Technology transfer specialists step up as business development officer with HUNT Biosciences.

HUNT Biosciences, the commercial arm of the HUNT Study and associated biobank today announced the appointment of former Special Adviser Håkon Haaheim as its new BDO responsible for collaboration projects with pharmaceutical and life science industry. Haaheim has been working with development of molecular diagnostics in the field of microbiology since 1991. He also has a long track record of technology transfer and has been in charge of innovation activity at the University Hospital of North Norway since 2005.

HUNT Biosciences offers access to HUNT Databank, a fully established Norwegian population-based prospective biobank, leveraging more than 25 years of medical records and biological samples, representing a regional cohort of close to 100.000 individuals. In addition to genetic samples, HUNT Databank comprises more than 800 exposure variables and nearly 3000 different variables per individual. Haaheim points to HUNT as uni Biosciences provides pharmaceutical and healthcare companies with biomarker discovery and validation services. These are based on the unique HUNT Study, which for the past 25 years has gathered blood samples from the general population of the Nord-Trøndelag region together with detailed phenotype and environmental data. Foss joins just as recruitment for the third phase, HUNT III has closed, again with an astonishing high inclusion rate of 60%. This will bring the total recruitment number of unique individuals to 135,000 and reinforce the core strengths in key public health areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obstructive lung disease, osteoporosis and mental health. More than 60 % of the participants have been screened twice, 25 % have participated in all three surveys.

Ref	HUNT Biosciences AS 09.09
Corporate and Media Inquiries	Per A Foss, CEO, HUNT Biosciences AS Mobile: +47 95124048 Email: per.a.foss@huntbiosciences.com

Notes to editors
The HUNT Study and its associated biobank represent a regional cohort of more than 100.000 individuals and is part of CONOR, the Cohort of Norway. In addition to professionally stored genetic samples, the HUNT Study comprises more than 3000 clinical variables including 800 environmental exposure variables collected since the early 1980s. This unique resource operates as a satellite to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology ( NTNU) in Trondheim and is situated in a new, specially designed National Biobank building with state-of-the-art infrastructure, storing samples from 250 000 CONOR participants. The Norwegian authorities have earned the population’s trust through a well-established framework and rigorous routines for protection of personal information. Based on this trust and the unique system of unambiguous personal identification numbers, the HUNT Study offers integration of biobank data with other national registries on clinical information and medical end-points, as well as genealogical and family linkage information.

Genetics
DNA from about 250.000 individuals (CONOR) and 15.000 RNA samples Immortalized cells for cell line production from 50.000 individuals Genetic expression analysis from tumor biopsies can also be provided from selected HUNT participants.

Phenotype
Precise information on health status and extensive lifestyle data Cross-linkage to local clinical endpoints and national registries: "Medical Birth". "Cause of Death", "Prescription Registry", "Cancer Registry" and other validated clinical endpoint registries on myocardial infarction, venous tromboembolism, stroke and factures based on local hospital records.

Environment
Coverage of more than 800 exposure variables
Prospective information due to long observation period

The HUNT Study is also an integrated part of three EU projects in FP 6 and FP 7 and its role in EU funded medical research is expected to be further extended and deepened in the Framework 7 programs. HUNT cooperates actively with a number of European biobanks, and the COBOR consortium signed a bilateral national agreement with UK Biobank in 2005, including the development of integrated solutions for data management and automated sample handling.