EIB signs loan agreement of EUR 100 million with Finnish pharmaceutical company

The financing is designed to support Orion’s investments into research and development, thus backing the creation of new medicines, in the fields of oncology and neurological and respiratory diseases.

Orion Oyj, a Finnish pharmaceutical company, has signed a loan agreement of EUR 100m with the European Investment Bank this morning in Espoo.

The financing is designed to support Orion's investments into research and development, thus backing the creation of new medicines, in the fields of oncology and neurological and respiratory diseases. The project will run up to 2020 and will be mainly carried out at Orion's research centres in Finland.

At the signing ceremony, EIB Vice-President Alexander Stubb remarked: "The EIB used to be known as an infrastructure bank, but in recent years it has made an important shift towards supporting innovative companies, and very noticeably so in Finland. The project will boost the innovation capacity of a European life science business and help to preserve relevant sectoral know-how in Europe."

President and CEO of Orion Corporation Timo Lappalainen said: "We are pleased that the successful R&D financing cooperation with EIB continues".

Some of the main focus areas for the project's research are prostate cancer, other solid tumours and diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (known as ALS for short, for which the ice bucket challenge helped increase awareness) and respiratory therapy – treatment of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.