Jutta Heix: Advancing the oncology innovation ecosystem

Oslo Cancer Cluster (OCC), founded in 2006, has developed over the years into a strong life science cluster, producing world-class research in cancer immunotherapy, a broad pipeline of preclinical and clinical stage assets, exciting new innovations, entrepreneurs, collaborations, and partnerships. The national non-profit organization has close to 100 members, ranging from first-rate academic laboratories and clinical centers to startups, small and medium enterprises and global pharmaceutical companies. The cluster is located next door to, and collaborates with, the Oslo University Hospital and its Institute for Cancer Research, as well as the Norwegian Cancer Registry. It also has a long-term school-industry collaboration with Ullern Upper Secondary School.

The oncology cluster has also made a name for itself on the global arena and strengthened its position as an international knowledge and innovation hub within the field of cancer. A lot of credit for this should be given to the cluster’s Head of International Affairs, Jutta Heix. She is responsible for the establishment, facilitation and coordination of internationalization and innovation initiatives engaging Norwegian and international partners from academia and industry.

“I truly enjoy connecting people, expertise and ideas to advance oncology innovation in Norway and beyond, and thereby help individuals and organizations on their path forward.”

“The best part of my job is having the opportunity to create, conceptualize, and implement various initiatives and projects and see them develop and make an impact. I truly enjoy connecting people, expertise and ideas to advance oncology innovation in Norway and beyond, and thereby help individuals and organizations on their path forward,” she says.

 

 

A deep interest in molecular biology led Jutta to study biology, first in Bonn and then at the University of Heidelberg for her Diploma and PhD thesis at the German Cancer Research Center.

“During my time there I entered a very enriching collaboration with the University of California in Berkeley, where I did part of my PhD work, and where I also had my first contacts with the biotech industry,” she says.

Her first role in the industry was in strategic business development at Roche Diagnostics. Then she joined an exciting joint-venture between BASF and Lynx Therapeutics, exploiting the potential of the massive parallel signature sequencing technology invented by Nobel Laureate Sidney Brenner for drug discovery and development, she says.

“I also worked as consultant for different pharma and biotech clients for a few years before I moved to Norway and joined the newly created Oslo Cancer Cluster team in 2008, at first in a consulting role. My role and my tasks are very varied and they have evolved a lot since I started.”

Managing a broad project portfolio

Jutta Heix develops and leverages the international network of OCC and its members, both when it comes to business development (scouting and innovation days for pharma companies and investors, dedicated events, partnering conferences and supporting individual member companies), and scientific and translational research (where the annual Cancer Crosslinks is one of OCC’s flagship events).

She is also actively working with the Norwegian SPARK Academic Innovation Program led by Morten Egeberg, UiO:Lifescience, University of Oslo. Through the program, mentoring, involvement of industry experts, milestone-based funding and education to further develop ideas are provided.

 

 

“It is impressive to see how the SPARKees grow during the two-year project period. The program identifies promising academic innovation projects, accelerates and professionalizes the project development aiming to turn good ideas into great products benefitting patients and society. SPARK Norway has also inspired the University of Oslo to launch their new Life Science Growth House and changed the university’s approach towards entrepreneurship, innovation and collaboration with external partners,” says Jutta.

Since last year she has also been the project lead for the public-private Norwegian Precision Cancer Medicine Implementation Consortium (CONNECT), one of four national interconnected initiatives in precision cancer medicine (PCMs).

“CONNECT addresses this by providing an arena for all stakeholders – university hospitals, regulators and payors, industry partners and patients via the Norwegian Cancer Society for a balanced and informed approach and debate.”

“Implementing precision treatment for cancer patients in a public healthcare system is a great opportunity to increase patient care and to use limited resources more effectively. However, this is an extremely complex endeavor and requires a coalition of resources, expertise and partnering that are beyond the capacity and resources of any single organization. CONNECT addresses this by providing an arena for all stakeholders – university hospitals, regulators and payors, industry partners and patients via the Norwegian Cancer Society for a balanced and informed approach and debate,” explains Jutta.

 

 

Besides the above-mentioned projects, Jutta informs that she is involved in novel collaborations with the other health clusters in Norway, including the USA Next Initiative with Norway Health Tech Cluster, the Life Science Cluster and the Norwegian Smart Care Cluster.

She has many balls to juggle, managing such a broad project portfolio, and she says that the challenge is to balance the needs of the various stakeholders and OCC members involved.

“Cluster work is “pushing and pulling” which can at times be quite demanding. Then again, however, it is very rewarding to see initiatives and companies succeed.”

“My facilitator role requires the integration of various perceptions, perspectives and interests, while at the same time the project lead work is goal oriented and aimed at delivering results together with different partners. Cluster work is “pushing and pulling” which can at times be quite demanding. Then again, however, it is very rewarding to see initiatives and companies succeed,” she says.

Growing a company

As a concrete example that illustrates how OCC helps companies grow, Jutta mentions OncoImmunity. The company was introduced to their first investors, RadForsk and the Norwegian Cancer Society, in 2015. Around the same time the founders, Richard Stratford (CEO) and Trevor Clancy (CSO) moved into the OCC Incubator, where the company was able to advance their technology and grow their team with an impressive pace, benefitting from being part of the incubator milieu and entering collaborations with partners on-site.

After becoming a subsidiary of NEC the company remained in the incubator and operated under the name NEC OncoImmunity. The company’s first collaboration with MSD was facilitated by introductions to potential industry partners, and Jutta and her colleagues also provided advice and support during their successful EU SME Instrument Grant (phase I and II).

 

 

“OncoImmunity was one of the companies joining the Nordic I-O Mission to the US east coast in 2018, where they met several pharma companies and leading academic centers,” says Jutta. “They were introduced to the Cambridge Innovation Center, which they continued to work with afterwards for advancing discussions with international partners.”

Since their inception, the OncoImmunity team actively used opportunities for exposure via conference presentations and panels provided by the cluster. For example, at the upcoming NLSDays 2022 in September the company will participate in the Super Session “Vaccine Crosslinks: From Cancer to COVID”.

 

 

“NEC OncoImmunity recently acquired VAXIMM’s Neoantigen Vaccine Development Assets and expects to initiate the first clinical study delivering personalized neoantigens during 2022. Here the significant vaccine development expertise within the Norwegian Ecosystem will be very valuable for having a head-start with this new endeavor,” says Jutta.

“Her best advice to an up-and-coming Norwegian or Nordic life science company looking to raise capital and grow is to think global from day one.”

Her best advice to an up-and-coming Norwegian or Nordic life science company looking to raise capital and grow is to think global from day one. Her advice is also to join incubators, accelerators and clusters offering hands-on support to address crucial aspects, such as IPR and the in-depth assessment of the competitive landscape and commercial potential, infrastructure and a network to tap into.

“Also, approach national, Nordic and international industry experts, academic key opinion leaders, experienced biotech executives and investors early on. You will be surprised how many are open to discuss your technology and development plans and to share valuable advice,” she says.

 

 

Showcasing Norwegian success

To think globally has also been Jutta and OCC’s strategy to enhance the visibility of oncology innovations made in Norway. She and her colleagues started early on to expose and promote Norwegian oncology innovators at international partnering conferences.

”Initiatives like the Nordic I-O Mission, and organizing Innovation Days for global pharma companies and investors in Oslo, are helping to create visibility, for both individual companies but also for the entire innovation milieu.”

“We also initiated our own signature events, such as the International Cancer Cluster Showcase in collaboration with European and North American partners at Bio International Convention,” she says. ”Initiatives like the Nordic I-O Mission, and organizing Innovation Days for global pharma companies and investors in Oslo, are helping to create visibility, for both individual companies but also for the entire innovation milieu.”

The Oslo Cancer Cluster aims to be an active interface for both international partners, searching expertise, technologies and assets, and for its members in need of partners and complementary skills for bringing their products to the global market.

“Our members’ success is key and we use our various initiatives and communication channels to promote their achievements and enhance their visibility. A growing number of successful companies also serve as great ambassadors. One such example is Vaccibody [today Nykode], who presented at our very first international Cancer Cluster Showcase in Boston ten years ago. After an amazing journey, they now attract a lot of visibility to the Norwegian milieu,” describes Jutta.

There is a growing pipeline of innovation projects and startups in Norway’s life science industry, and Jutta also points to the political will and support for building the healthcare industry in Norway. “We have a dynamic ecosystem, with increasing collaboration among health clusters that supports convergence among biopharma, medtech and digital solutions. Health data in national registries, a public healthcare system and a highly digitized population also provides unique opportunities for precision medicine and digital health innovation.”

“Challenges include access to talent, experienced (international) management, smart international capital and R&D investment to further professionalize the startups and biotechs, and thereby the industry as a whole.”

Challenges include access to talent, experienced (international) management, smart international capital and R&D investment to further professionalize the startups and biotechs, and thereby the industry as a whole, believes Jutta.

I also asked her about what the key challenges in developing new cancer treatments are today and how OCC’s members are addressing them. “The shift from blockbusters to precision medicine affects both, R&D and implementation. When it comes to implementation, the national PCM initiatives are addressing these challenges in Norway and via international collaboration. Within research, our members are developing new cell therapy concepts and candidates, individualized vaccination approaches, novel diagnostics and biomarkers, as well as data and AI based approaches,” says Jutta.

Oncology is still an area with high unmet need, and large R&D investments globally have spurred tremendous progress over the past decade. However, there are also an unprecedented number of novel treatments in the global pipeline, so OCC’s members are in a highly competitive space.

“Expertise, infrastructure, and support offered by our incubator help to professionalize the company development early on. Collaboration and exchange among cluster members, the national and international network developed over many years, increasingly international management teams, and local investors with a successful track record of company creation, such as Radforsk, are also important ingredients for success,” summarizes Jutta.

 

 

Complementary strengths

To strengthen the Nordic region as a whole, Jutta believes it is important to further strengthen existing initiatives and collaborations, acknowledge the different and often complementary strengths, and to be open to share and learn from best-practice and the increasing number of success stories that each country has.

“It is important to leverage our joint innovation pipeline and critical mass on a global level to increase visibility and to attract international partners and investment.”

“It is important to leverage our joint innovation pipeline and critical mass on a global level to increase visibility and to attract international partners and investment,” she continues. “For example, we are involved in partnerships for NLSDays and we are participating in a consortium for the Nordic Pavilion at Bio International Convention.”

She also states that it is important to exploit European funding opportunities, including the European Cancer Mission, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and Horizon Europe, to create novel Nordic and International Consortia. “Areas of common interest are e.g. precision medicine innovation and implementation, cell therapy, immunotherapy, health data, real world evidence and AI,” she says.

 

Jutta’s Hot topics in Cancer R&D

Cancer immunotherapy, including vaccine-based approaches. Examples: Nykode, NEC Oncoimmunity, Ultimovacs, Lytix Biopharma, Targovax, Hubro Therapeutics, Gunnveig Grødeland with colleagues at University of Oslo.

Cell therapy. Several leading researchers with a growing pipeline of academic innovation projects. Examples: Kalle Malmberg, Johanna Olweus, Sebastian Wälchli, Else Marit Inderberg and Jon Amund Kyte at Oslo University Hospital, Zelluna Immunotherapy.

Radiopharmaceuticals. Examples: Bayer’s R&D in Norway, Nordic Nanovector, Oncoinvent, Blue Wave Therapeutics.

Precision Medicine, including novel diagnostics and digital solutions. Examples: BerGenBio, DoMore Diagnostics, Oncosyne, Nordic RWE, a SPARK Norway project advancing a novel Biomarker for Antibody Drug Conjugates, IMPRESS Norway.

Precision Cancer Medicine (PCM) initiatives in Norway

InPreD: Infrastructure for Precision Diagnostics is a national infrastructure for advanced molecular diagnostics that will secure a robust, interactive structure facilitating clinical cancer trials on a national level by providing equal access for patients to advance diagnostics, state-of-the art competence and technology.

IMPRESS: Improving public cancer care by implementing precision medicine in Norway is a prospective, non-randomized clinical trial evaluating efficacy of commercially available, anti-cancer drugs prescribed for patients with advanced cancer diagnoses with potentially actionable alterations, as revealed by standardized molecular diagnostics. IMPRESS-Norway is a nationwide study and all hospitals with an oncology and/or hematology department will be invited to participate in the study.

INSIGHT: Regulatory framework for implementation of precision medicine into the Norwegian healthcare system that will develop an analytical framework for using synthetic control data for evaluating effects of small-scale one-armed clinical trials, as in IMPRESS-Norway. INSIGHT will use the developed control arms and data from IMPRESS-Norway and InPreD to evaluate cost-effectiveness of the PCM-model and suggest a new reimbursement scheme that reflects the uncertainty in PCM.

CONNECT: A public-private consortium driving the implementation of precision cancer medicine by jointly addressing key obstacles and piloting novel solutions to transform the current practice. CONNECT gathers all Norwegian university hospitals, pharmaceutical and technology companies, the Norwegian Cancer Society as a patient organization, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Norwegian Directorate of Health, and the Norwegian Medicines Agency.