Mr. Øystein Soug, has been the CFO of the late-stage oncology biotech company Algeta ASA since 2008, building up the functions of Finance, IR, Compliance, IT and HR. During Mr. Soug’s period at Algeta, the company raised USD 200m capital, launched Xofigo, established production and sales in the USA, partnered with and was acquired by Bayer AG.
Before 2008, Mr. Soug was with the Norwegian Orkla group, holding two functions; first as project manager in Orkla’s Corporate Development M&A team and later as the CFO of SladCo, the Russian operations of Orkla. Prior to Orkla, Mr. Soug spent five years in banking. He has 17 years’ experience in international finance and corporate development. In addition, he has served as Deputy Chairman and Director of Bionor Pharma ASA since 2013.
Mr. Soug has an MSc in Economics and Finance and a Master of International Management (CEMS) both from the University of St Gallen in Switzerland.
Gunnar Gårdemyr, CEO of Targovax, says “I am excited to welcome Øystein Soug to Targovax. With Øystein in place we are well positioned to move our products through the important Proof of Concept phase. Øystein’s recent experience from the successful financing and sub-sequent sale of Algeta to Bayer will be important to develop Targovax further.”
Contact:
Targovax
Gunnar Gårdemyr,
Chief Executive Officer,
Cell phone: (+41) 798 340 585
E-mail: ggardemyr@targovax.com
Jonas Einarsson,
Chairman of the Board,
Cell phone: (+47) 48 09 63 55
E-mail:je@radforsk.no
Facts:
Targovax
Targovax was established in October in 2010 to develop immunotherapy in the form of therapeutic cancer vaccines based on pioneering research at the Norwegian Radium Hospital and Norsk Hydro. Mutation of RAS is an early mutation in the transformation of a normal cell into a cancer cell. Lead candidate TG01 educates the body’s immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells with RAS mutations. TG01 has Orphan Drug status for pancreatic cancer in the EU and US and is currently in Phase II trials in operated pancreatic cancer. The company is located in Lysaker, close to Oslo, Norway.
Immuno- oncology / Cancer vaccines
The Norwegian cancer research community has been in the forefront of understanding the mechanisms for immuno-oncology and cancer vaccines. A cancer vaccine educates the body’s immune system to recognize and kill the cancer cells. The TG01 vaccine is therapeutic and is given as treatment to patients after surgery of cancer patients, to prevent relapse.
Pancreas cancer and other RAS-mutated cancer forms
Pancreatic cancer is a disease affecting 116 000 patients each year in EU and USA, and approximately 690 persons each year in Norway. Approx 15-20% of these are discovered at an early stage and are operable. The mortality is high, and the prognosis for these patients has been more or less unchanged the last 30 years. Approximately 80-90% of patients with pancreatic cancer have RAS mutations in the cancer cells.
RAS mutations occur in approx. 20% of all cancer cases, and are also frequent in colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and other cancers. Patients with RAS mutations within these indications have proved to be difficult to treat with current treatments, and there is a significant unmet medical need.