Bionor Holding AS is a Norwegian biotechnology company, developing vaccines targeted at rapidly mutating virus infections such as

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

and

Influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

. The company is also a leader in soy technology and has developed patented products for improved health and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases. It was founded by

Cand.med. Candidate of Medicine ( la, candidatus medicinae (male), ''candidata medicinae'' (female), abbreviated cand. med.) is an academic degree awarded in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway following a six-year medical school education. Medical students in ...

and Dr.philos. in protein and lipid research, Lars Høie.

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 for sale in 19 European countries, and in 2009 for

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

CIS countries The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

. The brand Nutrilett was in 2010 sold to the

Orkla Orkla may refer to: Places * Orkla (river), a river in Trøndelag county, Norway Business * Orkla Group (or ''Orkla ASA''), a large Norwegian company * Orkla Mining Company, a historic company in Norway * Orkla Metall, a former smelting company in ...

-owned health-supplements firm Axellus. 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. In 2016, the company was taken over by new investors who pivoted its business from biotech to property management, under the new name Solon. Since January 2018, the shareholders unanimously adopted to change the name of the company from Bionor Pharma AS to Bionor Holding AS.

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.

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 Celgene Corporation is a pharmaceutical company that makes cancer and immunology drugs. Its major product is Revlimid ( lenalidomide), which is used in the treatment of multiple myeloma, and also in certain anemias. The company is incorporated in ...

`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.

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.

References

{{Reflist Vaccine producers Companies based in Oslo Pharmaceutical companies established in 1993 Norwegian companies established in 1993 Companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange Biotechnology companies established in 1993 Biotechnology companies of Norway Norwegian brands