NaDeNo Nanoscience AS becomes second PHOENIX Open Call recipient
The PHOENIX-OITB consortium is pleased to announce that NaDeNo Nanoscience AS was selected to receive pro bono services in nanopharmaceutical development within our second Open Call.

NaDeNo Nanoscience AS’s innovative idea
NaDeNo is an innovative Norwegian spin-off company from SINTEF that has developed a proprietary platform technology to overcome drug delivery hurdles of hydrophobic drugs. Their lead oncology candidate, PACAB-002, is a proprietary nanoformulation of cabazitaxel encapsulated in polymeric nanoparticles with currently ongoing preclinical studies showing even distribution and long drug retention in time in the treated area, tumor-specific accumulation, and over 97% tumor reduction compared to the free drug.
The PHOENIX-OITB services will help NaDeNo Nanoscience AS to “greatly speed up the costly and lenghtly process of taking our much-needed nanomedicine product to patients in urgent need of a better treatment solution”. The NaDeNo team stated that “the outstanding one-stop service available through the PHOENIX-OITB allowing for a seamless technology transfer of nanomedicines from non-GMP to GMP will give NaDeNo unique acccess to highly needed competence and infrastructure.”
Support for the manufacturing, testing and release of drug product according to appropriate GMP standards and advanced physicochemical characterisation of the drug product according to regulatory requirements following the received feedback from regulatory authorities will be the highlights of the services offered by PHOENIX-OITB partners.
PHOENIX SEP is ready to exercise its workflows, knowledge and expertise based on the established Service Portfolio developed during the execution of the PHOENIX-OITB project to bring NaDeNo’s lead candidate to the clinic. Transparent, open and straightforward communication led to the smooth design and definition of the pro bono services to be offered to NaDeNo in the frame of the second PHOENIX Open Call.

Application process
Eligible applicants included any legal entity (SMEs, startup and RTO) or research group based in the European Union or associated countries of H2020. The Evaluation Committee assessed the proposals in terms of excellence, implementation and impact criteria.
The second Open Call was launched 11 March 2024 as a two-stage application process. The first stage closed 3 May 2024. Applications received were reviewed by a consortial Evaluation Committee. Applicants passing the first evaluation stage were informed on 3 June 2024 and invited to proceed to the second stage with a more detailed application and interview.
Selection of NaDeNo Nanoscience AS
NaDeNo Nanoscience AS received the highest scores by the Evaluation Committee. Contract negotiation and exchange of information began immediately, leading to the Open Call Kick-Off Meeting in December 2024. Here the relevant PHOENIX-OITB Service Providers came together in Überherrn, Germany, with the NaDeNo Nanoscience AS team to better detail the service offer. The services offered within the Open Call have been developed and implemented under the H2020 proect PHOENIX-OITB and will serve to assist in regulatory-related questions and advance NaDeNo’s product toward the clinic.
Bringing together services offered by the PHOENIX-OITB partners in a “one-stop-shop”, this Open Call will demonstrate in a relevant industrial environment the Single Entry Point (SEP) model developed out of the Open Innovatrion Test Bed (OITB) offering all relevant services for the easy and seamless transfer of nanopharmaceutical from lab to clinics.
To learn more about the comprehensive services offered ranging from physchem and in vitro and in vivo characterisation to manufacturing and innovation, visit https://phoenix-sep.com/.