Our Story
Cancer is the leading cause of death in dogs and cats. One in four dogs will develop cancer in their lifetime, and cancer causes nearly 50% of deaths in dogs over age 10. Pet parents are met with very limited treatment options relying on toxic, outdated chemotherapies. Veterinary oncology thus remains decades behind human medicine, representing a significant business opportunity.
We, Alv B AS, are a privately owned Norwegian biotech that develops cancer therapy through combining validated immune therapy from human medicine with new routes of administration, firstly focusing on companion animals, keeping a low-risk focus and utilizing knowledge in comparative oncology.
Comparative Oncology
What is it?
Comparative oncology is the study of naturally occurring cancers in model systems such as pet dogs, whereby the development of novel cancer therapeutics for treating such cancers can be used as a foundation to improve cancer treatment in humans or vice versa. Dogs, and cats, spontaneously develop cancer the same way humans do. Many of the cancers that develop in our pets share the same biology to those we develop as humans, such as breast, bone, skin and prostate cancers as well as a full spectrum of blood cancers, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and virally induced cancers.
Our Strategy
At Alv B, we are committed to improving cancer care in dogs, and ultimately humans. Through clinical trials in naturally occurring cancers in dogs, we can determine if a novel therapy is likely to be efficacious for humans while also benefiting dogs with cancer in need. This can greatly reduce the risk of failure in later clinical phases in humans.
So thanks to comparative oncology, not only do we get to improve cancer treatment in our beloved pets, we could also take one more step to improving cancer care in humans.
Jørund Sollid
Chief Executive Officer
Jørund Sollid is the Chief Executive Offier at Alv B. He holds a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Oslo. Operational focused and strategy-driven executive and deal-maker with over 20 years of hands-on experience in various international and national roles, including corporate strategy, commercial operations, deal-making and strategic partnerships, within the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, e.g. Roche, Mundipharma, Lytix Biopharma and Servier.
Francesca Gatti
Chief Operating Officer
Francesca Gatti is the Chief Operating Officer at ALV B. She is a molecular and cellular biologist with a PhD in Biotechnology with focus on immunology and biomaterials, from the University of Salento in collaboration with Harvard Medical School. Since 2019 she has worked in biotechs developing solutions for molecular diagnostics of infectious diseases and cancer.
Lars Moe
Chief Medical Officer
Lars Moe is a former professor in internal medicine for small animals. He has more than 40 years’ experience as a teacher, researcher, and leader in many aspects of veterinary science. His main research has been in clinical oncology, focusing on causation, including hereditary cancers, cancer epidemiology, diagnostics, and therapy. He has a broad collaboration experience with veterinary faculties and experts within the field around the globe.
Mikael Kerboeuf
Chief Scientific Officer
Mikael Kerboeuf is the Chief Scientific Officer at Alv B. He holds a Ph.D. degree in veterinary medicine from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. His research is primarily centered on cancer metastasis and utilizing dogs as translational cancer models for human diseases. His expertise area is the link between the immune system and cancer metastasis.
Gry Stensrud
Chief Technical Officer
Gry Stensrud is the Chief Technical Officer in Alv B. She is a pharmacist with a Ph.D in Pharmaceutical Technology. She has > 25 years experience from the biotech-, pharma- and med tech industry , holding senior and management positions at GE Healthcare, Photocure and Lytix Biopharma. Her core competence is within CMC, pharmaceuticals and medical devices with experience spanning from preclinical studies to commercial manufacture and supply. Her expertise includes strategic partnerships, due diligence, agreements, quality and regulatory affairs.
Anja Holm
Head of Regulatory Affairs
Anja Holm is the Head of Regulatory Affairs. She is trained as a veterinary surgeon (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, DVM), KVL, Copenhagen University, Veterinary faculty. She has close to 25 years’ experience in the veterinary regulatory field as assessor, strategic advisor and independent consultant. She worked for many years in the Danish Medicines Agency as chief advisor, veterinarian and Danish representative in the EU Head of Unit for Clinical Trials with human and vet medicinal products. She was 12 years in the Committee for Veterinary Medicines (CVMP) in the European Medicines Agency, EMA, where she also chaired the CVMP for 6 years.
Marcus Sahlin Pettersen
Chair
Christoffer Falchenberg
Member
Kristin Bjerke
Member
