Norway’s biopharma industry expands its global reach

The global demand for contrast media is expected to double within a decade. In medical imaging, contrast materials help to distinguish selected areas of the body from surrounding tissue, improving diagnostics and thus patient outcomes.

Norway is already a global leader in contrast fluid production. Now GE HealthCare will expand its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facility in Lindesnes, Norway, to increase production capacity of iodinated contrast media by 30 per cent. The US-based company will invest USD 80 million in the expansion, enabling production of an additional 30 million patient doses by 2025.

Contrast media is Norway’s largest export product in the medical field. Together with GE HealthCare, Bayer and Thermo Fisher Scientific are the leading contributors to Norwegian exports in the health and life science industry, which accounts for about EUR 2 to 3 billion in export value.

Moreover, Norwegian Vistin Pharma produces about 10 per cent of the world’s demand for Metformin, a drug used to manage Type II diabetes, while Palla Pharma Norway manufactures codeine phosphate, a type of opiate and an analgesic agent used for pain relief.

In addition, NextPharma, a leading European pharmaceutical company, recently completed its acquisition of a state-of-the-art chewable tablets manufacturing site in Asker, Norway.

Cancer treatment has generally used drugs and modalities that are cytotoxic to both cancer cells and healthy cells. Advances in precision medicine, however, open new possibilities for selective targeting of cancer cells. Here Norway is a global leader, thanks in part to its outstanding cancer research, exemplified in the work of the Oslo Science City innovation district, which is home to Oslo Cancer Cluster.

Caedo Oncology, for example, develops new strategies for monoclonal antibody-based therapy, focused on activation of distinctive pathways for cell death in cancer cells. Founded in 2020, the company has identified new and proprietary monoclonal antibodies, based on research performed at Oslo University Hospital.

In 2024, Curida, a Norwegian drug developer and manufacturer, announced a significant growth investment from New York-based Signet Healthcare Partners. Currently in an expansion phase, Curida delivers nasal spray and liquid pharmaceuticals as well as monoclonal antibodies for use in immunotherapy to fight cancer and other diseases.

International partnerships validate Norway’s biotech community and the quality of research and innovation. A notable company in this regard is Nykode, which has garnered global interest for its discovery and development of novel cancer vaccines and immunotherapies.

In 2024, Nykode announced the expansion of its collaboration with the biopharma heavyweight MSD to include a clinical trial targeting locally advanced cervical cancer. Moreover, the company has multimillion-dollar agreements with Regeneron and Genentech, and it collaborates in oncology with Nektar Therapeutics.

In radiopharmaceuticals, the multinational company Bayer entered Norway in 2011 when it acquired Algeta, developer of an anti-cancer drug based on radium-223, a radioactive isotype. Now known as Xofigo, the drug is used to treat prostate cancer that has spread to the bone. Production and research activities are still located in Norway, where similar methods for treating breast cancer and lung cancer are under development.

Not all precision medicine targets cancer.

Tribune Therapeutics develops drugs that target the drivers of fibrosis. Fibrotic cells produce a cascade of signalling proteins, causing healthy tissue to be replaced with collagen. Tribune’s strategy interrupts the signalling that leads to scarring and, potentially, to crucial organ failure.

Founded in 2021, the company was launched to commercialise innovations from the Institute for Surgical Research at Oslo University Hospital. HealthCap, a European venture capital firm, and Novo Seeds, a leading early-stage life-science investor in Scandinavia, provided the seed funding.

Norwegian biopharma is finding ways to extract useful compounds from marine organisms, leading to innovations in health and life science. The sector has a special advantage – namely, synergies with Norway’s thriving marine industry. This puts biopharma in a unique position to create value from untapped marine resources.

In a groundbreaking innovation, Ocean TuniCell produces medical-grade biomaterial scaffolding for biomedical applications ranging from wound healing and cell therapy to organ reconstruction. The biomaterial is produced from the tunicate Ciona intestinalis, a marine invertebrate which the company farms off the Norwegian coast.

ArcticZymes Technologies develops novel enzymes for use in molecular research, diagnostics and therapeutics. Located in North Norway, the company harnesses its Arctic marine environment to discover cold-adapted enzymes, addressing industry challenges such as high-salt and low-temperature efficiency.

For Norwegian biopharma companies, protecting the marine environment is part and parcel of their business operations.

Arctic Bioscience uses herring roe, a previously discarded fish byproduct, to extract useful compounds for nutritional supplements, while Aker BioMarine uses low and zero-emission technology to fish in Antarctic waters for krill, a tiny protein-rich crustacean regarded as a renewable resource.

As the world’s leading supplier of krill, Aker BioMarine covers the entire supply chain from harvesting to production, and its krill-based ingredients are sold for use in aquaculture, animal feed and human nutritional supplements.

Similarly, Zooca, based in North Norway, sustainably harvests Calanus finmarchicus, the world’s most abundant species of zooplankton and one of the Norwegian Sea’s largest renewable resources. The company manufactures supplements rich in fatty acids for human health and nutrition as well as premium ingredients for aquaculture feed.

Whether at sea or on land, biopharma activities in Norway are inherently more sustainable than in most other locations, thanks to the country’s access to clean energy and abundant clean water. Manufacturing runs mainly on renewable hydropower, while transport and industrial processes are becoming increasingly electrified.

In addition, Norwegian biopharma companies develop ways to reduce waste and raw material consumption while increasing responsible by-product disposal. They also implement technologies that transform by-products into new commercial products. Finally, special programmes enable hospitals and clinics to return unused products to the biopharma company for reprocessing and reuse.