Clavis gets NOK 6.9M government grant for cancer study

Development grant

Clavis Pharma of Norway has received a government grant of up to NOK 6.9 million (about €800,000) to accelerate the Phase II clinical development of intravenous CP-4126 in patients with newly diagnosed, advanced pancreatic cancer. The grant was awarded by the inward investment body Innovation Norway.

CP-4126, based on Clavis’ proprietary Lipid Vector Technology, aims to improve the efficacy of the current standard treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer gemcitabine.

Research suggests that the treatment of pancreatic cancer and a number of other cancers could be improved by increasing the amount of anticancer agent that enters the tumour cells. In the case of pancreatic tumours, published research demonstrates that up to two-thirds of patients respond poorly to gemcitabine owing to suboptimal cellular uptake of the agent. Intravenous CP-4126 has been designed to overcome this problem.

The grant is provided by Innovation Norway through its public R&D programme OFU, in which companies develop a novel product in collaboration with a university hospital. Wilhelm Wold, Senior Advisor at Innovation Norway, said, “Clavis Pharma is one of the promising biotech companies in Norway and it is important for Innovation Norway to contribute to this growing industry.”