Bionor Pharma

Last updated
Bionor Holding AS
Type Aksjeselskap
Industry Biotechnology
Founded2 January 1993
Defunct2017  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Headquarters Oslo, Norway
Key people
Birger Sørensen (CEO), Dag Arne Wivelstad, Aslak Aslaksen, Per Bengtsson
Products Vaccine
Soy protein
Health care
Natural Health Products
Revenue NOK 109.499 million (2011) [1]
NOK 46 057 million (2011) [1]
NOK 49 020 million (2011) [1]
Total assets NOK 253 395 million (2011) [1]
Total equity NOK 203 320 million (2011) [1]
Number of employees
18 (2011) [1]
Website www.bionorholding.com

Bionor Holding AS is a Norwegian biotechnology company, developing vaccines targeted at rapidly mutating virus infections such as HIV, Hepatitis C and Influenza. The company is also a leader in soy technology and has developed patented products for improved health and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases. [2] It was founded by Cand.med. and Dr.philos. in protein and lipid research, Lars Høie.

Contents

Brands

The company was, under their name Nutri Pharma, formerly known for their soy-based product series within weight management (Nutrilett®, Scan Diet® and NutriPro®), cholesterol reduction (Abacor® and Abalon®) and menopausal and pre-menstrual symptoms (Nutri5®). The marketing and distribution rights for Nutri5 and NutriPro was in 2008 licensed to Nikken Europe [3] for sale in 19 European countries, and in 2009 for Russia and CIS countries. [3] The brand Nutrilett was in 2010 sold to the Orkla-owned health-supplements firm Axellus. [4]

After the sale of their main brands, the company have moved focus to the vaccine business after the acquisition of biotechnology company Bionor Immuno in 2010. [5]

In 2016, the company was taken over by new investors who pivoted its business from biotech to property management, under the new name Solon. [6]

Since January 2018, the shareholders unanimously adopted to change the name of the company from Bionor Pharma AS to Bionor Holding AS. [7]

Products in development

Per May, Bionor Pharma has four different vaccine candidates in their product pipeline, from preclinical phase to phase II, leading to phase III which is the last phase before regulatory approval and potential market entry. [8]

Vacc-4x

Vacc-4x aims to generate immune responses to conserved domains, regions of the virus common to all strains of HIV, even if the virus mutates. Persistent immune responses against this part of the virus (the HIV p24 protein) has been shown to delay HIV disease progression. Vacc-4x is made of modified synthetic peptides targeting these conserved regions of the HIV p24. Upon immunization with Vacc-4x, potentially followed by reboosting vaccinations, Bionor's researchers are seeking to control virus infection for a longer period of time by exercising the patient's own immune system to seek out and kill virus-producing cells.

In phase II, 134 HIV-infected people from Europe and the US participated in a randomized, placebo-controlled study, where 93 randomly selected people where to receive Vacc-4x and 43 randomly selected people received a placebo injection. The patients were injected with either placebo or Vacc-4x in 28 weeks, followed up by 24 weeks without any injection.

77 people successfully completed the study (week 52); 25 from the placebo group and 56 from the Vacc-4x group. The placebo group (n=25) had a viral load set point (average of the last two viral load measurements before the end of the study) of 61,900 HIV-RNA/copies/ml (median), compared to the Vacc-4x group (n=56) that had a viral load set point of 22,300 HIV-RNA/copies/ml (median). This difference represents a reduction of 64% and is statistically significant (p=0.04).

Bionor Pharma is in the process of conducting two further clinical studies with the Vacc-4x, which can lead towards phase III, which include 1. Vacc-4x in combination with Celgene`s immune modulator Revlimid and 2. reboosting patients from the phase II study to investigate whether this can result in a further reduction in viral load.

Thirty three patients from USA and four European countries from the last study with Vacc-4x are taking part at ten clinics. The study was approved in all participating countries in Q4 2012, with startup of patient screening soon after. [9]

Others

Other vaccines include humoral, antibody-mediated peptide-based therapeutic HIV-1 vaccine Vacc-C5, that aims to guide the immune system to seek out and kill HIV-infected cells, Vacc-HCV, aiming to treat chronic HCV infection that affects the liver and Vacc-Flu, which is in the preclinical phase of development. [10]

Related Research Articles

Hepatitis Inflammation of the liver

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Hepatitis is acute if it resolves within six months, and chronic if it lasts longer than six months. Acute hepatitis can resolve on its own, progress to chronic hepatitis, or (rarely) result in acute liver failure. Chronic hepatitis may progress to scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), liver failure, and liver cancer.

HIV vaccine development In-progress vaccinations that may prevent or treat HIV infections

An HIV vaccine is a potential vaccine that could be either a preventive vaccine or a therapeutic vaccine, which means it would either protect individuals from being infected with HIV or treat HIV-infected individuals.

The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs in an attempt to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multiple drugs that act on different viral targets is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HAART decreases the patient's total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system, and prevents opportunistic infections that often lead to death. HAART also prevents the transmission of HIV between serodiscordant same sex and opposite sex partners so long as the HIV-positive partner maintains an undetectable viral load.

Viral hepatitis Liver inflammation from a viral infection

Viral hepatitis is liver inflammation due to a viral infection. It may present in acute form as a recent infection with relatively rapid onset, or in chronic form.

This is a list of AIDS-related topics, many of which were originally taken from the public domain U.S. Department of Health Glossary of HIV/AIDS-Related Terms, 4th Edition.

The Division of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (DAIDS) is a division of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. It was formed in 1986 as a part of the initiative to address the national research needs created by the advent and spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Specifically, the Division's mission is to increase basic knowledge of the pathogenesis, natural history, and transmission of HIV disease and to support research that promotes progress in its detection, treatment, and prevention. DAIDS accomplishes this through planning, implementing, managing, and evaluating programs in (1) fundamental basic research, (2) discovery and development of therapies for HIV infection and its complications, and (3) discovery and development of vaccines and other prevention strategies.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) co-infection is a multi-faceted, chronic condition that significantly impacts public health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 2 to 15% of those infected with HIV are also affected by HCV, increasing their risk of morbidity and mortality due to accelerated liver disease. The burden of co-infection is especially high in certain high-risk groups, such as intravenous drug users and men who have sex with men. These individuals who are HIV-positive are commonly co-infected with HCV due to shared routes of transmission including, but not limited to, exposure to HIV-positive blood, sexual intercourse, and passage of the Hepatitis C virus from mother to infant during childbirth.

HIV superinfection is a condition in which a person with an established human immunodeficiency virus infection acquires a second strain of HIV, often of a different subtype. These can form a recombinant strain that co-exists with the strain from the initial infection, as well from reinfection with a new virus strain, and may cause more rapid disease progression or carry multiple resistances to certain HIV medications.

GeoVax is a clinical-stage biotechnology company initially established primarily to develop an effective and safe vaccine against many serious human diseases for which there are significant unmet medical needs. GeoVax’ novel development platform builds on the proven clinical and commercial success of the Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector technology, with improvements to antigen design and manufacturing capabilities. GeoVax technology approach uses recombinant DNA or recombinant viruses to produce virus-like particles (VLPs) in the person being vaccinated. In human clinical trials of the company’s HIV vaccines, GeoVax demonstrated that VLPs are safe and eliciting both strong and durable humoral and cellular immune response.

Boceprevir

Boceprevir is a protease inhibitor used to treat hepatitis caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1. It binds to the HCV nonstructural protein 3 active site.

A hepatitis C vaccine, a vaccine capable of protecting against the hepatitis C virus (HCV), is not yet available. Although vaccines exist for hepatitis A and hepatitis B, development of an HCV vaccine has presented challenges. No vaccine is currently available, but several vaccines are currently under development.

Stuart C. Ray is an American physician. He is Vice Chair of Medicine for Data Integrity and Analytics, Associate Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Training Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and a Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases. Ray also holds appointments in Viral Oncology and the Division of Health Sciences Informatics. He is affiliated with the Institute for Computational Medicine at Johns Hopkins and is licensed to practice medicine in Maryland.

Cenicriviroc Chemical compound

Cenicriviroc is an experimental drug candidate for the treatment of HIV infection and in combination with Tropifexor for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. It is being developed by Takeda and Tobira Therapeutics.

MVA-B, or Modified Vaccinia Ankara B, is a HIV vaccine created to give immune resistance to infection by the human immunodeficiency virus. It was developed by a team of Spanish researchers at the Spanish National Research Council's Biotechnology National Centre headed by Dr. Mariano Esteban. The vaccine is based on the Modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus used during the 1970s to help eradicate the smallpox virus. The B in the name "refers to HIV-B, the most common HIV subtype in Europe". It has been stated by Dr. Esteban that, in the future, the vaccine could potentially reduce the virulence of HIV to a "minor chronic infection akin to herpes".

SAV001-H is the first candidate preventive HIV vaccine using a killed or "dead" version of the HIV-1 virus.

Herpes simplex research includes all medical research that attempts to prevent, treat, or cure herpes, as well as fundamental research about the nature of herpes. Examples of particular herpes research include drug development, vaccines and genome editing. HSV-1 and HSV-2 are commonly thought of as oral and genital herpes respectively, but other members in the herpes family include chickenpox (varicella/zoster), cytomegalovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus. There are many more virus members that infect animals other than humans, some of which cause disease in companion animals or have economic impacts in the agriculture industry.

Simeprevir Chemical compound

Simeprevir, sold under the trade names Olysio among others, is a medication used in combination with other medications for the treatment of hepatitis C. It is specifically used for hepatitis C genotype 1 and 4. Medications it is used with include sofosbuvir or ribavirin and peginterferon-alfa. Cure rates are in 80s to 90s percent. It may be used in those who also have HIV/AIDS. It is taken by mouth once daily for typically 12 weeks.

HIV/AIDS research Field of immunology research

HIV/AIDS research includes all medical research that attempts to prevent, treat, or cure HIV/AIDS, as well as fundamental research about the nature of HIV as an infectious agent and AIDS as the disease caused by HIV.

Remune is the first therapeutic HIV vaccine based on the killed whole virus approach. Remune was initially invented by Jonas Salk in 1987 and is now being developed by Immune Response BioPharma, Inc. (IRBP)

Julianna Lisziewicz is a Hungarian immunologist. Lisziewicz headed many research teams that have discovered and produced immunotheraputic drugs to treat diseases like cancer and chronic infections like HIV/AIDS. Some of these drugs have been successfully used in clinical trials.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Accounting figures Bionor Pharma". zupa.no. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  2. ↑ "Nutri Pharma Patent upheld by European Patent Office - Bionor Pharma". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  3. 1 2 "Nutri5® Distribution Product Supply and Marketing Support Agreement - Bionor Pharma". www.bionorpharma.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  4. ↑ HighBeam [ dead link ]
  5. ↑ "Nyheter - BIA". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  6. ↑ "Bionor Pharma announces the acquisition of Solon Eiendom and fully underwritten private placement and subsequent offering". 21 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Change of name to Bionor Holding AS - Bionor Holding AS". Bionor Holding AS. 2018-01-29. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
  8. ↑ "Pipeline - Bionor Pharma 2012". Archived from the original on 2013-05-02. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  9. ↑ "The HIV Vaccine Vacc-4x". Bionor Pharma. Archived from the original on 10 August 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "Influenza - Bionor Pharma 2012". Archived from the original on 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
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