News | Bioorganic Group

Orion Corporation has together with selected university research groups and other companies assembled a New Modalities Ecosystem supported by funding from Business Finland. The new ecosystem is unique multidisipline collaboration combining high level academic knowledge with drug discovery and development.

Orion extends its biopharmaceutical capabilities towards biologics (therapeutic proteins) and concomitantly starts systematically evaluate also other advanced treatment modalities. Pathogenic proteins of some diseases are unreachable targets for traditional small molecular drugs, which is shifting the pharmaceutical interest towards large biologics aimed at affecting the protein expression already in preliminary states. The two University of Turku research groups will contribute by research, development and optimization of the new modalities (antibodies, peptides and oligonucleotides) and their delivery technologies for the treatment of these diseases.

The aim of this New Modalities Ecosystem is enable improved understanding of disease pathology related to the symptoms and disease progression and better treatments by applying large molecular drugs and diagnostic tools as well as digital wearble patient tools for disease symptom recording. The Ecosystem participants include in addition to Orion, University of Turku, University of Helsinki, University of Eastern Finland, Folkhälsan as well as the companies Perkinelmer, Syrinx Bioanalytics, AdmeScope, Petsofi, Forendo Pharma and InMe.

This is done in collaboration with the ecosystem technology partners professors Pasi Virta (Bioorganic group, BOG) and Urpo Lamminmäki (Antibody engineering group, AEG) from university of Turku as well as Finnish biopharmaceutical and diagnostic companies having mutual interests. BOG aims at finding new ways for chemical modifications of antibodies to apply them as carriers for the tissue and cell-specific delivery of drugs, primarily of RNA-based therapeutics. Where as AEG aims to expand the established recombinant antibody library technology to serve as a lead factory for therapeutics development. Both university groups educate top experts for drug development field being capable to act smoothly between the academic and industrial fields filling the obvious knowledge gap in this drug development field in Finland. Syrinx Bioanalytics aims to develop novel analytical methods for next generation oligonucleotides to be utilized for pharmacokinetic, immunogenicity and biological activity studies during drug development. Admescope developes novel ligand binding assay, drug-drug interaction models and analytical methodology for therapeutic large molecules. Inme collaborates with the University of Turku (Department of Biotechnology) in order to achieve new-generation high-sensitivity immunoassay for hormonal analytes. Forendo Pharma supports the ecosystem with it’s expertise.

https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/whats-new/news/2018/creation-of-novel-medicines-and-better-patient-care-for-the-future-in-an-ecosystem/

http://www.utu.fi/fi/Ajankohtaista/Uutiset/Sivut/Turun-yliopisto-kehittaa-tulevaisuuden-laake–ja-hoitomuotoja-osana-laajempaa-ekosysteemia.aspx

https://www.orion.fi/en/Orion-group/media/press-releases/2018/creation-of-novel-medicines-and-better-patient-care-for-the-future-in-an-ecosystem/

One PhD student and one Post Doc Researcher position in the Bioorganic Group are open for this Ecosystem:

http://www.utu.fi/fi/Yliopisto/tule-meihin-toihin/avoimet-tehtavat/Sivut/home.aspx

http://www.utu.fi/en/university/come-work-with-us/open-vacancies/Pages/home.aspx