Photo: Inven2 / Moment Studio.

Inven2 is 10 years in 2020. ‘I’m proud of what we have achieved over these ten years. I’m particularly proud of the fact that we have contributed to ploughing NOK 500 million back into new research, innovation and to inventors,’ says Ole Kristian Hjelstuen, CEO of Inven2.

Inven2 was established in 2010 through the merger of Medinnova, Rikshospitalet Hospital’s technology transfer office, Birkeland Innovasjon and the technology transfer office at the University of Oslo.

In connection with the merger, it was decided that Oslo University Hospital would own half of Inven2 on behalf of the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, and that Inven2 would serve all the health trusts that fall under the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority.

In practice, this means that when a member of staff at the University of Oslo or one of the nine health trusts that fall under the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority has an idea for a product or service, they should contact Inven2.

Over the past ten years, Inven2 has contributed to the following:

• 55 start-ups
• 2,072 new innovations (DOFIs)
• 260 new patent applications
• 388 license agreements
• NOK 582 million ploughed back into research, innovation and to inventors
• 1,500 clinical agreements

The owners cannot take out dividend from Inven2. This means that all income must be ploughed back into new research and innovation.

‘I’m proud that we, together with the researchers and the ecosystem, have contributed to ploughing more than half a billion kroner back into new research and innovation,’ says Ole Kristian Hjelstuen, CEO of Inven2.

In addition, the companies that have been established have seen a huge increase in their value.

‘So far, we have participated in establishing 55 companies, and the value creation of our portfolio has increased from half a billion kroner in 2010 to NOK 15 billion this year. More importantly, these companies have created jobs and societally beneficial products and services in the global market,’ says Hjelstuen.

CANCER VACCINE, TRANSPORT ISOLATOR AND MUCH MORE

Inven2’s work during these past ten years in cooperation with many others has helped to bring many products and services to market, while others are still under development.

It is difficult to select examples of innovations that Inven2 has played a part in, but the following examples give an impression of the range:

• Ultimovacs is developing a universal cancer vaccine. It was established in 2010 based on cancer research conducted at the Norwegian Radium Hospital. The company is now listed on the stock market, and has sound owners such as Bjørn Rune Gjelsten and Stein Erik Hagen. They are currently conducting clinical trials all over the world to test their cancer vaccine UV-1 in combination with other cancer drugs for treating a number of types of cancer. They are planning to apply for market approval in a few years.
• The transport isolator EpiShuttle developed by the company EpiGuard has experienced an international breakthrough during the Covid 19 pandemic. During the past six months, it has been purchased by a number of countries in Europe, and the company has also landed a distribution agreement for the USA and Canada. It was Doctor Fridtjof Heyerdahl who got the idea for a transport isolator while working with people infected with Ebola in Congo in 2014. He saw how difficult it was to protect health workers from infection when moving seriously ill patients.
• The licence agreement between Merck and clinicians at Sørlandet Hospital for the use of cancer drugs to treat serious nerve pain. The agreement is worth billions and is one of the most valuable licence agreements ever granted in Norway.
• MeshCrafts is one of the companies that was started through the Inven2 Start competition. It has developed a system for power management and has done well in the Norwegian market. It is now looking to expand internationally.

‘We could have mentioned so many other examples, but I believe these examples highlight the breadth of what we do,’ says Hjelstuen.

Åse Aulie Michelet, Chair of the Board of Inven2, is impressed by the results.

‘I’m very proud of what we have achieved at Inven2. It is the expertise and drive shown by our staff that contributes to the good results over time. Few people realise that the market value of the start-up companies that Inven2 has helped to establish, and still partly owns, is more than NOK 15 billion,’ says Michelet.

PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATION

Thirty-two people from wide-ranging interdisciplinary backgrounds currently work for Inven2. Hjelstuen believes that the organisation has developed and become more professional during the past 10 years.

Inven2’s mandate has from the start been to administer the commercialisation of inventions and to administer clinical studies.

‘I believe the results indicate that we are doing a lot right in the phase where we select the ideas we want to move forward with and in how we contribute to developing them. In relation to the mandate, we have managed to figure out how to license innovations,’ says Hjelstuen.

Hjelstuen points out that Inven2 has grown in tandem with the ecosystem, which has also matured and become more professional in recent years.

‘Not long ago, entrepreneurship was not the buzzword it is today, and nor did we not have as many investors, incubators or clusters to cooperate with ten years ago. The researchers’ ability and willingness to innovate has also taken a giant leap. They see the value of helping to ensure that patients the world over can enjoy better lives as a result of their ideas for products or services,’ says Hjelstuen.

Inven2 is responsible for managing the contractual and financial aspects of clinical trials and industrial collaborations that are funded in whole or in part by industry.

‘Since 2010, we have initiated 1,500 new clinical studies, of which 400 are currently ongoing. Through this work, we have helped Norwegian patients to gain access to a new treatment several years before a treatment is universally available,’ says Hjelstuen.

Inven2 is responsible for the clinical trials of all the nine health trusts in the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority and at the University Hospital of Northern Norway.

CONGRATULATIONS FROM STØLEN AND BJØRNBETH

Oslo University Hospital and the University of Oslo, which together own Inven2, congratulate Inven2 on their anniversary and are looking forward to the realisation of new exciting projects.

‘We congratulate Inven2 on its anniversary. The University of Oslo believes it is important that research should lead to start-ups, jobs and value creation. Inven2 plays a key role in the ecosystem required to achieve precisely this. We are impressed by the facts and figures for the first ten years, and we have great expectations of the next ten years. Together, we are building a strong and efficient innovation culture,’ says Svein Stølen, Rector of the University of Oslo.

Bjørn Atle Bjørnbeth, CEO of Oslo University Hospital, highlights the strategically important role Inven2 plays in terms of innovation and clinical trials.

‘We congratulate Inven2 on its 10th anniversary. The establishment of Inven2 has proven to be a very important and successful part of the strategic cooperation between Oslo University Hospital and the University of Oslo, and it has contributed to increasing the quality and scope of innovation activities. A big part of the research-driven innovation activity at Oslo University Hospital takes place at the interface between the University of Oslo, but Inven2 also acts as a technology transfer office (TTO) for all the other hospitals in the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority. We would also like to give credit to Inven2 for the important role it plays in connection with agreements on clinical trials and cooperation with industry partners,’ says Bjørnbeth.

PAST AND FUTURE

Hjelstuen is looking forward to the next ten years, and believes that we will also see many positive developments going forward.

‘In many ways, we are just getting started. Half of the added value we have contributed to creating since 2010 is based on the history of Medinnova and Birkeland Innovasjon. Given that the development of research-based innovation requires time and capital, we will see even greater value creation during the next ten years,’ says Hjelstuen.

He believes that more new companies will be established, and that it is small companies that value creation will take place going forward.

‘It will be exciting to follow developments as digital technology really starts converging with other technology and knowledge. I believe we are still unable to fathom the full potential of this,’ says Hjelstuen.

He is also very positive about the idea of the universities and university hospitals playing a leading role in order to contribute to more innovation.

‘The new life science building that will be completed in a few years could become a locomotive for new thinking and cooperation between business and industry, hospitals and the universities. Inven2 will do its part to ensure that the ideas that arise at the intersection between these parties reach the market and those that need them,’ says Hjelstuen.

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Photo: Jannicke Kristoffersen, Inven2

Inven2 is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. On the occasion of the anniversary, we have interviewed successful researchers and clinicians who have all worked on groundbreaking innovations with significant benefits for society.

You can read more about Researcher Fridtjof Heyerdahl in this interview. His idea for and development of an adult incubator that transports patients infected with severe infectious diseases has turned out to be extremely important during the coronavirus pandemic.

Name:
Fridtjof Heyerdahl

Title:
CMO of EpiGuard and also consultant and senior researcher at the Air Ambulance Service at Oslo University Hospital.

What area of research are you in?
Clinical toxicology, i.e. the prevention and treatment of poisoning in humans.

What is your most significant innovation?

My most significant innovation is EpiShuttle. This is a single-patient isolation and transport system for people infected with severe infectious diseases, which protects healthcare professionals at the same time. I came up with the idea while working on acquiring equipment for transporting infectious patients during the Ebola epidemic in 2014. Development started in 2014, but it takes time. When the next outbreak of Ebola occurred in the Congo in 2018, Epishuttle was on the market and could transport seriously ill patients who were highly infectious.
There was a lot of interest in the product then, and we positioned ourselves accordingly and had frequent contact with healthcare services involved in transporting infectious patients throughout the world. Many healthcare services wanted to purchase the EpiShuttle at that time but did not have the means to do so. When the coronavirus pandemic was confirmed in March of this year, sales rocketed due to increased demand and the increased budgets of customers with whom we had built up a network over the years.

What has cooperation with Inven2 meant for you?

Inven2 is the established route for employee inventions at Oslo University Hospital, and it is the one that I and other employees take when establishing a company and developing a product.

Inven2 played a significant role in the project during the start-up phase, but they are less involved now that the company, EpiGuard, which has developed and sells Epishuttle, has expanded.

Inven2 was a very active participant in the board when Epiguard was created, and their contribution was very important. Inven2 also helped us to apply for soft funding, and brought us through the process of dealing with the public funding agencies until we had sufficient private capital to become self-reliant.

Our association with Oslo University Hospital has been important for the company, and the fact that Oslo University Hospital is a part owner through Inven2 helps to strengthen the company’s position. For me personally, it is important that I can work as a clinician at the hospital and also be involved in EpiGuard. Balancing these two roles is demanding but the Inven2 model works.

What would you like to say to Inven2 on the occasion of its tenth anniversary?

I would like to offer them my warmest congratulations on their tenth anniversary, and thank them for such great teamwork. You have always wanted the best for me and the project. I hope that you show the same enthusiasm that I have experienced to other researchers and clinicians.

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Photo: Elisabeth Kirkeng Andersen

Inven2 is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. On the occasion of the anniversary, we have interviewed five successful researchers and clinicians who have all worked on groundbreaking innovations with significant benefits for society.

You can read more about Clinician Heidi Glosli at Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital in this interview. She has been a key figure in developing expertise and conducting paediatric clinical trials in order to facilitate early access to treatment. 

Name:
Heidi Glosli

Title: 
Chief physician

What is your specialist clinical area? 
Paediatric oncology and haematology

What has been your most significant contribution in clinical research and development?
I’ve been fortunate over the last seven years in being allowed to develop a clinical research unit for children and adolescents. The clinical research unit is used for conducting clinical trials and has a robust infrastructure with competent employees from different professional backgrounds. What unites us is that we all love working with children and adolescents. Our aim is that the treatment that children and adolescents get is as good as what adults get, and, not least, that it is approved.

What has cooperation with Inven2 meant for you?
The cooperation with Inven2 has been essential in establishing the Clinical Research Unit at the Division of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine. They ensure professional interaction between the hospital and the industry and are always happy to be of service.

What would you like to say to Inven2 on the occasion of its tenth anniversary? 
Many congratulations! I look forward to ongoing constructive cooperation in the years to come.

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Inven2 is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. On the occasion of the anniversary, we have interviewed five successful researchers and clinicians who have all worked on groundbreaking innovations with significant benefits for society.

You can read more about Clinician Fredrik Schjesvold in this interview. Over a period of just a few years, he has developed the Oslo Myeloma Centre into the largest clinical research and treatment centre for myeloma, i.e. bone marrow cancer, in the Nordic countries.

Name:

Fredrik Schjesvold

Title:

Director of the Oslo Myeloma Centre

What is your specialist clinical area?

Myeloma and amyloidosis

What has been your most significant contribution in clinical research and development?

My most significant contribution has been achieving a big increase in the number of clinical trials and also a big increase in the recruitment of patients for the trials we’re carrying out. We’ve attracted a lot of interesting clinical trials to Oslo and Norway on cellular therapy, immunotherapy and treatment for groups for whom there were no other options.

We’ve also started several self-initiated trials, both Norwegian and international, and have managed to secure funding from the public sector and the pharmaceutical industry. We’ve succeeded in making Oslo a highly visible and recognised centre in the myeloma field. Our research has also resulted in better infrastructure for research into our disease group at Oslo University Hospital, e.g. the introduction of a biobank, PET-CT and advanced flow cytometry for myeloma.

What has cooperation with Inven2 meant for you?

Inven2 has been and continues to be a great help in the initiation of commissioned clinical trials from the industry. I particularly appreciate their systematic overview of income and expenses and their focus on making processes as efficient as possible. Inven2 is also good at highlighting bottlenecks in the system that the hospital can then work on improving.

What would you like to say to Inven2 on the occasion of its tenth anniversary?

Thank you very much. I’ve enjoyed working with you. I look forward to our continued cooperation on increasing the number of clinical trials at Oslo University Hospital.

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Inven2 is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. On the occasion of the anniversary, we have interviewed some successful researchers and clinicians who have all worked on groundbreaking innovations with significant benefits for society.

You can read more about Professor Emeritus Christian Hall in this interview. His research findings are used every day in detecting potential heart failure in patients throughout the world, and represents the most valuable licence agreement of all time for Inven2. 

Name:
Christian Hall

Title:
Professor Emeritus

What area of research have you worked in?
My research area has been in cardiovascular disease, particularly hormonal regulatory mechanisms in heart failure. Currently, I’m also working on the out-of-hospital treatment of acute stroke.

What is your most significant innovation?
The heart produces hormones that regulate blood vessels and renal excretion of salt. The most important stimulus for the release of cardiac hormones is stretching of cardiac muscle, which is a common denominator for different types of heart failure. We worked on and patented the idea of measuring the prohormone, Nt-proBNP, in a blood test as a marker for the diagnosis and prognosis of heart failure.

Nt-proBNP is the global standard nowadays for detecting and grading heart failure. It was my concept, but I wouldn’t have managed to develop it as a product without input from many of the outstanding members of the cardiovascular endocrinology research group at Rikshospitalet.

What has cooperation with Inven2 meant for you?
Medinnova—which later became Inven2—has been very important in many ways: They have provided stimulation and encouragement and sought to have our work commercialised in a professional manner. Our commercial partner, Roche, had a major presence in the global market, and this was essential for the international acceptance and use of Nt-proBNP. The agreement with Roche also provided license revenues that, among other things, have contributed to significant financing of subsequent research at the Institute for Surgical Research and the Research Institute for Internal Medicine.

What would you like to say to Inven2 on the occasion of its tenth anniversary?

I would like to say a sincere thank you for our excellent cooperation, and I wish the company the very best for the future. I hope that you nurture and continue to cultivate the culture that was established by Medinnova. By that I mean enthusiasm for originality and unconventional thinking and acceptance of new ideas.

More about Christian Hall and NT-proBNP:

• Information about Christian Hall on the Oslo University Hospital website (in Norwegian only)
• Information from Roche about the product, NT-proBNP, on its website

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Foto: Elisabeth Kirkeng Andersen 

Inven2 is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. On the occasion of this anniversary, we have interviewed some successful researchers who have all worked on groundbreaking innovations with significant benefits for society.

You can read more about Researcher Else Marit Inderberg in this interview. Her research within the area of immunotherapy has helped to establish Ultimovacs and Zelluna Immunotherapy, two companies that are developing treatments for cancer.

Name: 

Else Marit Inderberg

Title: 

Senior Researcher and Group Leader, Department of Cellular Therapy, the Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital

What area of research are you in? 

My area of research is immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. I’ve been working on cancer vaccines in the form of peptides and dendritic cell vaccines for a long time, and together with my colleagues, Sébastien Wälchli, Gunnar Kvalheim and Gustav Gaudernack, have used these to develop T-cell therapy.

What is your most significant innovation? 

My most significant innovation is CD4 TCR, which we hope to start using in the near future. This innovation in itself is not more significant than the cancer vaccine UV1, which we have also developed or the NK-TCR concept, but, for me personally, it’s the most significant one because it’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

CD-4 TCR can be linked to NK-TCR which we have also licensed. We have discussed the latest innovation previously. It has the potential to make cellular therapy available to more patients, as we don’t need to use the patients’ own cells to develop cellular therapy. Instead, we can provide a more universal product that can be prepared and stored until required.

What has cooperation with Inven2 meant for you?

The cooperation with Inven2 has made it possible to realise some of our innovations and ensure that they can be used. Without access to Inven2’s expertise and assistance, this would probably just have ended up in scientific publications and been difficult to further develop for patenting, clinical trials and financing of further development. The cooperation with Inven2 has afforded the opportunity to see whether or not these innovations work and are beneficial.

What would you like to say to Inven2 on the occasion of its tenth anniversary?

Thank you for great cooperation on various projects over the years, and thanks also for providing the opportunity to progress from early lab trials to clinical trials.

We hope that our cooperation continues with further opportunities to focus on projects in such a competitive field as this!

Read more here about Inderberg and what her research has contributed to:

• Information about Else Marit on the Oslo University Hospital website
• First in the world with unique immunotherapy: Information about Zelluna Immunotherapy, which builds on the licensing of the TCR-NK concept from Inderberg, et al.
• Developing groundbreaking cellular therapy by standing on the shoulders of giants: Article about much of the research that is currently being carried out by Inderberg and her colleagues
• Ultimovacs and the cancer vaccine, UV1, on the Søndagsrevyen TV programme on NRK TV in May 2019 (In Norwegian only)
• Norwegian researchers win award for a new type of cancer treatment: The VG newspaper article from 2014 about Inven2’s Ideas Prize, which was awarded that year to Inderberg and her colleagues Sébastien Wälchli, Gunnar Kvalheim and Gustav Gaudernack for the research behind Zelluna Immunotherapy (in Norwegian only)

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