Pharmatest Services is part of the NK-ENGAGE project (Novel Synthetic Polypeptides for Natural Killer Cell -mediated Immunotherapy for the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma), which has been qualified as a Eurostars program and is driven by a Nordic research consortium including institutes and companies from Sweden, Norway and Finland. This Eurostars R&D project focuses on developing and providing preclinical proof of concept for a novel synthetic small polypeptide for NK cell-based immunotherapy as treatment of MM, which will be validated in novel preclinical models established by Pharmatest and Oslo University Hospital.
We had an honour to host a face-to-face meeting of the consortium in Turku, Finland. The meeting was full of insightful conversations and planning the next steps in our exciting project.
The Multiple Myeloma Challenge
Multiple myeloma is a malignant form of cancer that annually affects approximately 50,000 individuals in Europe, with the majority of cases occurring in those over the age of 65. Despite significant therapeutic advances and the introduction of innovative treatment options in the earlier stages of the disease, multiple myeloma continues to be incurable with a 5-year survival rate slightly above 50%. While patients are now able to live longer with the disease and survival rates are increasing, relapse remains an inevitable part of the disease.
NK-ENGAGE Research Consortium
The NK-ENGAGE research consortium comprises of esteemed institutions and well-known biotech companies including Oncopeptides, Sweden and their collaborator the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Oslo University Hospital, Norway, and Pharmatest Services, Finland. The main goals of the NK-ENGAGE project are the development of a novel synthetic small polypeptide for NK cell based immunotherapy and the development of new pre-clinical models of MM that will allow both efficacy studies as well as deep mechanistic understanding of the developed compounds.
