FORNY2020 funding to the BTO project CryoIT
The BTO project CryoIT has received 10 million NOK from the Research Council of Norway’s FORNY2020 program. The project develops a new form of immunotherapy against prostate cancer, called cryoimmunotherapy, which can also be adapted to treat different types of cancer. The project belongs to Haukeland University Hospital and the University of Bergen.
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The Prostate Cancer Therapy Research Group at the Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen (UoB) and Haukeland University Hospital has initiated and organized the cryoimmunotherapy trial (CryoIT). Professor Karl-Henning Kalland, Senior Researcher Anne Margrete Øyan and Professor Bjørn Tore Gjertsen are the researchers behind the study. Both Karl-Henning Kalland og Bjørn Tore Gjertsen are CCBIO Principal Investigators.
The team is well underway with the Phase I Clinical Trial of CryoIT against metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer with Dr. Christian Beisland, Chief at the Department of Urology, as its Principal Investigator. The small enterprise Alden Cancer Therapy II (ACT II) owns the license to the treatment protocol and is the sponsor of the CryoIT trial. BTO is the main owner of ACT II on behalf of Helse Bergen and UoB. The researchers are also shareholders of the company. The FORNY2020 support is granted in order to complete the clinical trial and to verify the treatment protocol.
The Phase I Clinical Trial was initiated in 2015 and includes 20 patients with metastatic prostate cancer. The method is designed to tackle cancer cell heterogeneity caused by mutations and reprogramming ability of cancer cells. Nine patients have been treated until now, and the FORNY2020 funding is very important for the trial to proceed.
The Norwegian-American Haakon Ragde, now retired urologist, originally developed cryoimmunotherapy in Seattle, USA. Read article about Ragde in Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian).
FACTS/FORNY2020
The Research Council's FORNY2020 program supports academic research-based innovations. Monica Lislerud, senior business developer at BTO (Bergen Teknologioverføring), is project manager of the FORNY2020 application.
