Annual Report 2020

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The Finnish start-up company Valo Therapeutics and the Immuno Viro Therapy lab at the University of Helsinki are working to develop a 3D model that can predict the effects of immunotherapy in individual patients.

Common usage often classifies cancers based on their site of origin in the body: breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer. However, the same cancer can be a very different disease for different individuals.

“In fact it’s true to say that every patient has their own disease,” says oncology researcher Mikaela Grönholm from the Immuno Viro Therapy team at the University of Helsinki. This is why the current therapeutic approach of destroying the tumour at a certain body site is becoming outdated. A new strategy is emerging with the evolution of immunotherapy, which is focused on activating the patient’s own immune system.

Immunotherapy has achieved excellent results in the treatment of melanoma or skin cancer, for instance. But Mikaela says there are currently two obstacles to the wider adoption of immunotherapy: “We still know very little about who can benefit from the therapy and who can’t. And secondly, developing and testing treatments is an expensive process and we don’t yet have good testing models in place.”

The Finnish start-up company Valo Therapeutics is working closely with the Immuno Viro Therapy team at the University of Helsinki to find a solution to this testing problem. They are growing 3D mini-tumours that include both cancer tissue, the cancer microenvironment and the patient’s own immune cells. The team are also involved in the Academy of Finland’s iCAN cancer flagship project (Digital Precision Medicine platform).

It is noteworthy that the model is entirely anthropogenic and therefore works in the exact same way as in the human body. “The model will benefit everyone working on immunotherapy,” says Mikaela Grönholm, who is involved in the project as postdoc researcher. 

Business cooperation opens up interesting research questions

Grönholm says that collaboration between an academic partner and a start-up company brings together the unique strengths of both parties and for the researcher provides an excellent vantage point over the way the business operates. “In the academic world you’re allowed to take risks, to be curious and to experiment, whereas a business will set specific targets for research and formulate research questions that are interesting from a drug development point of view.”

When researchers get to work with a start-up company, they also get the opportunity to influence and express their views about the technology under development. “I’m involved in creating tools that are immediately put to use in the company.”

Grönholm believes that collaborations between academia and business companies could still be expanded. That is why incentives such as FRIF’s Tandem funding scheme are so important. 

Promising results from collaboration

The 3D model created by Valo Therapeutics and the University of Helsinki team is applicable to all aspects of immunotherapy development. What is more, the project will provide crucial information about the applicability of immunotherapy for different people. It makes use of the oncolytic viruses manufactured by Valo Therapeutics, which trigger the organism’s immune responses in the body. The team have now been using these viruses to test their model, and the results are promising. The next step is to raise the bar and enter more variables into the model.

Start-up companies and researchers both share a strong passion for problem-solving. “It’s unbelievable what cancer can do to the body. That is what makes cancer research so fascinating and so challenging. I want to find ways to cure cancer,” Grönholm says. 

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The science-based start-up IQM is working in close collaboration with Aalto University to improve the fundamental operations of quantum computers. If successful, this work will have potentially monumental impacts. 

Quantum computing has been making headlines in Finnish newspapers over the past year. In late 2020 the Finnish government announced an investment of 20.7 million euros into quantum computing, and science-based start-up IQM was selected as innovation partner for VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Alongside this co-innovation partnership, IQM is working to create an ecosystem that includes multiple research groups, collaborations across different research institutions and discussions with decision-makers. 

“Building a quantum computer is not something that can be done by a single company, a single research group, or a single research institution. The only way it can be achieved is through a collaborative effort,” says Jan Goetz, co-founder and CEO of IQM. 

IQM is a start-up founded at Aalto University. Much of the expertise in quantum computing remains at Aalto, and the collaboration between IQM and Aalto is pivotal to creating the future of quantum computing. Even though quantum computing has made huge advances in the past decade, the most basic operations are still prone to error. The research team is exploring ways of how to improve the fundamental operations of quantum computers. 

Improving the fundamentals may have potentially enormous impact. “If you get the core of the technology right, the higher-level operations will improve as well,” says Goetz. 

There are many ways to increase academia–industry collaboration

Quantum computing is a good example of so-called deep tech where collaboration between academia and industry is paramount. While industry partners can focus on the bigger picture and impact, research offers insight into the details that are necessary for the technology to become truly groundbreaking. 

Goetz himself has a PhD in physics and was working on the research himself before moving to become CEO of IQM. 

He believes the best way to create meaningful technology transfer is to bring people together. “Collaborations like this are very important, they create connections between people.”

Jan Goetz knows that there are still hurdles to overcome before there can be truly effective collaboration between academia and industry. The biggest hurdle lies in intellectual property rights. “I think universities are too heavily preoccupied with immediate gains from IPs. They could well content themselves with smaller initial gains and continue to grow the innovation with the team. That way, once it’s successful, everyone would gain more.”

Another way to accelerate this kind of collaboration could be through investments in research infrastructure. “It’s very expensive to set up a laboratory. If companies can create the necessary facilities for new research findings, they can also attract researchers and gain from the results made at those facilities.”

Quantum computing success depends on know-how and expertise 

Although Finland currently has a strong foothold in quantum computing, Goetz recognizes that a lot of hard work is still needed to scale the know-how and convince the global market to switch to quantum computing. He appreciates the political investment that has been made into quantum computing in Finland and stresses that this is exactly the kind of strategic thinking that is needed to create a global success story. 

In the end, it all comes down to know-how. Without a constant flow of new and brilliant researchers, quantum computing cannot live up to the expectations. IQM currently has 10 PhD candidates in training at the company in order to build up a stronger base of expertise in quantum computing. 

There is an exceptional mindset, drive and commitment to get quantum computing right. Now it will just take time, people and collaboration. “This is a moonshot project. You won’t get it done overnight.”

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Scientists from the University of Oulu are working closely with Boliden Kokkola to produce new fundamental knowledge about metal sulfates, for which there is huge need both in research and industry.

Lithium-ion batteries are used to power everything from mobile phones to electric cars. The metal sulfates used in making these batteries are therefore in huge demand. Although Finland has strong traditions in the manufacture of basic metals, the properties and behaviour of metal sulfates in water are still poorly understood. “As long as we lack this fundamental understanding, it’s difficult to theoretically predict what might happen in certain processes,” says Professor Ulla Lassi, head of the Research Unit of Sustainable Chemistry at the University of Oulu.

Lassi and her team have developed equipment that can help fill in these gaps in knowledge. They are particularly interested in zinc and transition metals such as copper and nickel. Joining forces with Europe’s second-largest zinc producers Boliden Kokkola, the team are now working to develop a thermodynamic computation model that can be used to assess the behaviour of aqueous transition metal sulfate solutions in different conditions. The idea is to create a model that is applicable to different metal sulfates and that will serve different industries.

New knowledge can reshape the entire research field

The new knowledge and understanding brought about by the model may ultimately help to improve metal manufacturing processes and reduce costs and environmental burdens. “A better understanding about key properties will make it possible to reduce temperatures at certain stages of the process, to reduce loss in production and to make better use of manufacturing by-products,” Lassi says.  

Boliden Kokkola have for years been working to upgrade the materials and energy efficiency of their production processes, and collaboration with the University of Oulu promises to yield even greater efficiency. At the same time, this collaboration will generate new knowledge that has application even outside the company. All the information produced will be open-access.

Lassi believes that the field of aqueous chemistry is undergoing a major generational shift. Tuomas Vielma, the postdoc researcher on Lassi’s team, owes his expertise in thermodynamic modelling and computation to leading Australian gurus in the field, who are now in their seventies and eighties. This used to be an important line of research in Finland, and Lassi hopes that the work underway at the University of Oulu will provide a new boost to this research direction. “The information we are producing will benefit a very large number of scientists. There’s a real need for it.”

Close contacts and exchange are essential for good cooperation 

Boliden Kokkola and the University of Oulu team are working very closely together. They have at least weekly contact, and from the outset the partners have regularly exchanged views on how to further strengthen and improve their collaboration.

The project supervisor on the business side, Justin Salminen has a PhD himself. This makes it easier to find a common language. Another important asset, Lassi continues, lies in Tuomas Vielma’s excellent communications skills and his ability to talk with businesses. “Finnish companies want to work with universities so long as we don’t speak too theoretically.”

The team’s collaboration with Boliden Kokkola started in January 2021 and already they have produced publishable results. Given the high demand for new knowledge, all articles published in the project have much novelty value. Lassi has far-ranging expectations for future collaboration as well: “Once this project is completed we have two or three new projects in the pipeline that we’ll start working on together.”

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The Finnish Research Impact Foundation was created by the Finnish Government on 7 March 2019 in response to the need to stimulate cooperation between academic research and industry. The Foundation’s mission is to support closer connections between leading-edge research and business and industry in Finland and to provide a platform for the development of Finnish know-how and renewal in the long term.

The Foundation’s first full year of operations in 2020 was one full of activity – despite the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. FRIF’s first networking event and the launch of its first funding call were scheduled for 13 March 2020, two days after the World Health Organization WHO declared the coronavirus as a pandemic. This marked the beginning of working from home, and the launch of the funding call was turned into a virtual event at the last minute.

FRIF has addressed the challenge of deepening academia–industry collaboration by developing a novel funding model. The first Tandem Industry Academia funding call met with an extremely popular response: we received 92 joint applications from research organizations and business companies. Once the high-level applications had been reviewed by outside experts, FRIF’s Board of Directors decided in August to award a total of 2 million euros in funding to 11 projects. A new chapter had been opened in the field of research funding. 

In the autumn, FRIF hosted a virtual reception for our first grant recipients. We heard enthusiastic greetings from 11 top researchers about the challenges they were planning to tackle. The projects funded are concerned with burning social issues from the reduction of CO2 emissions to the development of quantum computers and more accurate methods for testing cancer drugs. They all contribute to strengthen academia–industry cooperation as postdoc researchers move between the research organization and business company. Ideally both parties make a unique contribution towards the common goal.

We expect that through the projects funded, we will be able to generate direct impacts and achieve an indirect social impact in the longer term. Furthermore, we are keen to learn more about how the impact of research can be enhanced: to undertake new experiments and to pilot new models for funding. We will continue to pursue our efforts in line with the Foundation’s recently updated strategy.

In late 2020 we also opened a second funding call to find a research team that would investigate and assess FRIF’s own funding model and to develop indicators and methods of impact assessment. We are very much looking forward to the results of this project which we expect will benefit the field of science and research funding more widely. 

In 2021 we will be moving into the post-Covid era. The past year of the coronavirus has certainly brought home the pivotal role that science plays in resolving the challenges faced by humankind and in supporting decision-makers. The need for closer collaboration between academic research and industry is only set to increase in the future. The Finnish Research Impact Foundation is keen to be involved in supporting this collaboration.

Petro Poutanen, CEO of the Finnish Research Impact Foundation

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The role of the board of directors in running an organization is sometimes described by reference to the stages of company evolution. In a growth company, the board needs to have the ability to develop strategic roadmaps and make choices. In a more established business, the focus shifts to reinforcing the firm’s current market position and to following the board’s annual calendar. Sometimes the routines of the board’s daily work overshadow the need to question the organization’s current direction.

The early work of FRIF’s Board of Directors, starting from its foundation in 2019 and well into 2020, may well be described as the start-up company stage: the focus is on such aspects as product development, charting the market, understanding client needs and developing a business model.

During this period we have built a foundation for the sustainable management of our investment assets, created a brand strategy, produced a communications framework, developed our administrative structure and engaged in discussions with stakeholder groups. In 2020 we launched our first “product”, the Tandem Industry Academia funding call, specifically targeted at precompetitive research cooperation between research organizations and business companies, and continued to build up networks for the new foundation.

It is never easy for a new operator to break into the marketplace. In early 2020 we registered under the auxiliary trade name of The Finnish Research Impact Foundation. This was an important part of building the Foundation’s identity and brand: we were keen to communicate a sense of impact, to create a positive and interesting image of a new player in the field, and also to challenge conventional notions of a foundation as a research funding agency. We hope that we have been successful in projecting such an image.

In late 2020 we began to look into the reasons for the slowdown in cooperation between academia and industry. Our findings indicated that in the past 10 years, long-term cooperation has been effectively hampered, among other things, by cutbacks in public research funding, which appears to be critical to research-driven innovation.

Funding can help to generate and support collaboration, but money alone is not the answer. According to our report, successful cooperation depends crucially on long-term relationships and trust. Indeed, one of FRIF’s key roles is to create new solutions and models to further deepen cooperation and interaction.

The main focus for the Finnish Research Impact Foundation right now is to facilitate collaboration between academia and industry, to “collide” the different parties as we move towards the “growth company stage”. To this end we want to invite both academic and business partners to become involved with us in building a framework that will make it possible to extract even greater impact from Finnish research excellence – to the benefit of both parties.

Lauri Oksanen, Chairman of the Board of the Finnish Research Impact Foundation