Lunches sponsored by Smith Carter

Throughout the week, lunch is on Smith Carter Architects and Engineers.

Orientation to Finland and Bio Tour 2002

We begin the week with an overview of Finland and the opportunities it presents for Canadians at the Canadian Embassy. There will also be a review of the week's schedule.

Biomedicum

Biomedicum is a high-quality center for medical research and training on the Meilahti campus of the University of Helsinki. Biomedicum provides state-of-the-art research facilities to some 1000 investigators and graduate students in residence as well as a unique environment to medical and dental students for the first two years of Medical School.

Link to: www.biomedicum.fi

Ministry of Trade and Industry

Finnish technology policy is designed to boost the technological level of service and industrial enterprises, to improve international competitiveness, and to create the preconditions for the development of enterprise. The Technology Department has overall responsibility for this policy at the Ministry.

The Ministry supervises the activities of TEKES and VTT as well as regional Employment and Economic Development Centres (TE Centres). The Ministry's Technology Policy Division prepares guidelines for technology, innovation policy, industrial property rights and it coordinates biotechnology and genetic technology issues. The International Technology Policy Division oversees R&D cooperation in the EU, the US, Japan, and the emerging economies of Asia and South America, including space cooperation and technology.

As early as the 1980s, the Ministry has been setting targets and monitoring R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP. The Ministry continues to look forward with its Foresight Studies Division which supports the private sector by looking further ahead.

Link to: www.ktm.fi

Finnish Bioindustries

Finnish Bioindustries is Finland's biotechnology industry association, established in 1997. It is a private, independent non-profit organisation. Member companies represent all life science areas, from health care and functional food to biomaterials.

Finnish Bioindustries participates in national and international technology programs, actively exploits finance systems and promotes technology transfer. One of the main tasks is to help the work of commercializing new areas of biotechnology. Start-up hi-tech companies have the opportunity to share their experience and problems with each other using the platform provided by Finnish Bioindustries.

Finnish Bioindustries supports national and international cooperation for the preparation and surveillance of biotechnology legislation.

Link to: www.finbio.net

Academy of Finland

The Academy of Finland is an expert organisation in research funding and science policy. The Academy’s object is to promote high-level scientific research through long-term quality-based research funding, science and science policy expertise and efforts to strengthen the position of science and scientific research.

The wide range of high-quality basic research funded by the Academy generates new knowledge. This drives research and provides a solid foundation for innovative applied research and for using the new knowledge in the best interests of culture, welfare and the economy. Another outcome is that universities, research institutes and business enterprises have available to them well trained experts in different fields.

The Academy of Finland’s operation covers all scientific disciplines. The Academy operates within the administrative sector of the Ministry of Education and is funded through the state budget. In 2002, over 13 per cent of all government research funding was channelled through the Academy.

Link to: www.aka.fi

The Ministry of the Interior

The Ministry of the Interior has the responsibility for local and regional administration, regional development and internal security in Finland. The Ministry is responsible for the overall development of regional administration and state local administration and promotes the equitable and independent development of different parts of the country.

We will be hearing from the Director for Regional Development and the Secretary General for Centre of Expertise program.

Link to: www.intermin.fi

TEKES

Tekes, the National Technology Agency, is the main financing organisation for R&D in Finland. Tekes provides funding and expert services for R&D projects and promotes national and international networking. Tekes services are available via the wide network of Employment and Economic Development Centres, known as the TE Centres.

Tekes' primary objective is to promote the competitiveness of Finnish industry and the service sector by technological means. Activities aim to diversify production structures, increase production and exports, and create a foundation for employment and social well-being.

We will hear a presentation on how Tekes achieves its goals of strengthening the national knowledge base, increasing the number of technology-based companies and ensuring their growth, encouraging R&D, and producing commercially viable R&D results and accelerating their commercialization. We will also see how these goals support regional development within a framework of values of well-being, vision, trust, cooperation.

Link to: www.tekes.fi

BioFund Management Ltd

BioFund Management is one of the leading European venture capital management companies, investing solely in life sciences industry - health, nutrition, and the environment. They are invested in more than 40 companies in 7 countries, mostly in the Nordic region, with EUR 182 million under management.

With a focus on early-growth stage investments, BioFund has been instrumental is establishing the biotechnology cluster in Turku. We will hear how they have achieved success, and their strategies for their future and the future of the cluster.

Link to: www.biofund.fi

SITRA Life Sciences

Sitra, the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development, is an independent public foundation under the supervision of the Finnish Parliament. The Fund aims to promote Finland's economic prosperity by encouraging research, backing innovative projects, organising training programmes and providing venture capital.

Research funded by Sitra focuses on future challenges facing Finnish society, with emphasis is placed on economic considerations. Sitra training programmes ensure that Finnish decision-makers are able to cope successfully in an ever-changing world. Sitra also offers funding and services to Finnish enterprises, mostly start-ups, that can be internationally competitive and profitable.

We will hear a presentation on how Sitra aims to further economic prosperity in Finland by developing new and successful business operations, financing the commercial exploitation of expertise, and promoting international competitiveness and co-operation. Sitra is a shareholder in about 50 companies in the biotech, foodstuffs, chemical, pharmaceutical and diagnostics fields.

Link to: www.sitra.fi

Turku Bio Valley

The majority of Finnish biotech research and development takes place in the Turku region where there are more than 40 bioscience companies. All this expertise is approaching a critical mass, and BioTurku is considered a unique phenomenon based on effective joint working.

Turku Science Park is the core of the Turku region innovation system. Only a few square kilometres in size, the operating area, especially the bioscience and ICT cluster, is located right outside the city centre. Turku Science Park reaches from the three local universities (University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University and the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration) via the Turku Technology Centre, with its new facilities, to the Turku Bio Valley and the important diagnostics industry operator, Wallac PerkinElmer Life Sciences Ltd. A total of 13,500 people work in the Turku Science Park area in 750 companies, while the number of students is nearly 30,000.

Turku Bio Valley is a city-owned company located in the Turku Science Park. The city invested EUR 14.3 million of start-up capital in order to develop intellectual and physical facilities for biotechnology research, development of medical application, development of biotechnology companies. As a result, 13 500 people now work in the park in 750 companies, and 25 000 students attend one of the schools located in the park.

Link to: turku.fi

Link to: www.finpro.com

Link to: www.bioturku.com

Link to: www.turkusciencepark.com

Turku Centre for Biotechnology

Turku Centre for Biotechnology is a joint institute of University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University. The Centre provides technical expertise and coordinating services for academic and industrial projects in several central areas of biotechnology. Many of the key instruments have been installed at the Centre to create "core facilities" for biotechnical research.

Turku Centre for Biotechnology was established in 1989 to facilitate biotechnology and biomedical research and scientific interactions between research groups across departments and within the two universities. This concept has proved efficient and helps in optimizing the use of resources. The Centre has also provided a forum for active interactions between academia and industry. Such interactions have resulted in a number of biotech companies, which are based on scientific discoveries in academia.

Link to: www.btk.utu.fi

Link to: www.biocity.turku.fi/

Juvantia Pharma Ltd.

Juvantia Pharma is an emerging product-oriented drug discovery company. Collaborating with a number of leading scientist both in Finland and abroad, Juvantia is working up innovations from basic science to the benefit of the patient.

Juvantia employs a proprietary approach in realising its mission to discover innovative small molecule pharmaceuticals and to develop novel therapies for diseases with major socioeconomic impact.

Juvantia was founded in 1997. Current shareholders are SITRA, BioFund Management Ltd., BankInvest Group, Investor Growth Capital AB, Aboa Ventures Management Ltd. as well as the founders and the employees.

Link to: www.juvantia.com

Wallac - PerkinElmer Life Sciences Ltd

Founded in 1950 as Wallac Oy, the company manufactured a range of laboratory instruments. Wallac develops manufactures and markets analytical systems for use in research and diagnostics. Its main products are binding assay systems used to measure the concentration of difficult to measure substances in biological samples. A highly skilled and specialized workforce is needed to develop and produce such products. In Finland the pool of people with the requisite research and development, and scientific skills is unusually deep.

Wallac's experience in Turku is one of many successes. Wallac has taken advantage of the positive economic factors present in the Turku area. Its workforce has the skills and education and at the same time, it is not as burdened with the excessive taxation and non-wage labor costs of its European neighbors. Finally, the high incidence of technology allows it to efficiently produce and export its products throughout the world. Truly, Wallac has used Finland's "biotech alley" as a springboard for success.

Link to: lifesciences.perkinelmer.com

Link to: lifesciences.perkinelmer.com/wallac.asp

Focus Inhalation

Focus Inhalation´s vision is to become a leading European pulmonary drug delivery company by the year 2005.

Focus Inhalation Oy has its roots in the Finnish pharmaceutical industry. It was split off in November 2000 from the Finnish company Leiras Oy, a subsidiary of the multinational Schering Group. Leiras had inhalation technology as one of the core areas of its research and development activity. The know-how has now been transferred to Focus Inhalation Oy. Leiras' first anti-asthmatic preparation was the SALBUVENT® metered dose inhaler (MDI) launched in 1977. It contained salbutamol synthesized at Leiras. Research and development over more than 20 years produced several patents on inhalers for anti-asthmatic drugs.

The near term growth strategy of Focus Inhalation Oy is in the TAIFUN® technology platform, which is the result of over a decade of research and development work. This platform integrates proprietary formulation processing, a new multiple dose-powder inhaler and the related manufacturing technology. The technology has been validated via regulatory approvals in the European Union using salbutamol (albuterol) as the first active ingredient.

The Company is focusing on co-development opportunities with leading pharmaceutical companies, with the first proof of concept being the development agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim for the development of a TAIFUN® application of Tiotropium.

The business model of Focus Inhalation Oy includes development and production partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, research and development of proprietary products for eventual out-licensing, and strategic alliances with suitable drug delivery companies to further broaden the technology base.

Link to: www.focusinhalation.com

Tour of Helsinki Science Park

The Helsinki Science Park is a joint venture of the Finnish government, the University of Helsinki, the City of Helsinki, SITRA and industrial federations. The park has over 1000 research scientists and technicians.

We will see first-hand how young entrepreneurs and established companies are helped to commercialize their biotechnology innovations in the most effective way. Assistance is offered in patenting and licensing, business management, internatinal marketing and financing, and with training program on skills needed for business.

Link to: www.sciencepark.helsinki.fi

Institute of Biotechnology

The Institute of Biotechnology is an independent research institute of the University of Helsinki.

Beside the research programs there may be joint research projects with other bioscientists at the University of Helsinki. In these joint projects researchers from the Institute of Biotechnology and from departments belonging to the faculties have united their scientific efforts into larger research projects. The Institute also has joint R&D projects with Finnish and international companies.

Link to: www.biocenter.helsinki.fi/bi/

Viikki Biocenter Research Group

The Biocenter of the University of Helsinki is located in the Viikki Campus. It was built in 1995 as a cooperative venture by the University of Helsinki, the Science Park, the Finnish government, the City of Helsinki, SITRA and Finnish business organizations. An important objective is to help researchers identify research results suitable for commercial exploitation.

The Viikki area is one of a major investment and construction areas of the City of Helsinki. The biocenter will be expanded by additional building projects in the near future. In the vicinity of the Biocenter, a commercial local center and a major new housing area have been planned. One of the attractions of the Viikki area is the large nature conservation area.

Link to: www.biocenter.helsinki.fi

Drug Discovery Technology

Viikki Drug Discovery Technology Center is located in the Viikki Biocenter. It is an interdisciplinary research project belonging to Department of Pharmacy in the University of Helsinki.

Objectives of the research center are to build up a strong environment for drug discovery research, to develop key technologies to the international forefront and to discover new drug candidates and to educate high level researchers. Two core facilities, analytical and molecular biology laboratories, support the research in the technology projects.

DDTC is collaborating with several departments of the University, with several domestic and foreign universities and research institutes, as well as with several pharmaceutical companies and private laboratories.

Link to: www.ddtc.helsinki.fi

Helsinki University Central Hospital

We will tour this Helsinki hospital to see how Finland's commitment to technology translates into real-world situations.

The Helsinki University Central Hospital is an acute-care hospital in which the most advanced specialized care in two hospital regions is concentrated. The hospital also has a number of nationwide responsibilities in providing treatment of diseases that are very rare or demand specialized skills and equipment. In Finland, the treatment of cleft lips and palates, organ transplants, open heart surgery on infants and the poison information centre exemplify services which are provided exclusively by the hospital.

The Helsinki University Medical Faculty uses the hospital for educational and research purposes. The hospital organizes graduate and postgraduate education and engages in research in all medical specialities and most subspecialities.

Link to: www.hus.fi

Finnish Genome Centre

Finnish Genome Center (FGC) is a national facility for the genetic research of multifactorial diseases. It is hosted by the University of Helsinki and FGC is administered by the Board of the University. The Board of FGC also has representatives from other Finnish universities,research institutions and funding agencies. FGC collaborates internationally and nationwide with research groups interested in understanding causes of common diseases.

Link to: www.genome.helsinki.fi

Centre of Excellence in Disease Genetics

The Center of Excellence in Disease genetics aims at understanding the molecular pathways disturbed in human diseases as a result of gene defects. The research groups of the Center utilize the special features of the Finnish population: isolation, founder effect and excellent health care. The research of the five groups aims specifically at the understanding of the function of genes involved in several neurological disorders as well as identification of candidate genes for multifactorial diseases such as multiple sclerosis, hereditary colon cancer and asthma.

The Center has designed a cohesive strategy for forthcoming years to strengthen their expertise in functional studies of disease genes including cellular and animal models of human diseases. Research projects in common, multifactorial diseases will also require development of novel bioinformatic tools and genome- wide analyses of DNA variations and gene expression. The strategic vehicles to accomplish the ambitious research goals of the Center include creation of a network of intellectual core facilities in demanding technologies and developing of a top quality international training program for young scientists.

Link to: www.ktl.fi/diseasegenetics

Nokia Research Centre

Nokia is the outstanding example of Finnish success in the international marketplace. One reason for this success is a commitment to R&D. While not focussed on biotechnology, Nokia accounts for a large percentage of Finland's total R&D expenditures and shares credit for the overall technological skills and aspirations of Finnish society.

Nokia Research Centres represent one supplier for Nokia's R&D purchases. They employ over 1000 researchers in 7 labs. We will visit one such lab in Helsinki to see first-hand how Nokia continues to lead the world with programs such as international job rotation, and how their work leads to the overall technical knowledge and expertise found throughout Finland.

Link to: nokia.com

Helsinki University of Technology (HUT)

We will visit the and the Laboratory of Bioprocess Engineering where they are fusing chemistry and biotechnology with engineering. We will hear how industry plays a significant role in financing the department's research programs.

Link to: www.hut.fi

VTT - Biotechnology

VTT is an impartial expert organisation that carries out technical and techno-economic research and development work. VTT offers also information services.

VTT Biotechnology uses biotechnology and biological materials to develop innovative processes and products while promoting sustainable development and the competitiveness of its industrial customers. Research and development work is carried out in interdisciplinary joint projects with research partners in industry and universities for example in large research programmes.

The institute employs a total of 300 persons.

Link to: www.vtt.fi

Culminatum

Culminatum Ltd. Oy is a development company owned by the Uusimaa Regional Council, the cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa, and the universities, polytechnics, research institutes and business community of Helsinki region.

The main function of the Helsinki Region Centre of Expertise company - Culminatum Ltd. Oy - is to implement the National Centre of Expertise Programme in the Helsinki region in association with the host organisations for the selected expertise sectors.

The second period of the programme was launched in 1999 and will continue until 2006. Five regionally important expertise sectors were selected for the second period in Helsinki region: Active Materials and Microsystems; Gene Technology and Molecular Biology; Cultural Industry; Software Product Business; and New Media. In accordance with the programme objectives, Culminatum Oy is responsible for the regional effectiveness of the Programme and for the enterprise effectiveness of the host organisations in the various fields of expertise.

Co-operation and exchange of experience with other national centres of expertise is also an important aspect of realising the aims of the Programme. Co-operation with international, and especially with European organisations involved in regional development work is vital to the development of activities.

Link to: www.culminatum.fi