We focus on commercializing cancer research

We therefore start with the story of Marie Curie and the year 1903. That was the year when she determined the atomic weight of the radioactive element radium, which she and her husband Pierre Curie discovered a few years earlier. They also found that the radiation from radium could treat cancer.

Between 1907 and 1912, the Norwegian pharmacist and chemist Ellen Gleditch worked in Madame Curie's laboratory in Paris, a position she was appointed to despite keen international competition for the post. And it was with Gleditch's help that Rikshospitalet hospital in Oslo gained access to radium. The first patient to be treated with radium was discharged in October 1912

The number of cancer patients was large and increasing, however, and Heyerdahl and Huitfeldt wanted to offer them better treatment. They again met with opposition at Rikshospitalet. They therefore started a private clinic in 1913, Kristiania Radiuminstitutt.

In 1913, Amandus Schibsted, editor of the newspaper Aftenposten, established a fund of NOK 15,000 for the purchase of radium. Schibsted was Huitfeldt's father in law and, during the period up to 1932, Aftenposten and the two doctors came to play a decisive role in the establishment and building of the Norwegian Radium Hospital. Some people believe that the history of the Norwegian Radium Hospital dates back to the establishment of this fund in 1913, despite the long drawn-out building process and the hospital not formally opening until 1932.

When it opened, the hospital had 71 beds and a separate gynaecological department. The staff totalled 49, and it had, by the standards of the time, an advanced laboratory with pathology functions.

Severin Andreas Heyerdahl was the hospital's first director, a position he held until 1940.

In the early 1950s, a public committee was appointed to assess whether the Radium Hospital should be further developed. Such development would strongly increase the size of the hospital and its capacity to treat several types of cancer. The alternative was to establish specialist departments across the country.

Eker worked purposefully and the committee finally recommended expanding the Radium Hospital, introducing a new type of radiation treatment and increasing capacity to 300 patient beds.

The problem was once again that the national economy was unable to bear the costs. During the years 1951–1952, a nationwide fund-raising campaign was held in cooperation with Norway's national broadcaster NRK. In addition, the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, passed a special act granting tax exemption for contributions to the fund-raising campaign. This was the fourth time that appeals were made to public to fund the hospital.

This time, it was King Olav who attended the opening ceremony in 1958. Aftenposten reported the event with an article headlined: 'The Norwegian Radium Hospital – the Norwegian people's gift to itself'.

Director Eker and the other staff who worked at the hospital at this time created an enthusiastic environment, where everyone wanted to do their best for an important cause. This became an important part of the spirit and culture of the Radium Hospital.

It was the Norwegian Cancer Society that took the initiative for the establishment of the Cancer Registry. The first cancer cases were registered in early 1952. There were two reasons in particular why the Association wanted to establish a cancer registry: to facilitate epidemiological research and for administrative purposes.

The Norwegian Cancer Society was responsible for running the Cancer Registry until the State took over in 1979.

Just after World War II, little was known about what mechanisms drove the development of cancer, and how cancer cells could be subdued. Eker launched the idea of an interdisciplinary approach, where knowledge from key fields such as biochemistry, biophysics and genetics would be drawn on in parallel with pathology and clinical medicine. Funding was lacking, however. Director Eker consulted Managing Director Bjarne Eriksen of the company Norsk Hydro A/S, who made funds available for building new research premises side by side with the original clinic building.

Jan Vincents Johannessen has always been known for his wealth of ideas, ideas that proved very useful in a time when increasing state control of the hospital sector was strongly advocated. During that period, he inspired dedication among staff through frequent contact and discussions with all the professions.

Jan, as everyone addressed him, began buying up plots of land in an area called Vestenghaugen, where the Institute for Cancer Research was built, opening in 2009. He realised at an early stage that the then Radium Hospital was too small to house all the research that went on there in addition to ordinary patient treatment.

Jan was also known for his tireless efforts to establish activities aimed at promoting the wellbeing of patients and their families, such as the bus and car service for patients, the art library, wellbeing centre, a swimming pool, 'gourmet food', recreational activities, a youth room and the Montebello Centre.

This involved attending to the commercialisation of research at the Radium Hospital, and to contractual and financial aspects of the clinical trials conducted at the hospital.

The Foundation's start-up capital was one million kroner. Today, this capital has been converted into a substantial portfolio of innovative, cancer-related companies. In addition, through its work, the Foundation has awarded NOK 237 million of its profits to researchers and innovative research projects.

This was the start of a fantastic collaboration between Larsen and Bruland, which to date has led to the formation of many other radiopharmaceutical companies, such as Nordic Nanovector, Oncoinvent and ArtBio. It was also the beginning of a unique development in the history of the Norwegian health industry, which led to marketing approval for the drug Xofigo in 2013 and to Bayer's acquisition of Algeta in 2014 – and many other positive ripple effects.

The company, which is a spin-off of the research conducted at the Institute for Cancer Research, has developed both photodynamic therapy for skin cancer and a combined product that is used to get cancer cells in the bladder to glow pink, making it easier for surgeons to see and remove them.

In 2007, the cluster was awarded the status of 'Norwegian Centre of Excellence' with support from Innovation Norway, the Research Council of Norway and SIVA. Within a short space of time, it succeeded in bringing on board large public hospitals and research institutions, biotech companies and major international pharmaceutical companies as members.

Brunsvik Fredriksen later became a full-time employee of the company and is now its Chief Business Officer.

Nykode is now developing an innovative vaccine platform where vaccines are steered to the antigen-presenting cells to produce faster, stronger and more long-lasting immune responses.

In 2009, Queen Sonja opened the new building side by side with the Radium Hospital, which the researchers call 'Håpets vindu' (Window of Hope).

It was the former director of the Radium Hospital, Jan Vincents Johannessen, who made this possible through the Norwegian Radium Hospital Foundation's purchases of plots of land in the area previously known as Vestenghaugen.

After the establishment of Oslo Cancer Cluster in 2006 as a network organisation, Norum and Einarsson had shared a dream: to have a physical building next door to the Radium Hospital and the Institute for Cancer Research where small and large companies could move in and cooperate closely with the researchers and clinicians at the hospital and the institute.

Towards the end of the 2000s, Norum heard from a grandchild of his who was a student at Ullern Upper Secondary School that there were plans to refurbish the school. That gave him the idea of integrating the school in the new building he and Einarsson dreamed of. After a prolonged political process in the City of Oslo, the plans were given the go ahead, and work on building Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park could begin.

Long before the new building was completed, a binding educational collaboration was established between the school and Oslo Cancer Cluster with the aim of educating the entrepreneurs and researchers of the future.

Xofigo is the name given to a radiopharmaceutical drug for the treatment of prostate cancer patients with skeletal metastasis. It was developed by Roy Larsen and Øyvind Bruland.

The randomised Phase III trial of the drug was stopped for ethical reasons, because the patients who were given Xofigo experienced such a good effect compared with those who were only given a placebo.

Things progressed apace after that: In 2013, Xofigo was granted marketing approval as the first alpha-emitting drug in the world, and in 2014 Bayer acquired Algeta. Many of Algeta's employees were taken on by Bayer, and Bayer focused strongly on research into and the development of radiopharmaceuticals in Norway.

The building, which was almost fully occupied already upon completion, houses parts of Oslo University Hospital that are dedicated to cancer research, the hospital pharmacy for the Radium Hospital, the Cancer Registry of Norway, Ullern Upper Secondary School, Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator and a number of companies engaged in developing cancer treatments.

Worth USD 715 million in addition to royalties on the sale of products, it was the biggest agreement any Norwegian biotech company had ever signed.

Proton therapy has not previously been possible in Norway. This therapy requires a cyclotron weighing all of 100 tonnes It has been named Ellen Gleditch after the researcher who worked with Marie Curie and ensured that Norway had access to radium for the first time. The cyclotron was made in Germany and transported to Norway in 2023, where it was set up in the building's basement.

The company is based on research by Roy Larsen and Øyvind Bruland, who are behind both Algeta and a number of other companies in the field.

In December the same year, the company reported that it has raised almost NOK 1 billion from new American specialist investors, including Third Rock Ventures, in addition to the existing investors. The company plans to develop radiopharmaceutical cancer treatment. Its headquarters are in Boston, while it has a development department in Oslo and branches in London and Basel.

The hospital has been further developed as a specialised cancer hospital with a new clinical and proton therapy building.

Several of Thermo Fisher Scientific's research and development departments will be among those moving in, as well as Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator's companies that work on immune therapy, the Aktiv mot Kreft (Active against Cancer) foundation and a number of others. Tenants have already been found for the whole building.

Oslo Science Hub will provide Campus Radiumhospitalet with a highly anticipated expansion of space, including office areas, laboratories, a biobank, and a researcher hotel, specifically tailored for international and national players in cancer research and development.

Additionally, Oslo Science Hub will contribute to transforming the campus into a pleasant micro-neighbourhood with a convenience store, café, restaurants, and a square.

Read more about the project here.