OligoNova Network gathers research on the medicines of the future

The conference was organized by OligoNova, Sweden's national infrastructure for oligonucleotide therapies and part of the SciLifeLab Drug Discovery and Development platform (DDD). The Director of Science for OligoNova, Pär Matsson, hopes that the research network and the national infrastructure OligoNova Hub can benefit patients by discovering findings from academic research more quickly. As a result, the process of developing medicines for groups that currently lack treatment can be simplified.

- A number of online meetings have been held during the almost one and a half years that OligoNova has been active, but this was the first physical meeting, and also the first research meeting in Sweden that focuses entirely on the development of therapeutic oligonucleotides, says Pär Matsson.

A national ecosystem

OligoNova Network is part of the larger OligoNova project. The network aims to establish a national ecosystem for the research field therapeutic oligonucleotides, promote interactions between academia and industry, and create conditions for research and development in the field.

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- It became clear at the network conference that Swedish research is internationally competitive in terms of basic biological research in the field, says Pär Matsson.

New contacts

For many of the participants, the network meeting also meant meeting with other Swedish researchers active in related specialties for the first time. The new contacts made during the meeting are expected to lead to new research collaborations - both in smaller constellations and in larger collaborative projects.

- The arena for discussions that OligoNova Network entails opens up for further exchange of research findings and experiences between experts within academica and industry. The network is a condition for a continued leading pharmaceutical and biotech industry in Sweden, and at the same time benefits academic research in the field, says Pär Matsson.