was founded based on discovery of bioactives produced by bacteria found in Scottish rock pools; they now have a culture collection sourced from authorized locations around the world. The Technology Strategy Board has created a network of organizations from the U.K. and Norway, which currently includes around 250 members and recently launched its Industrial Biotechnology Directory. This is freely available and features U.K. and Norwegian companies and research technology organizations involved in biorefining and industrial biotechnology. While the sector's future growth will be dependent on continued funding, practical support for the fledgling industry is also important. This needs to include the provision of reasonably priced lab space and services for start-up companies, which allows them to put more of their precious capital into R&D.; Barents Biocentre Lab, created through a collaboration among industry, the University of Tromsø, Norut (Northern Research Institute), and Norinnova, provides access to laboratories and equipment. Bioclusters, such as BioTech North, a growing cluster of approximately 30 companies and organizations based in north Norway, or the national parallel — Industrial Biotech Network Norway — can offer support for small companies, as well as shared infrastructure and networking opportunities. THE FUTURE OF NORWEGIAN BIOTECHNOLOGY Moving forward, the Norwegian biotechnology sector has potential to supplement and even replace the role of some of the traditional income sources in Norway. These include the oil and gas industries or the small molecule-based traditional pharmaceutical industry. To achieve this will require continued investment, as well as making connections globally. "These investments have created a foundation for building a biopharma industry," concludes Asbjørn Lilletun, team leader for life sciences at Norinnova Technology Transfer. "Norway has a lot of platforms and services that can help to bring candidates through to the clinic. It needs to realize all these opportunities and build on its reputation, including putting more investment into commercialization, so that its companies can bring products to market." While biopharma is a vital part, for the Norwegian biotechnology sector to be really significant, Norway will need to exploit its breadth of skills and experience and focus across the whole of the industry. July 2013 LifeScienceLeader.com 39