CCCR’s partners are: Tallinn University of Technology University of Tartu North Estonia Medical Centre Trial Form Support TFS AB CeMines Estonia Ltd Cambrex Tallinn Ltd Kevelt Ltd Celecure Ltd Inbio Ltd IB Genetics Ltd Protobios Ltd SIA Pharmidea Quattromed HTI Laborid Ltd Genecode Ltd
When the current clinical trials of Virexxa are completed and the drug is produced in Tallinn, it will mark a significant step for the entire Estonian pharmaceutical industry, directly and symbolically. Estonia will be the first former eastern bloc country able to produce drugs which are certified by the European and US markets. However, Virexxa is not the only cancer drug candidate in development in Tallinn. The Competence Centre for Cancer Research (CCCR), which aims to develop cancer drug candidates and diagnostic platforms, was founded in Tallinn nine years ago in cooperation between Estonian universities, Enterprise Estonia and several local and foreign biotechnology companies. “A significant expertise in cancer research already existed in Estonia, which is why it was considered reasonable to bring it all under one roof,” explains Andres Valkna, Scientific Expert of CCCR. He explains that the aim of CCCR is not just academic research, but also practical: to develop the commercial value of cancer technologies. Simply put, this means developing and patenting drug candidates, as well as developing, licensing and selling services necessary for diagnostics.
A brief explanation of how the pharmaceutical industry works is necessary. Normally, the process of developing a new medical drug lasts 10-15 years, from the discovery which forms the basis for development to receiving a license to market the drug. The whole process costs millions of euros. Very broadly, this development process can be divided into two parts: pre-trial clinical research and clinical trials. The general business model of small companies such as CCCR is to sell their projects in one phase or another to large pharmaceutical companies. The price of the transaction depends directly on which phase of research the drug is in at the time of the transaction. “Drug candidates that have passed clinical trials cost significantly more than drug candidates that are still in the pre-clinical research phase,” explains Valkna. Therefore, the main strategy of biotechnology companies is to do the homework for the giants, in other words to sell drug projects which have already passed clinical trials. The main reason is that the clinical trial phase is very expensive, timeconsuming and risky.
Because the development of a drug candidate takes a lot of time, developers must always have several projects in different phases in the pipeline. “Some work always needs to come in, something always has to be in development, and something always has to come out of the pipeline,” says Valkna. Currently there are fourteen projects in different phases of development in the CCCR portfolio. Whereas some projects are still at the basic research level, other drug candidates are already in the phase of clinical trials. For example, the first project to be sold was a cancer drug candidate which was at the preclinical development stage. A project initiated by a spin-off company established by scientists of the Tallinn University of Technology was bought by the US stock company Cambrex, founded by Alfred Nobel. CCCR invites all researchers, universities and entrepreneurs interested in this field to contact them. CCCR is definitely looking for new partners with new ideas. CCCR considers adding new projects to the portfolio to be very important.
WINTER 2013 / 2014
I LIFE IN ESTONIA
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