Keyword: drug development

Researchers at the University of Turku, Finland, have taken a step towards more personalised and effective cancer treatments. A new study has identified the conditions under which the antibody drug bexmarilimab can activate the body's own defence system against cancer, and how to identify patients who will benefit from the drug. The study was published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.

Genentech Director Andrew “Andy” Chan, the new Visiting Professor of the InFLAMES Flagship, will arrive in Turku on 26 May.

Students graduating this spring from the Degree Programme in Biomedicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Turku will present their Bachelor’s theses at the Terveydeksi - New Discoveries 2025! thesis seminar. In addition, students from the Drug Discovery and Development and Biomedical Imaging tracks of the Biomedical Sciences Master's programme and students from the Human Neuroscience Master's programme will present their Master's theses at the seminar. Some of the Biomedical Imaging students are from Åbo Akademi University.

Riikka Oksala, PhD, is Head of DMPK & Safety Sciences, R&D at Orion Pharma. The Alum of the Year recognition was awarded to Oksala at the Anniversary Celebration of the University of Turku on 27 February 2025. 

The research group of Professor Riitta Lahesmaa have discovered a novel modulator for human regulatory T cells. This novel regulator can strengthen or dampen immune response and provides a new basis for therapeutic approaches for immune mediated diseases. The Lahesmaa group is based at Turku Bioscience Centre of the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University and is part of the InFLAMES Research Flagship.

Researchers at the University of Turku have uncovered how the new bexmarilimab therapy alters the function of immune cells so that they can infiltrate the tumour in cancer patients who do not respond to any other current therapies.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), also known as the squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, is the most common form of metastatic skin cancer. The incidence of cSCC is increasing worldwide with millions of new cases diagnosed each year. The prognosis of metastatic cSCC is poor as there are currently no effective targeted treatments available. New study conducted at the University of Turku, Finland, shows that plixorafenib, a new drug developed for treating melanoma and lung cancer, can also stop the progression of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

The higher education institutions of the Turku region together with Bayer organised a Corporate Corner event in Medisiina D and Visitor and Innovation Centre Joki on Monday, 10 October 2022. The event set out to discover new collaboration opportunities in the fields of pharmaceutical research, product development, and manufacturing technology. The event also featured an interactive and gamified drug development simulation organised in Visitor and Innovation Centre Joki in the afternoon.

Does Finland need its own drug development and manufacturing or will Europe take care of us even in the event of a crisis? Is the security of medicine supply guaranteed? These and other topics will be discussed in the InFLAMES panel discussion at the science day of the Turku Europe Forum on 24 August. The panel is organised at the Marina Palace at 11.30am-12.15pm. The discussion will be interpreted into English.

Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Krista Kiuru signed an agreement on the establishment of the national Drug Development Centre (Kansallinen lääkekehityskeskus Oy) on Friday, 4 February 2022. The establishment of the national Drug Development Centre in Turku will promote competitive drug development, and it will serve the researchers in the whole country, for example in universities, research centres, and hospitals.