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Bioprospecting in the Arctic - UNU-IAS - United Nations University

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34<br />

Company Product(s) and areas of Research and<br />

Development <strong>in</strong>terest related to <strong>Arctic</strong> genetic<br />

resources<br />

Pharma Mar PharmaMar is a biopharmaceutical company with<br />

headquarters <strong>in</strong> Madrid (Spa<strong>in</strong>) and laboratories <strong>in</strong><br />

Cambridge (USA). PharmaMar is fully owned by <strong>the</strong><br />

Zeltia Group and traded on <strong>the</strong> Spanish Stock Exchange<br />

(ZEL) with a market capitalization of over 1.5 Billion<br />

euros.<br />

PharmaMar was founded <strong>in</strong> 1986, and its ma<strong>in</strong> bus<strong>in</strong>ess<br />

focus is on exploit<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> potential of <strong>the</strong> oceans as<br />

a source of novel medic<strong>in</strong>es for improved cancer<br />

treatment. PharmaMar has a collection of 50,000<br />

mar<strong>in</strong>e organisms obta<strong>in</strong>ed from expeditions around <strong>the</strong><br />

world. 700 new chemical entities have been discovered<br />

and 30 new families of compounds have been identified.<br />

PharmaMar also has 3 molecules <strong>in</strong> advanced precl<strong>in</strong>ical<br />

development.<br />

More than 6,000 cancer patients have already been<br />

treated with PharmaMar agents <strong>in</strong> cl<strong>in</strong>ical trials <strong>in</strong> more<br />

than 200 hospitals <strong>in</strong> Europe, US and Canada.<br />

ES-285 is a syn<strong>the</strong>tic molecule be<strong>in</strong>g developed by<br />

PharmaMar orig<strong>in</strong>ally found <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> mollusc Mactromeris<br />

polynyma (<strong>Arctic</strong> Clam). ES-285 has shown precl<strong>in</strong>ical<br />

anti-tumour activity <strong>in</strong> a variety of human tumour types<br />

<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g liver, prostate, kidney and melanoma, and<br />

also <strong>in</strong> models of metastases. Currently it is <strong>in</strong> Phase I<br />

cl<strong>in</strong>ical trials <strong>in</strong> patients with advanced malignant solid<br />

tumors.<br />

Primex ehf Production of Chitosan and chit<strong>in</strong> derivatives for use <strong>in</strong><br />

food, cosmetics, biomedical and <strong>in</strong>dustrial applications<br />

derived from shrimp shells.<br />

Prokaria ehf Prokaria’s ma<strong>in</strong> areas of activity are <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> discovery,<br />

research and development of products and applications<br />

from natural organisms. Prokaria’s current primary<br />

focus is <strong>in</strong> two fields; a) Environmental genomic<br />

applications of <strong>the</strong>rmophilic organisms (bacteria and<br />

viruses) from Icelandic geo<strong>the</strong>rmal areas and b) applied<br />

fish genetics.<br />

Pronova<br />

Biopharma<br />

(previously known<br />

as Pronova<br />

Biocare)<br />

Probio Group<br />

Hold<strong>in</strong>gs<br />

Pronova BioPharma (previously Pronova Biocare)<br />

is a global leader <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> research, development and<br />

manufacture of mar<strong>in</strong>e-orig<strong>in</strong>ated omega-3 derived<br />

pharmaceutical products.<br />

The research programs of Pronova BioPharma are<br />

aim<strong>in</strong>g at new lipid compounds hav<strong>in</strong>g more specific<br />

biological effects than natural PUFAs, and Pronova<br />

BioPharma is focus<strong>in</strong>g on two ma<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>rapeutic areas:<br />

The cardiovascular/metabolic area and <strong>the</strong> chronic<br />

<strong>in</strong>flammation area.<br />

Pronova BioPharma’s emphasis is on a new generation<br />

of naturally derived pharmaceuticals based on R&D<br />

with<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> mar<strong>in</strong>e area. They actively participate <strong>in</strong><br />

programs that cover bioprospect<strong>in</strong>g projects that<br />

screen mar<strong>in</strong>e compounds through professional drug<br />

discovery programs and test identified lead compounds<br />

through <strong>the</strong>ir established network <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g research<br />

organisations and universities.<br />

Pronova BioPharma is a partner <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mabcent<br />

Initiative (See Box 5)<br />

Probio Group Hold<strong>in</strong>gs is a partner <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mabcent<br />

Initiative See Box 5 above.<br />

Location, Country Web address<br />

Spa<strong>in</strong> and USA www.pharmamar.es/en<br />

Reykjavik (R &D),<br />

& Siglufjordur<br />

(Production),<br />

Iceland<br />

www.primex.is<br />

Iceland www.prokaria.com<br />

Norway and<br />

Denmark<br />

http://www.pronova.com/

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