Orion is a globally operating Finnish developer of pharmaceuticals and diagnostic tests. It develops, manufactures and markets human & veterinary pharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients and diagnostic tests. It is continuously developing new drugs and treatment methods. The core therapy areas of Orion’s pharmaceutical R&D are central nervous system (CNS) disorders, oncology and respiratory for which Orion develops inhaled Easyhaler® pulmonary drugs. Orion’s expenditure on pharmaceutical research and product development accounts for on average 10% of net sales. Orion’s pharmaceutical R&D concentrates on early-phase drug development (discovery, pre-clinical studies and Phase I & Phase II clinical trials). Collaboration with both academic and pharma partners is important through the whole R&D value chain. Orion’s pharmaceutical innovations are created within its R&D organization. R&D employs top professionals in the field of drug research and development. There are around 500 professionals working in R&D. Orion has facilities in Espoo, Turku and Kuopio in Finland, in Nottingham in England and Mumbai in India.
The Orion R&D functions involved in the TransQST includes Drug Disposition & Pharmacometrics, Biomarker Research as well as In vitro Biology. The expertises that can be found in these functions comprise e.g. modelling capabilities, pathway analyses as well as understanding of toxicity mechanisms.
Orion has been an active participant in several IMI projects, the most relevant ones with respect to TranQST being MIP DILI and OrBiTo projects; national scientific projects related to translational medicine.