Börje Haraldsson appointed CEO of Oncorena AB
LUND, SWEDEN, June 20, 2022 – Oncorena AB, which is developing a new and potentially groundbreaking treatment for patients with advanced kidney cancer, announces that the Board of Directors of Oncorena AB has appointed Professor Börje Haraldsson as CEO of the company, effective as of today. He thus succeeds Dr. Lars Grundemar, who will leave the company.
Professor Börje Haraldsson (MD, PhD, FASN, FAST) is one of the founders of Oncorena. He has played a crucial role in the development of Oncorena's drug candidate orellanine and is considered a world leader in clinical and experimental renal research. Since February 2022, he has been Chief Scientific Officer and part of the company's management team. Prior to that he held a management position at Novartis in Basel, Switzerland.
“I and the Board as a whole are delighted that Börje Haraldsson is expanding his involvement in Oncorena and takes on the role as CEO of the company. Oncorena is now entering a dynamic clinical phase where all R&D aspects will be managed, so Börje's experience of managing projects and companies fits fantastically well with the company's strategy. I also look forward to taking part of Börje's leadership and the development of the Oncorena team,” says Oncorena's Chairman Andreas Segerros. “There is a high unmet medical need for better treatment options for patients with advanced kidney cancer undergoing dialysis and we hope that our clinical development work will benefit patients in the future. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lars Grundemar for his contribution to Oncorena's growth phase, from preclinical to clinical phase, and wish him every continued success.”
”It is with humble gratitude that I have recognized the confidence of the Board. Under Lars Grundemar's leadership, Oncorena has secured Series A funding and initiated the first clinical study. Thanks to this, the company is well positioned when I now take over the CEO role,” says Börje Haraldsson.
For further information, please contact
Andreas Segerros, Chairman of the Board, Oncorena AB
E-mail: segerros@nicox.com
Telephone +45-53 50 30 38
About the Phase I-II clinical trial
In 2021, the Swedish Medical Products Agency approved Oncorena’s first clinical trial of orellanine. The Phase I-II clinical trial of orellanine enrols patients with advanced kidney cancer already on dialysis due to kidney failure. The study is conducted at the Centre for Clinical Cancer Studies at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, and will study safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and signs of anti-tumour effects in treatment with a synthetic form of orellanine.
About orellanine
Orellanine, which has a new and unique mode of action, is being developed for organ-specific chemotherapy with curative potential for patients with advanced kidney cancer undergoing dialysis. Orellanine is found in mushrooms of the Cortinarius family, these are sometimes accidentally picked and eaten as they are mistaken for funnel chanterelles. The clinical effects of orellanine are well documented and are completely limited to the kidneys. Orellanine is expected to have positive effect on the two most common forms of kidney cancer: Clear-Cell and Papillary Kidney Cancer. About 90% of kidney cancer patients are affected by these types of cancer.
About kidney cancer
Approximately 400,000 patients are affected by kidney cancer globally according to the WHO. The disease can often be cured by surgery if detected in time, but unfortunately the diagnosis is often made when the tumour has already spread to other organs. The prognosis is then considerably less favourable and certain groups have a median survival of less than two years. Today the disease is treated with various types of targeted and immuno-active drugs, often with severe side effects, and standard chemotherapy drugs have limited effect. There is therefore a high and urgent unmet medical need for new, effective and safe drugs.
About Oncorena
Oncorena AB is a Swedish pharma company headquartered in Lund. The company develops a new potential breakthrough treatment for patients with advanced kidney cancer. The treatment is based on research at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, led by professors Börje Haraldsson and Jenny Nyström. The project was initially developed with support from Vinnova, Sweden’s Innovation Agency, GU Ventures at the University of Gothenburg and private business angels. Today Oncorena is mainly financed by the investment companies HealthCap, Linc AB, Fåhraeus Startup and Growth AB, as well as the biotech company AQILION AB. For more information, please visit Oncorena´s website at www.oncorena.com
