Erhvervsudvalget 2020-21
ERU Alm.del Bilag 62
Offentligt
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MORE THAN 200
CORONAVIRUS-PROJECTS
AT UNIVERSITIES AND
HOSPITALS IN MEDICON
VALLEY, PAGE 44
STATE OF
MEDICON VALLEY 2020
An Analysis of Life Science
in Greater Copenhagen
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STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY 2020
An Analysis of Life Science in Greater Copenhagen
Commissioned and published by: Medicon Valley Alliance.
This analysis has been prepared by Øresundsinstituttet and
was written by Jenny Andersson, Anna Palmehag,
Thea Wiborg and Johan Wessman.
Project manager: Jenny Andersson.
Translation: Justina Bartoli.
Coverphoto: Astra Zeneca
November 2020
PREFACE
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the conditions surrounding many things in Med-
icon Valley. The number of personal meetings between researchers, clients, investors
and companies over national borders has declined, and the development toward more
digital meetings has accelerated. Moving between countries has become more difficult
for international students. Nevertheless, the region’s universities and businesses have
demonstrated the vast competence housed in Medicon Valley by actively taking part in the
development of vaccines and drugs to prevent and treat covid-19. As pages 44-45 show,
over 200 research projects have been launched at universities and hospitals in Medicon
Valley. In addition, many businesses in the region are venturing into corona research, either
with universities or on their own.
Fortunately, life science exports are going well. In 2019, Danish life science exports
reached a record-high of 133 billion DKK – a 25 per cent increase from the previous year,
which had also been a record-breaker. Danish life science is often foregrounded as a natio-
nal strength, as the sector fares well in times of crisis and helps create stability. Swedish
life science exports also increased, reaching 112 billion SEK (ca 79 billion DKK) from 2018
to 2019, which is a 26 per cent increase.
For life science companies’ Øresund-commuters, working from home has made the ques-
tion of where tax should be levied a concrete issue. The main rule in the Danish-Swedish
tax agreement is that tax should be paid in the country where the work is performed,
meaning that commuters who work from home will now have to declare and pay tax in
two countries, albeit not at the same time. That means a heavier administrative burden
for Swedes who are employed in Denmark, and for Danes who work in Sweden and pay a
so-called special income tax it will mean a higher tax rate in Denmark. Regulatory inconve-
niences of this kind have major consequences on both a regional and a national level and
make it more difficult to recruit key employees. This and other border obstacles that affect
trans-Øresund collaboration call strongly for national decision-makers to find constructive
solutions.
With its 300 members, the Danish-Swedish network organization Medicon Valley Alliance
has a unique opportunity to build bridges between national and regional initiatives, as well
as to create stronger links between the industry, academia and public healthcare providers
in the region. In the years to come, Medicon Valley Alliance will place a strong emphasis on
strengthening the organisation’s role as a facilitator of increased collaboration between our
members, for the benefit of life science in Sweden and Denmark.
Copenhagen and Malmö
2 November 2020
Petter Hartman
CEO Medicon Valley Alliance
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 4
2. FACTS AND FIGURES ................................................................................................ 8
3. THE BEACONS OF MEDICON VALLEY ....................................................................... 20
4. CLUSTER RANKING ............................................................................................... 24
5. ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................. 50
6. APPENDIX ............................................................................................................. 60
- LARGER MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES ................................................................ 61
- REPORTS AND FACTS ............................................................................................... 62
- ORGANISATIONS ....................................................................................................... 64
- STATISTICS AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................................. 67
- REFERENCE LIST ....................................................................................................... 74
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PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
133 billion DKK
Danish life science exports hit an all-
time high of 133 billion DKK in 2019 – a
25% increase from the previous year.
Swedish exports also grew: 26%, to 112
billion SEK (ca 79 billion DKK).
Another striking increase was in
Swedish life science companies, which
contributed 7.7 billion SEK in corpora-
tion tax in 2018 – a 34% climb.
SUMMARY
Increased competition for
life science companies
The international competition for life
science companies has stiffened as the
sector has done well in the crisis. That’s
how Anette Steenberg, director of Invest-
ment Promotion at Copenhagen Capacity
sees it; see the interview on pages 54-55.
18 BILLION.
This August, Novo Nordisk announced
that it would be investing another two billion DKK in
its production facility in Kalundborg in west Zealand.
Investments in Kalundborg since the year 2000 will
thus total 18 billion DKK. The facility produces the
active pharmaceutical ingredients for all of the com-
pany’s diabetes preparations, including the produc-
tion of semaglutide/GLP-1 pharmaceuticals.
200
research projects about covid-19 have
started up this year in Medicon Valley, at
the region’s universities, research institu-
tions and hospitals.
The coronavirus pandemic might be changing the way
researchers work together, as many have realised
just how easy meeting digitally can be. Other impor-
tant factors for national and international collabora-
tions are funding opportunities, national regulations,
geography, traditions – and interpersonal chemistry.
That’s what a number of actors from the region and
around Europe believe. They share their perspectives
on research collaboration on pages 32-41.
STABLE DEVELOPMENT IN
MEDICON VALLEY DESPITE
UNCERTAINTY
Expansion has continued for a number of Medicon Valley’s beacons.
Novo Nordisk is investing billions in Denmark and recently readju-
sted its growth outlook. The region’s three life science-oriented sci-
ence parks are adding on. The most recent available statistics show
that employment is on the rise in Medicon Valley, as are life science
exports from both Denmark and Sweden. Tax contributions from the
life sciences have also continued to increase in both countries. The
region’s universities and hospitals have proven just how fast they
can switch to covid-19 related research.
FOTO: SCILIFELAB
Olli Kallioniemi,
director of
SciLifeLab.
The coronavirus pandemic has obviously affected Medicon Valley.
Some effects are discernible in research, where at least 200 new
projects related to covid-19 have started up. It is also apparent in
the lower number of international students at the universities. Other
examples include modified conditions for marketing Medicon Valley
to attract investments, businesses and talents in the field.
At the same time, Professor Torben M. Andersen maintains in an in-
terview that Denmark weathers crises such as the coronavirus pande-
mic better thanks to the life science sector, as the sector is responsible
for a large share of exports and is not very sensitive to cyclical changes
in the economy.
As far as research collaborations go, the coronavirus pandemic might
be changing the way researchers work together as digital solutions
grow more important and physical distance grows less significant, as
interviews conducted for this report that describe the conditions for
research collaboration show.
The corona crisis has meant
fewer international life science
students at Medicon Valley’s
universities. The decrease is
primarily seen in exchange stu-
dents; students who have been
admitted to longer programmes
have chosen to a greater
extent to come nonetheless.
45 200
Medicon Valley’s life science
sector employs 45 200 people.
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
Fewer international life
science student
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
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PHOTO: NEWS ØREUSND
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SUMMARY
SUMMARY
There are several positive development trends
in Danish and Swedish life science. Exports are
rising, as are employee numbers and the total re-
venue from income tax and corporation tax. 2018
was a record year for Danish life science exports,
and the upswing continued in 2019 and reached
133 billion DKK, which was a 25% increase from
the previous year. Swedish exports also increased
dramatically – 26% – reaching 112 billion SEK
(ca 79 billion DKK).
In addition, tax revenue from the sector increased
in both countries. In 2018 – which is the most
recent year for which tax statistics are available –
the Swedish life science industry was responsible
for 2.2% of the total revenue from income tax and
corporation tax. The Danish life science industry
was responsible for 3.3% of the corresponding tax
revenue in Denmark. The Swedish life science sector
set a new record for corporation tax contributions.
Tax revenue from life science companies in Sweden
rose 34% between 2017 and 2018, and corporation
tax from Danish life science companies dropped 9%
in 2018 compared to the record year 2017.
The number of people employed in Medicon
Valley was 45 200 in 2018, which is the most
recent year for which statistics are available from
Statistics Sweden and Statistics Denmark. That is a
2.9% increase from the previous year. The greatest
increase was in Skåne, at 4.7%, and following
Skåne was the Capital Region of Denmark with a
3.5% increase. Employment increased overall in
Sweden and Denmark.
Multiple beacons in Medicon Valley are continu-
ing to expand. After this summer, Scandinavia’s
largest pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk
raised its outlook for both sales and operational
profit. The company also decided to make a two
billion DKK investment in its factory in Kalund-
borg, where it produces the active ingredients for
all of its diabetes preparations.
The region’s three life science-oriented scien-
ce parks – COBIS in Copenhagen, Medeon in
Malmö, and Medicon Village in Lund – have also
added new square meterage in the past two years.
The oldest of the Danish pharma companies,
LEO Pharma, is in an intense phase of reorgani-
sation and research, and its owner, LEO Founda-
tion, is now looking for additional shareholders to
co-finance the company’s continued expansion.
There’s a discernible positive trend when it
6
comes to new startups as well. The investors Novo
Seeds and Sunstone Life Science Ventures are seeing
increased international interest in Medicon Valley’s
startup companies. They believe that the success of
research in the region is important and can lead to
interesting offshoot companies, and they say that
this is the case here. In the other direction as well,
the industry makes its mark on research.
The growth of new startups is based on the com-
prehensive research taking place at the region’s
universities. Five universities from Medicon Valley
– Valley – the University of Copenhagen, Lund
University, Aalborg University and the University
of Southern Denmark – are on all of the major
ranking lists. The Swedish University of Agricul-
tural Sciences is generally also included, except on
QS World Ranking. Although the ranking lists
include more universities all over the world every
year, not all of Medicon Valley’s seats of learning
are represented.
The Leiden review shows that collaboration is vital
for getting the best results. For this report, we
conducted in-depth interviews to capture other
clusters’ perspectives on working with researchers
in Medicon Valley. 54 % of the scientific publi-
cations in Medicon Valley between 2006 and
2016 resulted from international collaborations.
26% were published in cooperation with other
researchers in the same country, and 19% were by
researchers or groups without collaborative part-
ners. Collaboration in Medicon Valley was greater
nationally, within Denmark and Sweden respecti-
vely, than between the two countries. This is due
to the scarcity of funding for transborder research
collaborations in Scandinavia compared to within
national borders, say some interviewees.
– A long-term collaboration demands not only
interesting results, but also a personal connec-
tion. If a collaboration ends, it might be because
the project didn’t have any natural continuation,
because what was being investigated didn’t work or
the hypothesis was wrong and didn’t generate new
hypotheses. But there are also people one stops
working with because the relationship is no good,
says Stefan Jovinge, who has moved to the US,
where he has professorships at Van Andel Institute,
Michigan State University and a position as an
adjunct professor at Stanford University.
– The lone researcher in the basement lab no
longer exists. That’s why it’s important, on a depart-
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
ment level, to see that collaborations keep research
going and help break down barriers. I don’t think
that’s always accomplished. But collaboration is
absolutely essential. The best things we do are the
things we do with others, he says.
Life science is on the national agenda in both
countries. Sweden adopted a new strategy in the
area last December, and Denmark is due to present
its new national strategy before the year is up.
This July, Denmark’s Ministry of Industry, Busi-
ness and Financial Affairs published the report “Life
science-industriens fodaftryk”, which reports that
the sector is nine times bigger than it was in 1990,
measured in terms of its contribution to the country’s
BNP. Life science is one of eight sectors to be covered
by an export recovery package that the Danish
government and parliament agreed to issue to help
boost the industry after covid-19. A new cluster – the
Danish Life Science Cluster – is being jointly created
by 26 private and public actors. It has been selected
by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher
Education as one of 14 new cluster initiatives, and
has also received funding from the Danish Executive
Board for Business Development and Growth. The
cluster will be located in Copenhagen.
LIFE SCIENCE DEFINITION
Life science can be defined as
the study of living organisms
(including microorganisms,
plants, animals and human
beings), but when describing
a life science cluster, life
science is seen in a broa-
der context. It includes the
pharmaceutical, biotechno-
logy and medical technology
industries, as well as the
academic institutions con-
ducting research within life
science and hospitals treating
patients in the clinic.
Anette Steenberg, director of Investment
Promotion at Copenhagen Capacity.
LEO Foundation is considering allowing
additional shareholders.
Stefan Jovinge, professor at Van Andel
Institute and Stanford University.
Nico van Meeteren, executive director
of LSH; Health-Holland.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
Fewer international life science-
students due to the corona crisis.
Ulrika Ringdahl, CEO Invest in Skåne.
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PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND, COPENHAGEN CAPACITY, PRIVATE, LSH; HEALTH HOLLAND INVEST IN SKÅNE
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PHOTO: ASTRA ZENECA
FACTS AND FIGURES
The number of people employed in Medicon Valley rose 2.9% in 2018 from the previous
year. Swedish and Danish life science has also made progress: among other things,
exports and tax revenue have been on the rise. The number of patent applications sub-
mitted to the European Patent Office dropped slightly in 2019, however.
• In 2018 – which is the most recent year for which
tax statistics are available – the Swedish life
science industry was responsible for 2.2% of the
total revenue from income tax and corpora-
tion tax. The Danish life science industry was
responsible for 3.3% of the corresponding tax
revenue in Denmark.
• There were 45 200 people employed in Medicon
Valley in 2018 – the most recent year for which
statistics from Statistics Sweden and Statistics
Denmark are available. That is a 2.9% increase
from the previous year. The increase was grea-
test in Skåne, 4.7%, followed by the Capital Regi-
on of Denmark with a 3.5% increase. There was
also an increase in employment in both Sweden
and Denmark on the whole.
• The number of Danish patent applications to
the European Patent Office, EPO, in the life
science field decreased by 7% in 2019 from the
previous year. However, that was the second
highest entry since the most recent available
statistics began in 2009, topped only by 2018,
which was a record year. Compared with 2018,
the number of Swedish applications dropped
almost 5% last year.
• Danish life science exports reached 133 billion
DKK in 2019; that is a 25% increase from 2018
– another record year. Swedish life science
exports also rose significantly from 2018 to
2019 – by 26% – and reached 112 billion SEK
(ca 79 billion DKK).
• The life science sector lends a helping hand to
the Danish economy during financial crises like
the corona pandemic, says Professor Torben M.
Andersen in an interview on pages 18-19.
DANISH AND SWEDISH LIFE SCIENCE EXPORTS
CONTINUE TO RISE
FACTS AND FIGURES:
Stable growth in
Medicon Valley
2018 was a record year for Danish life science exports, but the upswing continued in 2019 and
reached 133 billion DKK, which was a 25% increase from the previous year. Swedish exports also
increased dramatically – 26% – reaching 112 billion SEK (ca 79 billion DKK). In addition, tax revenue
from the sector increased in both countries.
– That such a large part of our exports isn’t espe-
cially sensitive to cycles means a lot for Denmark.
Neither medicine nor food is strongly affected the
way other goods are, says Torben M. Andersen, eco-
nomy professor at the Department of Economics
and Business Economics at Aarhus University, in an
interview on pages 18-19.
With its large share of the country’s exports,
Denmark’s life science sector lends stability to
Danish economy in times of crisis like the current
coronavirus pandemic. Danish life science exports
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
rose 25% in 2019 compared to the previous year.
Swedish exports also saw an increase of 26%,
though from a lower level.
Swedish life companies contributed 7.7 billion
SEK to the state coffers through corporation tax in
2018. That is a significant increase from 2017.
Employment numbers in Medicon Valley conti-
nue to rise. According to the most recent statistics
available from 2018, the sector employs 45 200
people on both sides of the strait – a 2.9% increase
from the previous year.
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FACTS AND FIGURES
FACTS AND FIGURES
EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN MEDICON VALLEY
The number of people employed in Medicon Valley was 45 200 in 2018, which is the most recent year for
which statistics are available from Statistics Sweden and Statistics Denmark. That is a 2.9% increase
from the previous year. The greatest increase was in Skåne, at 4.7%, and following Skåne was the Capital
Region of Denmark with a 3.5% increase. Employment increased overall in Sweden and Denmark.
EMPLOYMENT IN LIFE SCIENCE BY REGION IN DENMARK AND SWEDEN
Rest of Sweden
Oslo
4 500
Stockholm-
Uppsala region
17 000
Stockholm
The number of employees in the life science sector
was 44 000 in Denmark in 2018; in Sweden, the
corresponding figure was 34 200. That represents
a 2.6% rise in Denmark and a 2.3% increase in
Sweden from the previous year. In a longer perspec-
tive, the annual change from 2008–2018 is 2.0% in
Denmark and -1.0% in Sweden.
The number of employees in Medicon Valley in-
creased 2.9% from 2017–2018 to 45 200 people. The
greatest number of employees is in the Capital Region
of Denmark, 33 800; in Region Zealand there are 6
100, and in Region Skåne there are 5 300 employees.
The greatest increase between 2017–18 was in Skåne
however – 4.7% – and the rise in the Capital Region
of Denmark was 3.5%, while the number of employ-
ees in Region Zealand decreased by -1.8%.
These figures are based on statistics from
Statistics Sweden and Statistics Denmark and are
not directly comparably with figures from earlier
reports; the reason is a retroactive revision of figures
by Statistics Denmark.
The Capital Region of Denmark is responsible
for nearly 75% of the employment in Medicon
Valley, and its share of employment in Danish
life science is almost exactly the same size. Stock-
holm-Uppsala is responsible for almost half of the
employment in Swedish life science, according to fi-
gures from Statistics Sweden. Medicon Valley’s part
of the total employment in the life science sector in
Denmark and Sweden is 58%.
•
In Gladsaxe, which is a major municipality for
the life sciences in Zealand, are e.g. the head-
quarters and headquarters and large facilities
for Novo Nordisk and Novozymes.
Located in Ballerup are e.g. Novo Nordisk,
LEO Pharma (headquarters, research and
production site), GN Hearing, Symphogen,
Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
In Copenhagen there are H. Lundbeck
(headquarters and factory), Ferring Pharma-
ceuticals (research facility), and others. The
Danish capital is also the location of Xelia
Pharmaceuticals, Genmab and several foreign
•
•
•
•
life science companies such as Novartis,
Boehringer Ingelheim and Stryker.
In Kalundborg there are for example produc-
tion sites for Novo Nordisk and Novozymes.
Located in Hillerød are for example Novo
Nordisk, Fujufilm – formerly Biogen (produc-
tion site) and Zymenex.
Malmö is home to e.g. Atos Medical (head-
quarters), Arjo (headquarters), Rechon Life
Science, PolyPeptide Group, Nordic Drugs,
Qpharma and numerous national and regional
headquarters from the life science sector,
including Lundbeck, LEO Pharma and Novo
Nordisk and the science park Medeon.
In Lund are, among others, the medtech
company Baxter (Gambro Lundia), Alligator
Bioscience, Camurus, Cellavision and several
smaller biotech companies at the science parks
Medicon Village and Ideon.
Gothenburg
Västra
Götaland
7 400
Capital Region
of Denmark
Rest of Denmark
33 800
*
Skåne
5 300
Malmö
4 100
Copenhagen
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
Region
Zealand
6 100
Source: Statistics Denmark, Statistics Sweden and information from the biggest life science companies in Denmark.
EMPLOYMENT AND CHANGE OVER TIME*
2018
Change 2017-18
Annual change 2008-18
Denmark
Capital Region of Denmark
Region Zealand
Denmark, rest of
Sweden
Skåne
Stockholm-Uppsala region
Västra Götaland
Sweden, rest of
Medicon Valley
44 000
33 800
6 100
4 100
34 200
5 300
17 000
7 400
4 500
45 200
2.6%
3.5%
-1.8%
2.2%
2.3%
4.7%
2.4%
0.6%
2.2%
2.9%
2.0%
2.5%
0.6%
0.0%
-1.0%
-2.7%
-1.1%
1.1%
-1.2%
1.5%
•
•
Source: Statistics Sweden, Statistics Denmark and information from the biggest life science companies. * The figures from Statistics Denmark have
been adjusted due to a systematic review of the employment figures for the Danish municipalities in Medicon Valley. Read more about the methods
used on pages 67-73, in the Appendix. This year the previous years’ figures from Statistics Denmark have also been revised.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
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FACTS AND FIGURES
FACTS AND FIGURES
•
In Helsingborg is for example McNeil, which
develops and manufactures quit smoking
products and is the largest life science company
in the city.
LIFE SCIENCE EMPLOYMENT
46 000
44 000
42 000
RECORD YEAR FOR SWEDISH LIFE SCIENCE
TAX REVENUE
In 2018 – which is the most recent year for which tax statistics are available – the Swedish life
science industry was responsible for 2.2% of the total revenue from income tax and corporation
tax. The Danish life science industry was responsible for 3.3% of the corresponding tax revenue
in Denmark. The Swedish life science sector set a new record for corporation tax payments. Tax
revenue from life science companies in Sweden rose 34% between 2017 and 2018, and corporation
tax from Danish life science companies dropped 9% in 2018 compared to the record year 2017.
In the autumn of 2020 and 2021, Øresundsinsti-
tuttet will continually present a series of surveys
of the companies in Medicon Valley as part of the
Interreg-project Greater Copenhagen Life Science
Analysis Initiative, which it is jointly leading with
Medicon Valley Alliance. The surveys will include
a condensed description of the cluster and needs in
terms of expertise, as well as more detailed reviews
of companies per municipality, as well as for each
side of the Øresund Strait.
40 000
38 000
36 000
34 000
32 000
30 000
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Denmark
2013
2014
Sweden
2015
2016
2017
2018
Source: Statistics Sweden, Statistics Denmark and information from the
biggest life science companies
NEW EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS FOR MEDICON VALLEY UNDERWAY
Øresundsinstituttet performed a survey of Skå-
ne’s life science companies within the framework
of the Interreg-project Greater Copenhagen Life
Science Analysis Initiative, which is being carried
out jointly by Øresundsinstituttet and Medicon
Valley Alliance. There is more information on the
report’s main results on pages 58-59; among
other things, it reveals that there are 420 identi-
fied life science companies in Skåne. The largest
subsector is medtech. Over the past five years, 91
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
new startup companies have been established; of
these, 70% are in Lund.
The next step will be a report with an Øresund
focus, due to be published in the beginning of
next year. The report will look at commuting,
collaboration and investments in the region’s life
science cluster. Following the report, the survey
of companies will continue with focus on Medicon
Valley’s Danish businesses.
Corporation tax payments by Sweden’s life science
companies have risen distinctly. Between 2017 and
2018, tax revenue from companies rose 34%. This
can be compared with a general growth of 7% for
revenue from corporation tax. Tax contributions
rose primarily from companies in the wholesale
trade of medical equipment and pharmaceutical
goods, but there were also significant increases in
corporation tax paid from elsewhere in the life
science sector. According to Insikt Medicin’s 100
life science companies Pharma list, some of the life
science companies whose turnover increased gre-
atly in 2018 are Sobi (Swedish Orphan Biovitrum
AB), Pfizer Health, Recipharm and Karo Pharma.
Employees in the Swedish life science industry
paid 3% more income tax in 2018 than in 2017.
Seen in a longer-term perspective, tax revenue rose
a total of 11% between 2009-2018. A total of 14.9
billion SEK was paid in income- and corporation
tax from life science companies in 2018, corres-
ponding to 2.2% of the total tax revenue.
2017 was a record year for Denmark in terms of
revenue from corporation tax; this was also true for
the life science sector. 2018’s tax revenue was not
entirely on the same level; tax payments from life
science companies amounted to 9.4 billion DKK –
9% lower than the previous year. Seen in a long-
er-term perspective however, the level remained high.
Revenue from life science employees’ income tax rose
7.7 billion SEK (+34%)
Swedish life companies contributed 7.7 billion
SEK to the state coffers through corporation tax
in 2018. That is a significant increase from 2017.
THE LIFE SCIENCE SECTOR’S
SHARE OF THE TOTAL INCOME-
AND CORPORATION TAXES
4,0%
3,5%
3,0%
2,5%
2,0%
1,5%
1,0%
0,5%
0,0%
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Denmark
Sweden
Source: Statistics Denmark, the Swedish Tax Agency and
Statistics Sweden
1% between 2017 and 2018. Since 2009, the total
sum from income- and corporation tax has risen
144%, from 7.7 billion DKK to 18.8 billion DKK in
TAX CONTRIBUTIONS IN LIFE SCIENCE 2018
Denmark (billion DKK )
Euro (million)
Sweden (billion SEK)
Euro (million)
Income tax
Corporation tax
Income and corporation tax
9.4
9.4
18.8
1 260
1 267
2 527
7.3
7.7
15.0
709
747
1 456
Source: Sveriges Riksbank and Danmarks Nationalbank. Converted to Euros using the average Euro exchange rate for 2018 (10,2567 SEK for 1 Euro
and 7,453166 DKK for 1 Euro). Because of differences in the Danish and Swedish tax systems, the tax figures are not directly comparable. Read more
about the sources and differenced in the Appendix on pages 67-72.
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FACTS AND FIGURES
FACTS AND FIGURES
2018. That corresponds to a 3.3% share of the total
tax revenue from corporation- and income tax.
According to a new analysis of the Danish life
science sector by Denmark’s Ministry of Finance,
the figures pertaining to the industry’s contribu-
tion to public finance through corporation tax
and income tax are slightly higher. This is in part
because the figures are from 2017, and also becau-
se of a difference in the good codes on which the
calculations are based.
20
16
12
8
4
0
20
16
12
8
4
0
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
THE LIFE SCIENCE SECTOR’S TOTAL
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM INCOME-
AND CORPORATION TAX IN SWEDEN
(IN BILLIONS OF SEK)
THE LIFE SCIENCE SECTOR’S TOTAL
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM INCOME-
AND CORPORATION TAX IN DEN-
MARK (IN BILLIONS OF DKK)
nology differs significantly however, as Denmark
submitted 254 applications and Sweden 81 appli-
cations last year, and in pharmaceuticals, Denmark
submitted 182 and Sweden 87 applications.
There are few of Danish and Swedish compa-
nies on the EPO’s list of last year’s 25 top appli-
cants: Danish Novozymes came in 4th place for
biotechnology with its 90 applications; AstraZene-
ca, whose roots are in Sweden and the UK, came
24th in pharmaceuticals with 21 applications;
Novo Nordisk, which came in number 20 for
medical technology and number 19 for pharma-
ceuticals the prior year, didn’t make it to the top
25 this year.
NUMBER OF LIFE SCIENCE PATENT
APPLICATIONS TO EPO FROM
SWEDEN AND DENMARK
750
700
650
600
550
500
450
400
350
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
300
250
Income tax
Corporation tax
Income tax
Corporation tax
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Denmark
2014
2015
Sweden
2016
2017
2018
2019
Source: Statistics Denmark, the Swedish Tax Agency and Statistics Sweden
Source: EPO
SLIGHT DROP IN PATENT APPLICATION
NUMBERS IN 2019
The number of Danish patent applications to the European Patent Office, EPO, in the life science field
decreased by 7% in 2019 from the previous year. However, that was the second highest entry since
the most recent available statistics began in 2009, topped only by 2018, which was a record year.
Compared with 2018, the number of Swedish applications dropped almost 5% last year.
TOP TEN TECHNOLOGICAL FIELDS REPRESENTED IN DANISH AND
SWEDISH PATENT APPLICATIONS FOR THE PERIOD 2009–2019 AND
2019 (IN PARENTHESES)
SWEDEN
Place
Technological field
Number of
applications
DENMARK
Technological field
Number of
applications
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Digital communication
Transport
Telecommunications
Medical technology
Computer technology
Mechanical elements
Measurement
Civil engineering
Machine tools
Other special machines
10 292 (1 301)
2 959 (301)
2 749 (217)
2 503 (195)
2 051 (252)
1 491 (91)
1 432 (171)
1 415 (157)
1 175 (123)
1 113 (115)
Biotechnology
Medical technology
Engines, pumps, turbines
Pharmaceuticals
Civil engineering
Audio-visual technology
Other special machines
Food chemistry
Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy
Measurement
2 723 (254)
2 129 (206)
1 873 (360)
1 502 (182)
1 348 (105)
1 224 (133)
946 (123)
886 (89)
858 (95)
762 (83)
642 Danish patent applications were submitted to
EPO in the life science field last year. That corre-
sponds to a seven per cent decrease compared to
2018, which was the highest recorded year since
2009, the first year for the statistics that are acces-
sible today. In the beginning, there were 456 Danish
patent applications. The number of applications
dropped ten per cent in 2019 in biotechnology (from
282 to 254 applications) as well as medical technolo-
gy (from 229 to 206), and increased two per cent in
pharmaceuticals (from 179 to 182 applications).
There were 363 Swedish applications for life
science patents in 2019; that is nearly five per cent
lower than the previous year and four per cent
lower than 2009, when the number of applications
was 378. In Sweden, the change was greatest in
14
biotechnology, from 93 to 81 applications from
2018–2019.
On the whole, it should be noted that Sweden
and Denmark had approximately the same num-
ber of applications in medical technology in 2019.
The number of patent applications in biotech-
642
10
…
16
20
Pharmaceuticals
Biotechnology
872 (87)
709 (81)
Danish life science patent applications to the
EPO in 2019. The number of Swedish patent
requests was 363.
Source: EPO. Understanding this table: The first figure denotes the number of patent applications for the entire period of 2009–2019 within the respec-
tive technological fields. The figure for the number of patent applications in 2019 is in parentheses. The year indicates the publication date, which is 18
months after the filing of the national application.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
15
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2274553_0009.png
FACTS AND FIGURES
FACTS AND FIGURES
Danish life science exports reached 133 billion DKK in 2019; that is a 25% increase from 2018 –
another record year. Swedish life science exports also rose significantly from 2018 to 2019 – by 26%
– and reached 112 billion SEK (ca 79 billion DKK).
When it comes to life science exports per capita, Den-
mark and Sweden are among the world’s top 20 largest
life science exporters. Both countries saw significant
market growth in 2019 and are now at record levels.
The corona crisis affects the life science se-
ctor both negatively and positively in 2020
The corona crisis has hit the life science industry in
different ways. According to reports from the Danish
Genstartsteamet for Life Science and the Ministry of
Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, the sector
has seen increased demand during the crisis, and the-
re have been opportunities to develop new products.
At the same time, e.g. medical companies have seen
significantly decreased demand during the corona
crisis, and some parts of the life science sector have
also been affected by e.g. less access to clinical trials,
longer delivery times and increased shipping costs,
which has an impact on exports. The same challenges
were brought to light in a member survey of Swedish
life science companies conducted by Swecare. It also
shows that primarily smaller life science companies in
Sweden have been impacted negatively by the corona
crisis. Global companies on the other hand have seen
a predominantly positive effect due to an increase in
demand.
Life science: a growing part of the total ex-
ports in both Sweden and Denmark
Swedish and Danish life science exports have risen
significantly in recent years. In terms of average an-
nual growth between 2009-2019, Danish life scien-
ce exports have risen 11% per year; Swedish annual
growth in the same period was 4%. In coins and
bills, Danish life science exports have more than
doubled, growing from 46 billion DKK in 2009
– at which time Danish exports were lower than
Swedish – to 133 billion DKK in 2019. In Sweden,
the life science sectors exports were 76 billion SEK
(ca 53 billion DKK) in 2009; in 2019 the sum was
112 billion SEK (ca 79 billion DKK).
The Swedish crown was still weak in 2019,
which has impacted Swedish exports. However,
increased exports also depend on increased demand,
for example from Asia and the USA, and an incre-
ased demand for biopharmaceuticals – a field in
which Sweden is very advanced, according to LIF
and Life Science Sweden. Denmark has seen e.g. a
marked increase in exports to the USA. According
to an economic report by Denmark’s Ministry of
Finance from August 2020, pharmaceutical exports
to the USA have continued to rise in 2020.
Life science businesses in both Denmark and
Sweden contribute a growing share of total exports.
Danish life science exports were responsible for
18.1% of the country’s total exports in 2019 – 2.6
percentage points more than in 2018 and nearly
double what they were in 2009. Swedish life science
exports were responsible for a slightly higher share
in 2009 than in 2019. While they stayed low in
the 2010s, they increased 1.2 percentage points
between 2018 and 2019, at which point life science
exports made up 7.4% of Sweden’s total exports.
In the case of both Denmark and Sweden,
export growth has primarily been driven by
THE PRINCIPAL EXPORT MARKETS
FOR DANISH LIFE SCIENCE
Exports in millions
(DKK ) 2019
Annual
growth
00-19
USA
China
Germany
Japan
Sweden
France and Monaco
Great Britain
Norway
Canada
Italy
Source: Statistics Denmark
45 488
10 945
6 851
5 523
4 748
4 175
3 646
3 079
2 868
2 853
18%
21%
5%
8%
4%
6%
6%
10%
12%
7%
VALUE OF EXPORTS IN LIFE
SCIENCE, IN MILLIONS (DKK)
140 000
130 000
120 000
Millions DKK
110 000
100 000
90 000
80 000
70 000
60 000
50 000
40 000
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Sweden
2016
2017
2018
2019
THE TOP 20 COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST LIFE SCIENCE EXPORTS PER CAPITA
Denmark is the world’s fourth largest exporter of pharmaceuticals and medtech measured in exports per capita in
2019, while Sweden holds tenth place on the global list.
Export per
capita, USD
Percentage of
global life
science export
Export per
capita, USD
Percentage of
global life
science export
THE PRINCIPAL EXPORT MARKETS
FOR SWEDISH LIFE SCIENCE
Denmark
Exports in millions
(DKK) 2019
Annual
growth
09-19
Country
Country
Ireland
Switzerland
Belgium
Denmark
Slovenia
Netherlands
Singapore
Austria
Germany
Sweden
12 542
10 592
5 317
3 418
2 784
2 466
2 338
1 465
1 287
1 147
7,9%
11,6%
7,8%
2,5%
0,7%
5,5%
1,7%
1,7%
13,7%
1,5%
Malta
Hungary
Italy
France
Costa Rica*
Israel
United Kingdom
Lithuania
Finland
Czechia*
763
714
623
593
516
490
467
434
370
358
0,0%
0,9%
4,8%
5,1%
0,3%
0,6%
4,0%
0,2%
0,3%
0,5%
Figures are for medical and pharmaceutical products and medical
instruments, apparatuses etc.
Source: Statistics Denmark and SCB/Statistics Sweden and Riksbanken.
USA
China
Germany
12 658
12 228
9 304
5 317
3 979
3 540
3 135
2 795
2 762
1 995
6%
27%
6%
19%
3%
2%
-6%
-5%
-5%
10%
LIFE SCIENCE EXPORTS IN DEN-
MARK AND SWEDEN IN 2019
Millions
DKK
Export
share 2019
Growth
(one
year)
Annual
growth
2009-2019
Japan
Norway
Australia
France
Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
Belgium
Netherlands
Denmark
Sweden
132 610
79 241
18.1%
7.4%
25.2%
26.1%
11.1%
4.0%
Source: UN Comtrade Database, World Bank and Danmarks Nationalbank.
* Calculated with export figures from 2018; figures for 2019 are not available.
Source: Statistics Denmark and SCB/Statistics Sweden and Riksban-
ken. Figures are for medical and pharmaceutical products and medical
instruments, apparatuses etc. Annual growth is calculated with figures in
national currency
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
Source: SCB/Statistics Sweden and Riksbanken.
* Annual growth is calculated with figures in national currency.
16
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
17
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
DANISH AND SWEDISH LIFE SCIENCE EXPORTS
CONTINUE RECORD GROWTH
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2274553_0010.png
FACTS AND FIGURES
FACTS AND FIGURES
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
medical and pharmaceutical products. The export
of medical instruments and devices has not grown
as much in Denmark and has even fallen over the
past decade in Sweden.
Denmark and Sweden among the world’s top
20 largest life science exporters per capita
Germany is the world’s largest exporter of life scien-
ce products, but when calculated per capita, Ireland
tops the list with exports of 12 542 USD per capita
and a 7.9% share of global life science exports.
Denmark comes in fourth with exports of 3 418
USD per capita, and Sweden is number 10 with life
science exports of 1 147 USD per capita.
Export growth to a number of countries has
been strong from both Denmark and Sweden over
the past decade and in the past year. The greatest
export growth from the Danish and Swedish life
science sectors has been from China. Between
2009-2019, the average annual growth of exports to
China was 27% for Sweden and 21% for Denmark.
In 2019, the USA was the largest export market for
the Danish and Swedish life science sectors. Den-
mark exported nearly 46 billion DKK worth to the
USA in 2019, and the American market was the ab-
solute largest market for Danish life science. China,
Germany and Japan were on both countries’ lists of
top-10 largest export markets. Sweden is Denmark’s
fifth largest export market for the life science sector.
Denmark is number 14 on Sweden’s list of the most
important export markets. A number of the ten
countries to which Sweden exports most have seen
negative development over the past decade; exports
to France nearly halved between 2009 and 2019.
Exports to the UK and Ireland are also far below
the levels from 2009, but they have varied greatly
from year to year.
There is no standard definition for the subsections and goods codes
included in the life science sector. As a result, statistics from e.g.
the Danish Ministry of Industry, Lif and Life Science Sweden can vary
somewhat from the statistics presented in this report.
The life science sector is responsible for a large part of Danish exports and makes a large socioe-
conomic contribution. The industry is not very sensitive to cyclical changes in the economy, because
the need for medicines does not wane like the demand for other goods during a slump. For that
reason, the life science sector lends a helping hand to the Danish economy during financial crises
like the corona pandemic, says Professor Torben M. Andersen.
– That such a large part of our exports isn’t espe-
cially sensitive to cycles means a lot for Denmark.
Neither medicine nor food is strongly affected the
way other goods are, says Torben M. Andersen, eco-
nomy professor at the Department of Economics
and Business Economics at Aarhus University.
The Danish life science sector’s exports have in-
creased significantly in recent years. The demand has
18
risen in the USA and China in particular. According
to a report by the Danish Ministry of Finance in Au-
gust 2020, the export to the USA of e.g. pharmaceu-
ticals has continued to rise this year. The Danish life
science sector has thus been helping keep the Danish
economy afloat during the corona crisis.
– The life science sector is not as sensitive to
slumps, and it thus has a stabilising effect on the
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
19
PHOTO: LARS KRUSE
INCREASED DEMAND IN A SECTOR MORE
RESISTANT TO INDUSTRIAL CYCLES
self-perpetuating. It becomes easier to attract
economy. That means most for income, as the
competent staff, and more people find their way to
sector is not very employment-intensive, explains
the area. For companies, the labour pool becomes
Torben M. Andersen.
larger and more relevant. For employees, there
The life science sector is responsible for a smal-
are more interesting jobs to choose from, and if
ler part of Swedish exports.
someone loses a job, it’s also easy to find a new
– In Sweden, exports are more sensitive to
one, so people remain in the area, the one people
economic trends; they are focused on more traditio-
call Medicon Valley. There’s also is a socioecono-
nal goods production and industry, machinery and
mic advantage to having the
equipment. Those kinds of in-
cluster formation. But it is also
dustries are more sensitive to
”That such a large
has a long history, and it takes
ups and downs. Denmark and
part of our exports
time to build that up. But it can
Sweden have used different
strategies when it comes to
isn’t especially sensi-
also be pulled down easily, says
Torben M. Andersen.
managing the pandemic, but
tive to cycles means
Is it possible that the corona
the Swedish economy seems
crisis has influenced the life
to have been hit just as hard
a lot for Denmark.
science sector in other ways?
as the Danish, even though
Neither medicine nor
– Of course, there’s a race to
there was no lockdown, says
develop a vaccine. And the coro-
Torben M. Andersen, who
food is strongly af-
crisis will probably
was also the chairperson of
fected the way other
na us having a differentcontribute
to
view on
the expert group set up by the
goods are.”
the health sector in the future.
Danish government during
People have realised that it’s
the corona crisis.
good to be at the forefront, to be prepared and
In the figures presented in this report, Swedish
ready; it’s possible that has influenced the sector.
life science was responsible for 7.4% of Sweden’s
– So, corona has left its mark. A few short years
total exports, and Danish exports were responsible
ago, we didn’t put much emphasis on being prepa-
for 18.1% of exports in 2019. Both countries’
red in the event of a pandemic or an epidemic. It
exports have risen markedly over the past ten
was something we had heard of, but we imagined
years. Danish life science exports have more than
that it was limited to countries that were in a wor-
doubled since 2009. In the past year alone, exports
se position to limit the problem, and we believed
have risen around 25% in the life science sector
it would be manageable with a better healthcare
in both Denmark and Sweden. The dramatic rise
system and higher living standards, but that
in exports for the life science sector over the past
proved an incorrect interpretation of the situation,
year are linked to a rising demand for medicine
says Torben M. Andersen.
and medical equipment in wealthier countries,
including the USA and China.
– As we grow wealthier, the demand for health
services also increases; that’s why sales are so high
to high-income countries. Health is more insati-
able than material goods. If we have the money,
we might need a new kitchen or garage, but we
don’t need two. But we want to continue with our
activities, even when we’re older. We want to say
healthy and fit, Torben M. Andersen explains.
According to Torben M. Andersen, there are a
number of explanations for why Danish life scien-
ce is doing as well as it is.
– It’s like being in a running race. Whether you
win is linked to several factors; it’s about innova-
tion, product development and qualified employ-
ees, and also education politics.
– And this is where you see the effects of agglo-
Torben M. Andersen, professor Aarhus Universitet.
meration: when you have a strength, it becomes
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2274553_0011.png
PHOTO: LUNDBECK
THE BEACONS OF MEDICON VALLEY
The list of Medicon Valley’s beacons is growing ever longer. With nine universities,
seven science parks, four major pharma companies, several large medtech firms,
a globally-leading hearing aid cluster and a growing flock of biotech companies, the
Danish-Swedish region spans a broad scope. Novo Nordisk is still at the top in the re-
gion, and it is enjoying new growth from its success with the glp-1 drug semaglutide,
which is effective for controlling diabetes, for weight loss and for various diseases.
• The Novo Nordisk Foundation,
The Lundbeck Foundation, Dr
Frederik Paulsen Foundation
and the LEO Foundation control
the ownership of Medicon
Valley’s largest companies: Novo
Nordisk, H. Lundbeck, Ferring
Pharmaceuticals and LEO
Pharma.
• Medicon Valley’s biotech
companies are thriving. Some of
the largest biotech companies
are Genmab, Zealand Pharma,
Bavarian Nordic, Sympho-
gen, Alligator Bioscience and
Camurus.
• There are many medtech com-
panies in the region, such as Co-
loplast, Ambu, Baxter (formerly
Gambro), Arjo, Nolato Medical
Solutions and Atos Medical.
• Medicon Valley is also home to a
globally leading cluster of hea-
ring aid manufacturers: Oticon,
GN Hearing and WS Audiology.
• Medicon Valley’s academic
spectrum in the life sciences is
broad, with nine learning institu-
tions that do research in the field.
• There are seven science parks
in the region, three of which are
focused on the life sciences:
COBIS in Copenhagen, Medeon
in Malmö, and Medicon Village
in Lund. All three have expan-
ded their premises in the past
year to accommodate more
businesses.
RESTRUCTURING, EXPANSION AND CHALLENGES
FROM NEW ACTORS MARK MEDICON VALLEY
Renewal, success, challenges: these three factors continue to mark the beacon companies of Med-
icon Valley. This year, Novo Nordisk decided to expand its facility in Kalundborg for two billion DKK.
Between 2000 and 2019, 16 billion DKK were invested in the facility. LEO Pharma’s owner, LEO Foun-
dation, has opened up for the possibility of allowing shareholders to create financial volume that will
allow the high pace of restructuring and development to continue. The region’s three science parks
with a life science focus – COBIS, Medeon, and Medicon Village – are growing. At the same time, the
Copenhagen-based cluster of three globally-leading hearing aid manufacturers will face competition
from Apple that could lead to disruptive changes in the sector.
THE BEACONS OF
MEDICON VALLEY:
Optimism and overhaul
Oticon, GN Hearing and WS Audiology (merger of
Widex and Sivantos) share a leading position in the
global hearing aid market. However, the technologi-
cal developments that bring hearing aids and smart
phones ever closer also mean that Apple poses a threat
to their market position. Danish manufacturers are
emphasising the importance of personal consultations;
meanwhile, the business journal Børsen pointed out in
an analysis that Apple’s wireless earbuds may develop
into hearing aids at a lower cost in the future, which
could lead to a disruptive market change.
Two other companies in Medicon Valley that are
facing major pressure to change are H Lundbeck and
LEO Pharma. The latter is active in pharmaceuticals
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
for dermatology, and since 2019 it has been led by
a new CEO who has recruited a number of leading
decision-makers. 650 positions in the company are set
to disappear over the next two years, and new R&D
investments are expected to create 400 new positions.
The high pace of developments has led LEO Pharma’s
owner, LEO Foundation, to announce that they are
considering allowing additional shareholders.
When asked by the media, the owner of the
pharma company H Lundbeck, The Lundbeck
Foundation, did not refute that their ownership
structure may broaden when the company puts
resources into coming out of a downswing when a
number of patents expire.
21
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2274553_0012.png
THE BEACONS OF MEDICON VALLEY
THE NOVO NORDISK FOUNDATION GROUP
Novo Nordisk Foundation is an industrial foundation
whose objective is to act as majority shareholder in the
publicly traded Novo Nordisk and Novozymes, as well as
to support scientific, humanitarian and social causes.
Novo Holdings
is the Foundation’s wholly owned sub-
sidiary. It manages the Foundation’s endowment and its
controlling interests in the publicly traded companies Novo
Nordisk and Novozymes. Via the platforms Seeds, Ventu-
res and Principal Investments, investments are made in
external biotech companies at various stages of develop-
ment. Novo Holding also has 11 large, more long-term in-
vestments, including investments in the Danish companies
Chr. Hansen, Sonion and Xellia Pharmaceuticals.
Novo Nordisk
is the original company behind the
group, and today it is Denmark’s largest pharmaceu-
tical company and a globally leading insulin manu-
facturer. The company also makes drugs for obesity,
haemophilia and growth disorders.
Turnover 2019:
122.0 billion DKK
Number of employees 2019:
43 258, of whom 16 700 in
Denmark and 70 in Sweden.
Facilities in Medicon Valley:
Headquarters in Bagsværd
outside Copenhagen and offices in Ørestad and Malmö.
Research facilities in Måløv and Hillerød. Production
facilities in Værløse, Søborg, Måløv, Gentofte, Køge,
Kalundborg and Hillerød.
Novozymes
was founded in 2000 as a demerger from Novo
Nordisk. Novozymes is a publicly traded biotechnology
company and a globally leading manufacturer of industrial
enzymes as well as a major producer of microorganisms.
Turnover 2019:
14.4 billion DKK.
Number of employees 2019:
6 125, of whom
2 640 in Denmark.
Facilities in Medicon Valley:
Headquarters and R&D in
Bagsværd and production facilities in Kalundborg and
Copenhagen. Research facility in Lyngby.
THE LUNDBECK FOUNDATION
Is an industrial foundation whose objective is to maintain
and expand the activities of H. Lundbeck and to provide
funding for scientific research. The Foundation is the
largest shareholder in the publicly traded companies H.
Lundbeck and ALK-Abelló, as well as in Falck A/S. The
Foundation also invests in life science companies.
H. Lundbeck
is a global pharmaceutical company specia-
lising in drugs for psychiatric and neurological disorders.
Turnover 2019:
17.0 billion DKK
Number of employees 2019:
5 475, of whom 1 786 in
Denmark and 19 in Sweden.
Facilities in Medicon Valley:
Headquarters and produc-
tion in Valby/Copenhagen and production in Odsherred.
Office in Malmö.
FERRING PHARMACEUTICALS
Is a wholly privately owned pharmaceutical company with
its roots around the Øresund. Ferring is run by Frederik
Paulsen through the Dr Frederik Paulsen Foundation.There
are also a number of pharmaceutical companies in Malmö
with a historic link to Ferring: PolyPeptide Group, Qpharma,
Nordic Drugs and Svar Life Science. Together, the three
companies have just over 550 employees in Malmö.
Turnover 2018:
1.89 billion EUR
Number of employees 2018:
6 500, of whom 576 in Den-
mark and 18 in Sweden
Facilities in Medicon Valley:
Ferring Pharmaceuticals
A/S, also called Ferring International Pharma Science
Centre, and Ferring Lægemidler A/S in Ørestad (Copen-
hagen), and a sales office in Malmö and API-manufactu-
rer Syntese in Hvidovre Municipality outside Copenhagen.
Headquarters in Switzerland. There is no data for 2019.
LEO FOUNDATION
Was established in 1984 to secure LEO Pharma’s future
as an independent, research-based Danish pharmaceu-
tical company. The foundation also supports internatio-
nal research with focus on dermatology.
LEO Pharma
is an entirely privately/foundation-owned phar-
maceutical company with focus on the development and
production of medicines for dermatology and thrombosis.
Turnover 2019:
10.8 billion DKK
Number of employees 2019:
5 820 of whom 2 112 in Den-
mark and 34 in Sweden.
Facilities in Medicon Valley:
Headquarters, R&D and pro-
duction in Ballerup outside Copenhagen. Office in Malmö.
GLOBALLY LEADING HEARING AID MANUFACTURERS
Around Copenhagen there is a globally leading cluster
of hearing aid manufacturers employing nearly 3 000 in
Denmark: Oticon, GN Hearing and WS Audiology.
MEDTECH MORE COMMON IN SKÅNE
Coloplast is the largest medtech company in Zealand, fol-
lowed by Radiometer and Ambu. Other large medtech com-
panies in Skåne are Baxter (formerly Gambro), Arjo, Nolato
Medical, Atos Medical och HemoCue (owned by Radiometer).
GROWING BIOTECH CLUSTER
There are thriving biotech companies on both the
Swedish and Danish sides of Medicon Valley, such as
Bavarian Nordic, Genmab, Zealand Pharma, Symphogen,
Evaxion, Alligator Bioscience and Camurus.
Figures for companies’ turnover and number of employees have been
supplied by the companies themselves.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
THE BEACONS OF MEDICON VALLEY
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES with headquarters or former headquarters
in the Zealand region dominate Medicon Valley’s largest groups in pharma-
ceuticals and biotechnology. The four large groups Novo Nordisk, Lundbeck,
Ferring and LEO Pharma and the foundations that own them have also ac-
ted as a venture capital investor and a nursery for many of the researchers
in Greater Copenhagen. A number of biotechnology companies have emerged since
the late 1990s, such as Genmab, Zealand Pharma, Bavarian Nordic and Symphogen in
Denmark and Alligator Bioscience and Camurus in Skåne.
SUCCESS STORY.
Pharmaceutical
and biotech companies in Greater
Copenhagen are a success story cha-
racterised by a few large companies
in pharmaceuticals complemented by
successful biotechnology companies.
But Medicon Valley is more than just
pharmaceuticals and biotech. The
region also has successful medtech
companies, growing science parks
and the two large materials research
facilities MAX IV and European Spal-
lation Source, the latter of which is
currently under construction in Lund,
and ESS data management centre
DMSC in Copenhagen.
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
4
Novo Nordisk
Ferring
5
SCIENCE PARKS
in Medicon Valley
completely or significantly focus on the life
sciences: COBIS, DTU Science Park, Ideon,
Medeon and Medicon Village. Also included
are the start-up ecosystem Symbion and
the food- and health-oriented science park Krinova,
which focuses partially on the life sciences.
9
Lund University
UNIVERSITIES. Greater Copenhagen’s academic
spectrum in the life sciences is broad, with nine
learning institutions conducting research in the
field. Globally leading diabetes research and neu-
roscientific research take place at the University
of Copenhagen, as well as at Lund University. The
learning institutions also have other strong life science rese-
arch, for example on metabolic diseases and plant biology. In
addition, DTU and Malmö University are both highly advanced in
areas such as bioengineering and biological surfaces.
22
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PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
CLUSTER RANKING
More than 200 research projects about covid-19 have started up in Medicon
Valley this year, at the region’s universities, research institutions and hospitals.
In addition, the coronavirus pandemic might influence
patterns of research
collaboration further on.
• Since this spring, over 200
research projects about the
novel coronavirus that causes
covid-19 have been started
at universities and hospitals
in Medicon Valley. In addition,
many businesses in the region
are venturing into corona rese-
arch, either with universities or
on their own.
• The coronavirus will have an
important impact on research
collaborations in the future,
says Olli Kallioniemi, director of
the national life science organi-
sation SciLifeLab in Stockholm.
He and Nico van Meeteren,
executive director of the Bureau
of the Top Sector Life Sciences
& Health in the Netherlands
offer their perspectives on the
bibliometric analysis in which
the research institute CWTS at
Leiden University compared
life science research in ten
European clusters, as well as
on the conditions for collabora-
tion and competition between
the clusters.
• The corona crisis has meant
fewer international life science
students at Medicon Valley’s
universities. The decrease is
primarily seen in exchange stu-
dents; students who have been
admitted to longer program-
mes have chosen to a greater
extent to come nonetheless.
• The investors Novo Seeds and
Sunstone Life Science Ventures
are seeing increased inter-
national interest in Medicon
Valley’s startup companies.
They believe that the success of
research in the region is impor-
tant and can lead to interesting
offshoot companies, and they
say that this is the case here.
It also goes in both directions;
the industry makes its mark on
research.
RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS GUIDED BY
FUNDING, CHEMISTRY, GEOGRAPHY – AND
PANDEMICS
The coronavirus pandemic might just be on the way to changing the way researchers work
together. Other determining factors when it comes to national and international collaborations
are opportunities for funding, national regulations, geography and tradition. And the chemistry
between people is not to be forgotten.
Those are a few of the perspectives on research collaboration and competition and the resear-
ch centre CWTS Leiden’s analysis and comparison of ten European research clusters in the life
sciences voiced in a series of interviews in this chapter.
CLUSTER RANKING:
Coronavirus pandemic
has a major effect on
research in Medicon
Valley
Collaboration is vital for getting the best results –
there is nothing controversial about that stance in
the research world. The bibliometric analysis by the
Dutch research centre CWTS at Leiden University,
conducted on behalf of Medicon Valley Alliance
in 2018, confirms that as well. Something all of
the European life science clusters included in the
comparison had in common was that their scientific
publications that were the result of international
collaborations were cited to a far greater extent than
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
those produced by a single research group. National
collaborations did not boost citation frequency the
same way, the analysis showed.
In Medicon Valley, a little more than half of the
scientific publications in the life sciences between
2006 and 2016 were the result of international
collaboration – this proportion was approxima-
tely the same for all ten clusters. Finding the best
researchers to work with is simply a necessity in
a competitive research world, says Stefan Jovinge,
25
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A unique comparison of ten European clusters
On behalf of Medicon Valley Alliance, the Dutch research institute CWTS at Leiden Univer-
sity performed a bibliometric comparison of ten European life science clusters based on
their total influence in the research world. These are some of the main results published
in Medicon Valley’s annual report for 2018 and 2019.
23%
ILLUSTRATION: LÖNEGÅRD & CO
The increase in the number of scien-
tific publications in Medicon Valley
between 2006-2009 and 2013-2016.
32 027
STOCKHOLM-UPPSALA
Greatest impact of scientific publi-
cations 2006-2016/17
(number of citations in relation to the
average [=1] for each subject area)
1. London-Cambridge-Oxford (1.46)
2. Scotland (1.35)
3. Zurich (1.34)
4. The Netherlands (1.33)
5. Munich (1.21)
6. Medicon Valley (1.20)
6. Stockholm-Uppsala (1.20)
8. Flanders (1.15)
9. BioValley* (1.14)
10. Île de France/Paris (1.09)
Citations calculated for the years 2006-2017.
*A German–French-Swiss cluster that includes Basel, Alsace,
Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Mulhouse and Strasbourg
scientific publications were produced by
researchers in Medicon Valley between
2006-2016, placing the region seventh
among the clusters compared. The gre-
atest number of scientific publications
in the field were published by resear-
chers in London-Cambridge-Oxford:
116 263, followed by researchers in the
Netherlands, who produced 90 779 sci-
entific publications in the same period.
More than half
54 % of the scientific publications in
Medicon Valley resulted from internatio-
nal collaborations. 26% were published
in cooperation with other researchers
in the same country, and 19% were by
researchers or groups without collabo-
rative partners.
SCOTLAND
MEDICON VALLEY
NETHERLANDS
LONDON-CAMBRIDGE-OXFORD
FLANDERS
ÎLE DE FRANCE
BIOVALLEY
MUNICH
ZURICH
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
NATIONAL NETWORKS ARE STRONGEST.
A network analysis from the research
institute CWTS shows that the region’s
national networks are significantly strong-
er than trans-Øresund networks, and in
Medicon Valley national cooperation is far
more common than cooperation between
Denmark and Sweden.
The ten largest areas of research in
the life sciences in Medicon Valley
Based on scientific publications from
2006-2016.
1. Biochemistry & molecular biology
2. Endocrinology & metabolism
3. Oncology
4. Neurosciences
5. Medicine, general & internal
6. Public, environmental & occupational
health
7. Pharmacology & pharmacy
8. Cardiac & cardiovascular systems
9. Immunology
10. Surgery
Number of scientific
publications per cluster
2006-2016
120000
100000
80000
60000
London-Cambridge-Oxford
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
Medicon vAlley
Publications
40000
Île de France/Paris
BioValley
Netherlands
München
20
0
MAJOR FIELDS OF RESEARCH.
The 20 largest fields of research were respon-
sible for more than 50% of the total number
of scientific publications in the life sciences in
Medicon Valley during the period examined.
MORE DANISH HOSPITALS WITH CLINICAL RESEARCH.
There are more hospitals involved in research
in Denmark than in Sweden, a network analysis by CWTS shows. On the Swedish side of the Øresund
Strait, clinical research is concentrated almost exclusively at Skåne University Hospital.
Zürich
20000
Flanders
Scotland
Stockholm-Uppsala
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
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2274553_0015.png
CLUSTER RANKING
CLUSTER RANKING
tial number of researchers, each of whom contributes
professor at Van Andel Institute, Michigan State
part of the publication without necessarily having
University and adjunct professor at Stanford Uni-
had contact with the others.
versity, in an interview on page 32.
Large research consortia of this kind are not
But what are the factors that determine which
exclusive to Europe; this became evident when we
collaborations researchers choose? Olli Kallioniemi,
sought interview subjects for this analysis. In the
director of the national life science organisation Sci-
diagram of the universities around the globe with
LifeLab in Stockholm, points out that the CWTS
which Medicon Valley’s researchers collaborated
analysis shows clearly that research collaborations
(see page 35), one sees for example that researchers
are far more concentrated within Denmark and
from Stanford University and Lund University
Sweden than between the two countries in Medicon
co-published multiple scientific publications
Valley. The primary reason for that, he believes, is
during the period in study. Upon closer exami-
that funding is predominantly national, but there
nation, it was revealed that a large part of them
are additional influential factors, such as national
were the result of a collaboration between more
regulations and legislation.
than 20 researchers. There
Funding is also an im-
are however also examples
portant factor mentioned
”Covid-19 has meant
of a few researchers whose
by Nico van Meeteren,
that everybody is me-
close collaboration resulted
executive director of the
Top Sector Life Sciences
eting digitally. This leads
in a very large number of
publications.
& Health (LSH; Health–
to internationalization.”
During the search for
Holland) in the Nether-
interview subjects, another
lands in an interview
important factor for successful research collabo-
for this report. He also brings up the fact that
ration became unmistakably clear, namely: the
geography, habits and traditions have an impact
importance of a personal relationship. If one of
on how collaborations develop. In the case of the
the collaborative partners retires, for example, the
Netherlands and Belgium, there is a long tradition
collaboration may well come to an end; at the same
of working together in the Benelux union that
time, it may very well continue, even if a colleague
makes their collaboration more likely than a colla-
relocates to another part of the world. The good
boration with e.g. Denmark – although Denmark
relationship between Stefan Jovinge at Van Andel
and the Netherlands have interesting common
Institute, Michigan State University and Stanford
themes within research.
University and Henrik Bjursten, cardiac surgeon
Looking at it with a somewhat broader perspecti-
and associate professor of thoracic surgery at Lund
ve and taking into consideration the various spin-off
University, has helped them continue their collabo-
companies that emerge from research, the investors
ration long distance. The researchers emphasise the
Søren Møller from Novo Seeds and Sten Verland
importance of getting on well if a collaboration is
from Sunstone Life Science Ventures (read more on
to last longer than the duration of a single scientific
pages 39-41) are both interested in companies in
publication, although the content and results of the
all of Scandinavia – at least. As they see it, Medicon
research are, naturally, also an important factor.
Valley is just one of a number of interesting clusters
Although these preconditions and limitations
in Europe, although they have a positive view of the
remain, there are indications that the research col-
research conducted in the region.
laboration paradigm is about to change – due to
Nico van Meeteren and Olli Kallioniemi both
the corona pandemic, says Olli Kallioniemi from
mention the EU as an important actor in terms of re-
SciLifeLab. The key is that digital collaboration is
search funding. The EU contributes to large research
beginning to feel just as easy as meeting in person
consortia that span the entire continent with its rese-
– for that reason, he believes that the number of
arch programmes. At the same time, such consortia
international collaborations will increase in the
make it difficult to directly interpret jointly published
future.
scientific works as the result of close research collabo-
– Covid-19 has meant that everybody is me-
rations, Olli Kallioniemi points out. What looks like
eting digitally. This leads to internationalization,
a collaboration in terms of statistics is not necessarily
and democratization in that international contacts
one – at any rate not in the sense that the researchers
will be less dependent on travel in the future, and
know each other and have worked together. Instead,
hence distances will matter less, he says.
it is a question of large co-publications by a substan-
28
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
OVERVIEW OVER PUBLICATION AND CITATIONS FROM TEN EUROPEAN
CLUSTERS (2006-2016/17)
• The clusters that published the greatest number of
scientific publications during the period in study are
London-Cambridge-Oxford, followed by the Netherlands
and Île de France.
• London-Cambridge-Oxford was also cited most frequently.
Around 17% of the publications from the cluster were in the
10% most frequently cited for their fields in the entire period
of 2006-2017, followed by Zurich and Scotland.
18%
• Researchers in Medicon Valley published 32 027 scien-
tific articles in the field life science between 2006-2016,
according to CWTS’ review of Web of Science. Around 13%
of the publications from Medicon Valley were in the 10%
most frequently cited for their fields in the entire period of
2006-2017. In relation to the nine other life science clusters
included in the study, Medicon Valley places in the middle,
specifically in sixth place.
17%
London-Cambridge-Oxford
16%
Zürich
Scotland
Netherlands
15%
PP Top 10%
14%
13%
Medicon
Valley
Flanders
Munich
Stockholm-Uppsala
BioValley
Île
de France/Paris
12%
11%
10%
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
Total
publications
Source: CWTS B.V.
The diagram shows the total number of publications from 2006-2016 and the number of these that are among the 10%
most frequently cited in their fields (PP Top 10%) from 2006-2017. BioValley is a German-French-Swiss cluster that
includes Basel, Alsace, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Mulhouse and Strasbourg.
FACTS: ABOUT THE REPORT FROM CWTS LEIDEN
• On behalf of Medicon Valley Alliance, the
research institute CWTS at Leiden University did
a comparison of the bibliometric performance of
ten life science clusters in Europe, one of which is
Medicon Valley.
• In this report, clusters are defined as areas in
which universities and other research institutions
are fairly densely located in a specific geographic
area, where internal collaboration is customary or
habitual, and where there is an established cluster
organisation of some kind.
• The comparison was done for the years 2006-
2016. Citations have also been counted through
2017.
• Read more about how the clusters were selected
and compiled and how the analysis was conducted
in the Appendix, page 71.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
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CLUSTER RANKING
There are many companies and outstanding research in the microbiome field in Greater Copen-
hagen, and the region measures up well compared to other European clusters. This is evident
from a new survey of the transdisciplinary field, which concerns how bacteria and viruses affect
humans, animals and plants.
Copenhagen Capacity, Invest in Skåne and Medicon
Valley Alliance were behind the recently published
overview, which is part of the Interreg-project The
Microbiome Signature Project, which strives to
gather all of the actors in the field of microbiome in
the Greater Copenhagen region, which covers eastern
Denmark and southern Sweden – and in both resear-
ch and the industry. Over 80 actors have been iden-
tified thus far, more than 40 of which are businesses.
Among them are many companies that are new to
the field, such as ImmuneBiotech, SNIPR Biome,
and UNION Therapeutics, as well as others that are
already established in the region, such as BioGaia,
Chr. Hansen, Ferring, Novozymes and Probi.
The microbiome is a community of microorga-
nisms (such as bacteria, viruses and fungi) that exist
in a particular environment, and can concern eve-
rything from how the bacteria and viruses that live
in and on our bodies affect our health – also through
diet – to how bacteria in the soil can make it more
fertile and reduce the need for artificial fertilisers.
– It’s an interdisciplinary field, and there is a lot
happening on both the Danish and Swedish sides.
Often, actors may not be aware of what’s going on
outside their own fields of expertise or networks,
says Sarah Lidé, Senior Strategy & Project Mana-
ger at Medicon Valley Alliance.
In addition to broadening local microbiome
networks, another goal is to attract more exper-
tise and funding from abroad to Medicon Valley.
When the region is being marketed, it should be
easy to refer to the project’s new website, where
all of the information about the companies and
research is gathered. Plans for a campaign focused
on attracting research investments to the area from
abroad are also underway. Read more on page 57.
– We don’t necessary want to compete with for
example Boston, but if an investor is looking at
Europe, perhaps Medicon Valley will be the first
choice, says Sarah Lidé.
The overview over research was conducted via a
PubMed database search for the years 2014-2019.
During that time, 898 microbiome-related publica-
30
Since this spring, over 200 research
projects about the novel coronavirus
that causes covid-19 have been started
at universities, hospitals and rese-
arch centers in Medicon Valley. They
comprise everything from developing
vaccines, tests and various drugs
or treatments for covid-19 to basic
research on how the virus works, as
information compiled from universities
and research grants reveals.
PHOTO: MEDICON VALLEY ALLIANCE
FEWER INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS COME
TO MEDICON VALLEY DUE TO CORONAVIRUS.
The number of international students at DTU,
Lund University and the Faculty of Health and
Medical Sciences at the University of Copen-
hagen has dropped dramatically this year. The
most significant decrease has been among
exchange students.
Sarah Lidé, Senior Strategy & Project Manager at Medicon
Valley Alliance.
”Research is the raw material
of the scientific community from
which the foundation is built.”
Søren Møller, managing partner at Novo
Seeds, underlines that the quality of research
is high in Medicon Valley; he draws a compa-
rison with successful American clusters with
high-quality research combined with a strong
system for funding, which enables ideas to
develop into companies.
tions were released that linked to researchers in Medi-
con Valley, and in 71% of the publications, research-
ers from Medicon Valley were the primary authors.
It is also worth noting that the vast majority of
the articles were published toward the end of the
period in study. Sarah Lidé also points out that
the microbiome as its own field of research is a
comparatively new one - with pioneering research
carried out in the early 2000s – that has gotten a
great deal of attention in recent years.
In terms of research, Medicon Valley is strong
compared with five other European clusters that are
left unnamed in the overview. From 2014-2019,
Medicon Valley had the largest number of publica-
tions, as well as the largest number of publications
in the journal Nature and in Nature’s specialised
journals. The region is slightly behind the Boston
cluster in the USA, which was also included.
Medicon Valley is no island in the scientific com-
munity however, and researchers co-published their
articles with colleagues from 81 countries – in addi-
tion to Denmark and Sweden. The greatest number
of collaborations were with researchers in the USA,
Germany, the UK, China and the Netherlands.
– That means that our researchers have good
international contacts, and that’s very important
for the quality of the research. Something we’d like
to see more is researchers simply looking over the
Danish-Swedish border more, says Sarah Lidé.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
More – and less – life science
research in the region
Kristianstad University has been granted
additional rights related to research training in
Health Sciences and taken on its first PhD stu-
dents in “person-centred care for health and
well-being” this year. At the same time, Aal-
borg University in Copenhagen will be closing
down its Section for Sustainable Biotechnology
in 2022 and moving its research to Aalborg.
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
New research endeavours
• DiaUnion
– a cross-border research project focused on type 1
diabetes and autoimmunity. Medicon Valley Alliance is coordinating
the project, that also involves Lund University, Steno Diabetes Center,
Capital Region of Denmark and Region Skåne. The initiative is funded
by Interreg.
• Max Planck Center
– next Generation Insect Chemical Ecology
(nGICE) – a new research centre to improve understanding of the
interplay between insects, humans, and the climate. Lund University,
the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Max Planck
Society will run the centre for at least five years.
• Videnscenter for multisygdom og kronisk sygdom
(Knowledge
centre for multimorbidities and chronic diseases) – a research
centre founded by Region Zealand.
• Centre for Evolutionary Hologenomics at the Globe Institute
- a new
Center of Excellence at the University of Copenhagen to study how inte-
raction between genes and microbes determine biological evolution.
14 500
academic researchers
work in the life sciences
in Medicon Valley.
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
MORE THAN 80 ORGANISATIONS ARE WORKING
WITH MICROBIOMES IN GREATER COPENHAGEN
At least 200 research projects
related to the coronavirus
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2274553_0017.png
CLUSTER RANKING
CLUSTER RANKING
GOOD CHEMISTRY MAKES FOR GOOD
COLLABORATION
They met in the corridors of Skåne University Hospital, and ten years ago they started researching
kidney failure related to coronary bypass operations together. The physical distance that separates
them is significantly larger today, as Stefan Jovinge has moved to the US, where he has profes-
sorships at Van Andel Institute and Stanford University, among others. Distance has not been an
obstacle for the collaboration between Stefan Jovinge and Henrik Bjursten, cardiac surgeon and
associate professor of thoracic surgery at Lund University. ”A long-term collaboration demands not
only interesting results, but also a personal connection”, says Stefan Jovinge.
to both of the researchers, who maintain contact via
Stefan Jovinge was heading the cardiac intensive
email and digital meetings. Stefan Jovinge feels that a
unit and Henrik Bjursten was a cardiac surgeon
collaboration between Sweden and the USA is just as
at the thoracic surgery clinic at Skåne University
easy as when both are in the same country. Instead, the
Hospital when both became interested in the effects
great divide is whether or not the researchers are at the
of a new drug on patients who had undergone
same department.
cardiac surgery.* There was
– As soon as you are outside
a hypothesis that the drug
”A long-term collabo-
it, legal contracts become a
would be able to prevent
ration demands not
necessity – material transport
reduced kidney function
agreements – and the legal
in patients, and it was also
only interesting
aspects in the US are worse than
used for that purpose, says
results, but also a
you think. My basic research lab
Stefan Jovinge. According
is at one institute, and my clini-
to the two researchers’ study
personal connection.”
cal lab is at another, so I have to
however, patients who had
have a bunch of contracts with myself. So, the big step
been treated with the drug were more likely to be
is leaving the institute. Whether you’re in the US or
affected by reduced kidney function.
Sweden doesn’t make any difference, he says.
– The results didn’t produce a new drug, but they
Both procure their own research funding, alt-
were important nonetheless. One might think that
hough they work collaboratively on their projects.
kidneys are a kind of appendage to the body, but in
– The general rule is that everyone pays for their
reality, failing kidneys are one of the most important
own analyses in the project, and no money is sent
indicators of a risk of death, he says.
back and forth. But if we do analyses on Henrik’s
The research collaboration has continued although
samples, that’s our contribution to the project, we
Stefan Jovinge moved to the US seven years ago, where
don’t get paid for it, says Stefan Jovinge.
he divides his time between professorships at Van An-
In addition, both researchers see advantages to the
del Institute and Michigan State University and a ten
international collaboration, in part because it gives
per cent position as an adjunct professor at Stanford
them an opportunity to work with skilled researchers
University. Henrik Bjursten conducted a randomised
all over the world, and in part because it is valued
study in Lund, and Stefan Jovinge contributed with
highly when it comes to funds being granted.
special blood analyses that he was able to carry out in
– It helps somewhat that we can write in the
his lab in the USA. With his colleague Per Ederoth,
application that the project will be a collaboration
Henrik Bjursten also took over for Stefan Jovinge
between multiple clinics outside Sweden; it comes
as PhD supervisor for a doctoral student at Lund
to our advantage when we’re competing for funding,
University who is working on the same project. Stefan
says Henrik Bjursten. Stefan Jovinge adds:
Jovinge is still involved as an assistant supervisor.
– Historically speaking, I’ve always had colla-
– We’re now working on the continuation of the
borations outside Sweden. They have always been
projects that have already been published. I work in
guided by someone having patient material or
groups with doctoral students, and Stefan’s role is
technology that interested me, or vice versa. The
more that of a consultant, but there are also publica-
competition is so stiff, you just have to try to bring
tions by his group, says Henrik Bjursten.
in the very best players, he says.
Distance collaboration has been smooth, according
32
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
Stefan Jovinge has been working with some of his
partners for 15-20 years; at the moment he has an
active international collaboration with e.g. researchers
at the universities in Cambridge and Bonn. Henrik
Bjursten also has other active international collabo-
rations, including with colleagues at universities in
Leeds and Rotterdam.
– It’s always a pleasure to work internationally and
have the opportunity to broaden one’s scope and meet
new people. Of course, if you work at the same place
there’s the advantage of being able to see each other
in the corridor and exchange a few words, he says; for
that reason, he believes it is important to put effort into
building a relationship with a new collaborative part-
ner, especially if that person is located somewhere else.
– With a new collaboration, it’s always a good idea
to meet and get to know each other. I haven’t had the
experience of a completely virtual contact; usually
we’ve met already, for example at a meeting, he says.
While Stefan Jovinge has met collaborative part-
ners that way, he has also reached out to researchers
whom he has never met before, but with whom he
was interested in working. Among them is the profes-
sor in Bonn, with whom he has been working for
nearly two decades.
– They had created a mouse model we were
interested in, and in research, when you publish
Commentary: Collaboration between
Lund University and Stanford University
Danish and Swedish life science researchers
in Medicon Valley collaborate primarily with
colleagues in Scandinavia and the rest of Europe,
according to CWTS Leiden’s survey of research
collaborations (see page 35), but there are also
links to universities in the rest of the world. From
2006-2016, e.g. researchers from Lund University
and Stanford University co-published a significant
number of scientifical publications in the life sci-
ences, which is apparent from the line connecting
these two institutions in the graphic.
The number of co-publications between the
two universities do not give a complete picture,
however, which was evident when interview
subjects were being sought for this analysis.
Collaborations come and go; even close collabora-
tive relationships can come to an end when one of
the parties stops or retires. A significant number
of co-publications also comprise larger ”research
consortia” in which each researcher contributes a
small part of the whole without necessarily having
contact with others in the collaboration.
Stefan Jovinge.
Henrik Bjursten.
something new, you’re expected to share it. So I
contacted him and asked him to send it, but then he
said: ”shouldn’t we work together instead?”. So we
did. And if you work well together for 20 years, you
become personal friends, and in the end even your
families spend time together, he says.
As he sees it, there are two deciding factors when
it comes to whether a research collaboration will be
temporary or continue in the long-term.
– A long-term collaboration demands not only
interesting results, but also a personal connection. If
a collaboration ends, it might be because the project
didn’t have any natural continuation, because what
was being investigated didn’t work or the hypothesis
was wrong and didn’t generate new hypotheses. But
there are also people one stops working with because
the relationship is no good, he says.
There are, of course, also collaborations that aren’t
as close simply because they’re arranged different-
ly. Henrik Bjursten, for example, co-authored a
larger-scale, international, randomised study with
researchers from a number of universities around the
world. The aim of the study was to clinically evaluate
new products that are used in cardiac care.
– I became involved because they needed my exper-
tise, and I contributed with what I could. I’ve also been
involved in the beginning of product launches, he says.
Regardless of the other conditions, points out
Stefan Jovinge, it’s important to ensure that there is a
give and take for both parties in a research collabora-
tion, and that both parties stand to gain from it.
– When I started out as an independent rese-
archer, I contacted other researchers and thought,
everyone is an adult and can look out for their own
interests – I didn’t think about what the other party
could get out of our collaboration. But the people
one wants to work with, the good researchers, are
very busy, and I noticed that the projects didn’t move
forward. With time I learned to make certain that
the project would have significant advantages for the
other party as well, because otherwise our project
33
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
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wouldn’t be prioritised highly, he says.
Personally, he considers collaboration with others
one of the most rewarding parts of being a researcher,
and in that respect, he sees advantages to having
moved to the USA.
– Letting nature unfold and reveal its secrets is a
lot of fun, but the great thing about research is also
the multinational, multicultural collaboration. When
I was working in Sweden, I sometimes felt it was all
very uniform; the majority of my colleagues were
Swedish – but there are people from every culture and
background in the research sphere in the USA, he says.
Furthermore, according to Stefan Jovinge, collabo-
ration is essential in today’s competitive research world.
– The lone researcher in the basement lab no longer
exists. That’s why it’s important, on a department level,
to see that collaborations keep research going and help
break down barriers. I don’t think that’s always accom-
plished. But collaboration is absolutely essential. The best
things we do are the things we do with others, he says.
* The drug was developed by Magnus Hansson and Eskil Elmér at the
Faculty of Medicine in Lund.
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS IN THE LIFE SCIENCES
(2006-2016)
National collaborations are most common in Den-
mark as well as Sweden, as shown by this network
analysis of the research institutions with which
actors in Medicon Valley collaborate with most
frequently, nationally as well as internationally.
The international institutions with which Medicon
Valley’s researchers work are primarily in western
Europe, particularly in Scandinavia. There are
also a few American universities in the diagram –
Harvard, Stanford, Duke University, the University
of California and the University of Washington – as
well as the University of Sydney; these are the only
universities outside of Europe whose collaboration
with Medicon Valley is extensive enough to be in-
cluded here. It is important to remember that the
diagram only includes research institutions that
jointly produced at least 150 scientific publications
with a Medicon Valley actor between 2006-2016. It
does not show the collaboration of external actors
with other research institutions in the world.
University of Copenhagen
4.
2.
3.
7.
5.
6.
8.
9.
10.
12.
11.
17.
14.
15.
RED
The Danish research institutions
1. University of Copenhagen
2. Roskilde University
3. Technical University of Denmark
4. Aalborg University
5. Roskilde Hospital
6. Hillerød Hospital
7. University of Southern Denmark
8. Herlev Hospital
9. Frederiksberg Hospital
10. Gentofte Hospital
11. Bispebjerg Hospital
12. Hvidovre Hospital
13. Aarhus University
14. Aarhus University Hospital
15. State Serum Institute
16. Rigshospitalet
17. Glostrup Hospital
BLUE
Most of the Swedish institutions as
well as the Scandinavian institutions
18. Lund University
19. Swedish University of Agricultu-
ral Sciences
20. Kristianstad University
21. Malmö University
22. Linköping University
23. Uppsala University
24. University of Gothenburg
25. Karolinska Institute
26. Norwegian University of Science
and Technology
27. Haukeland University Hospital
28. University of Bergen
29. University of Iceland
30. University of Oslo
31. University of Helsinki
32. University of Turku
GREY
International research institutions
that collaborate with both Swedish
and Danish institutions
33. Duke University
34. University of Sydney
35. National Institutes of Health
36. University of California SF
37. University of Toronto
38. Harvard University
39. University of Manchester
40. Maastricht University
41. King’s College London
42. VU University Amsterdam
43. Erasmus University Rotterdam
44. Leiden University
45. Max Planck Society
46. University of Washington Seattle
47. University of Bern
48. University of Groningen
49. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
50. University of Amsterdam
51. University College London
52. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
53. Ghent University
54. Stanford University
55. Radboud University Nijmegen
56. Ludwig-Maximilians Universität
München
57. Heidelberg University
58. University of Zürich
59. Freie Universität Berlin
60. University of Milan
61. French Institute of Health and
Medical Research
YELLOW
international research institutions
that primarily collaborate with the
Swedish institutions
62. Umeå University
63. The Arctic University of Norway
64. University of Cambridge
65. Utrecht University
66. Imperial College London
67. University of Oxford
68. National and Kapodistrian
University of Athens
69. German Cancer Research Center
13.
16.
1.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
33.
35.
38.
32.
39.
41.
46.
47.
18.
21.
53.
54.
56.
48.
49.
55.
57.
58.
60.
42.
43.
51.
50.
52.
59.
36.
37.
40.
44.
45.
34.
19.
31.
23.
22.
24.
25.
20.
Network analysis of Medicon Valley’s international collaboration
• The graphic shows collaborations in the life sciences between research institutions in Sweden and Denmark (at le-
ast one of which is located in Medicon Valley) that led to publications between 2006-2016. A minimum of 150 instan-
ces of collaboration is required for an institution to be included in the graphic. The thickness of the lines and dots
shows the collaboration volume – the larger the dot or the thicker the line, the greater the number of collaborations.
• The colours are generated automatically in the computer program VOSViewer, which classifies groups or networks of
research institutions with more frequent joint collaborations. The Danish research institutions are shown in red, while
most of the Swedish institutions as well as the Scandinavian institutions are in blue. The (usually) international rese-
arch institutions that are in a network with closer connections to the Swedish institutions are in yellow, and in grey are
the international research institutions that have as many connections to both Swedish and Danish institutions.
62.
64.
63.
67.
68.
69.
66.
65.
61.
Lund University
Source: CWTS B.V.
34
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
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Ten European life science clusters were compared in the survey conducted by CWTS Leiden.
On the following pages, representatives for organisations in two of them – the national resear-
ch infrastructure SciLifeLab in Stockholm-Uppsala and Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (LSH;
Health~Holland) in the Netherlands – offer their perspectives on the results of the analysis and on
the conditions for collaboration and competition between the clusters. We also meet two investors
who offer additional views on collaboration and research in Medicon Valley.
COLLABORATIONS STEERED NATIONALLY MORE
THAN IN CLUSTERS, SAYS HEAD OF SCILIFELAB
Based on data on research collaborations, na-
tional context is more important in the life sci-
ences than regional transborder clusters like
the Danish-Swedish Medicon Valley, according
to Olli Kallioniemi, director of the national life
science organization SciLifeLab in Stockholm.
He believes that one important explanation for
why so many researchers choose to collaborate
within national boundaries is the shortage of
funds to support transnational research. At
the same time, Olli Kallioniemi thinks that the
corona- and climate crises are changing rese-
arch collaboration patterns.
The closest cluster to Medicon Valley in CWTS
Leiden’s comparison of ten European life science
clusters is Stockholm-Uppsala; this is evident in
both the comparison of scientific publications and
citations, as well as from a closer review of individu-
al subject areas. Furthermore, Stockholm-Uppsala is
the closest to Medicon Valley in a geographic sense.
While Olli Kallioniemi notes these similarities
with interest, he doesn’t entirely accept the precon-
ditions for the comparison – that Medicon Valley
is one cluster, and Stockholm-Uppsala another. He
thinks – and CWTS’ diagram of research collabo-
rations (on page 35 and in Medicon Valley Allian-
ce’s 2018 annual report) corroborates this – that
academic research collaborations within Sweden
and Denmark respectively are more substantial
than transborder collaborations.
– Of course, there is a lot of emphasis put on
the Medicon Valley region as an economic region.
But if we look at the data on scientific publica-
tions, the cooperation between Lund and Stock-
holm is stronger. Personally, I find it good that
e.g. Lund cooperates both with Stockholm and
Copenhagen and that one does not exclude the
36
other, but it is important to note how e.g. ethical,
legal and regulatory boundaries as well as availa-
ble research funding make it easier to collaborate
within each country, says Olli Kallioniemi.
He also emphasises that SciLifeLab is a national
infrastructure for all of Sweden, not only for
Stockholm and Uppsala. While SciLifeLab has
some international users and many international
collaborations, its primary mandate from the
government is to serve scientists in Sweden.
Olli Kallioniemi believes that the main reason
researchers focus their collaborations primarily in the
country in which they are located is that funding is
predominantly national. According to him, this is
true for both Sweden and Denmark, which he knows
from e.g. reviewing grants in both countries.
– A lot of the research is dictated by the available
funding and we may lose opportunities when most
of the funding is only intended for either Denmark
or Sweden. In a Nordic perspective, there is very
little transborder funding available. If we really
want to promote the regions across borders, this is
what is needed, he says.
One actor that has been able to have a strong
influence on how researchers collaborate by fun-
ding projects that involve research in multiple Eu-
ropean countries is the EU, says Olli Kallioniemi.
EU funding is usually meant for large consortia
across the continent, not for bilateral, transborder
or Nordic collaborations.
– I would think that a lot of the collaboration
between Lund and Copenhagen happens in a broa-
der EU-context. Importantly, the publication metrics
do not indicate who else participated in the collabo-
rative publications between e.g. Lund and Copenha-
gen. Often there are dozens if not hundred of other
sites engaged in multi-centre studies, he says.
Rather than focusing solely on the comparisons
between the clusters Medicon Valley and Stock-
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
holm-Uppsala, Olli Kallioniemi also wants to
focus on the similarities and differences between
Denmark and Sweden. He notes that other sur-
veys have indicated that the number of scientific
publications has increased and other metrics have
improved in recent years in Denmark, but remai-
ned largely unchanged in Sweden.
– How much of the progress in terms of scienti-
fic publications over the past ten years in Medicon
Valley is due to Copenhagen rather than Lund? he
asks rhetorically.
Olli Kallioniemi also points out that Denmark
has a broad life science strategy that encompasses
many areas. The Swedish government is now also
developing a strategy that focuses more on health.
In addition, he finds it interesting that research
collaborations between universities and hospitals
appear to be more comprehensive in Denmark
than in Sweden, which the comparison by CWTS
Leiden indicates (see Medicon Valley Alliance’s
2018 annual report).
– In the era of covid-19, we are seeing how im-
portant that kind of collaboration is, he says.
Covid-19, along with the current climate crisis,
are also factors that may influence how researchers
choose their national as well as international colla-
boration partners in the future, says Olli Kallionie-
mi. He sees a potential two-pronged development
in which local collaboration will continue to have
an important role whilst it becomes easier to colla-
borate over significantly longer distances.
– Covid-19 has meant that everybody is me-
eting digitally. This leads to internationalization,
and democratization in that international contacts
will be less dependent on travel in the future, and
hence distances will matter less. Lecture series are
now easy to arrange internationally for example,
and now there can be hundreds of people interna-
tionally listening to a local seminar presentation
– and the speakers do not need to travel anywhe-
re. I don’t know what the future will bring of
course, but I believe covid-19 will have long-term
consequences. We’ll work more with international
collaborations, because they’re just as easy, he says.
Paradoxically, travel between colleagues who are
just a few hours away may be impacted, he thinks.
The corona crisis has already led to a significant
decrease in travel and Olli Kallioniemi believes
that it might be the start of a more permanent
development.
– I think that the climate discussion has already
made people want to travel less domestically, even
before covid-19 there were recommendations like
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
”don’t fly to Gothenburg,
take the train”. However,
now I would rather have
a Zoom meeting than
travel three hours in each
direction in a shaky train.
We’ve gotten a lot more
used to being able to dis-
cuss most things digitally,
he says.
He believes that local
Olli Kallioniemi, director of
contexts will continue to
SciLifeLab.
be important, as people
have a need to meet their colleagues. Furthermore,
change won’t affect all factors at once; funding, legis-
lation, regulatory and ethical and privacy issues con-
cerning health data will continue to impact research
collaborations in the future as well, Olli Kallioniemi
points out. He believes nonetheless that the broader
trend is toward more comprehensive international
collaboration that takes place parallel to local work.
– One could say that local collaboration will beco-
me less important, but at the same time, since people
will be travelling less, they’ll have a greater need for a
high-quality local environment, he says, and adds:
– When it comes to research on healthcare, being
close to a hospital is obviously advantageous. But
samples can also be sent to and from researchers
elsewhere, so that other types of cooperation are also
feasible; this happens today at SciLifeLab, where the
analysed samples are acquired all over Sweden. A lot
of things can be done without traveling.
FACTS: SCILIFELAB
SciLifeLab stands for Science for Life Labora-
tory, and it is the name of a national research
infrastructure for the advancement of mole-
cular biosciences in Sweden. SciLifeLab was
founded in 2010 by Karolinska Institute, KTH,
Stockholm University and Uppsala University,
but today it gives support to research activities
at all major Swedish universities and is funded
by the Swedish Government.
Researchers and companies can use SciLi-
feLab’s infrastructure comprising laboratories
and expertise for research in e.g. genomics,
proteomics, metabolomics, microscopy,
structural biology, bioinformatics, single cell
biology, chemical biology and genome engine-
ering, along with diagnostic development as
well as drug discovery and development.
37
PHOTO: SCILIFELAB
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DUTCH LIFE SCIENCE DIRECTOR SEES BASIS FOR
MORE COLLABORATION WITH DENMARK
Belgium is one of the traditional partners of choice for life science researchers and companies in the
Netherlands, and there are also common interests with Scandinavia, according to Nico van Meeteren,
executive director of the Bureau of the Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (LSH; Health~Holland) in the
Netherlands. For the years ahead, he sees opportunities for more research collaboration involving the
people more broadly, universities, the government and companies with the help of ”federated learning”.
In 2011, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs
and Climate Policy designated Dutch Life Sciences
& Health as one of the country’s ”top sectors”,
selected for its ability to make important contri-
butions to tackle global societal challenges with
substantial potential to lead to spin-off companies
that benefit society and the economy. In a compari-
son of life science research in ten European clusters,
the entire Netherlands is considered a single cluster,
and although Nico van Meeteren believes that
comparing an entire country with other clusters
that comprise regions can be misleading, he is of
the opinion that the ”single cluster” image of the
Netherlands is fairly accurate.
– We have invested heavily in a more national
ecosystem and succeeded quite well, he says.
CWTS Leiden’s analysis shows that the Nether-
lands is the European cluster with the second-largest
number of scientific publications during the period
studied, 2006-2016, following London-Cambrid-
ge-Oxford, and that the number increased throug-
hout the entire period. The Netherlands is also at a
high level in terms of citations – on approximately
the same level as Scotland and Zurich. Oncology
and Endocrinology & Metabolism are some of the
subject areas in which the cluster has excelled, both
in terms of publications and citations.
To describe the Netherlands’ role in life science
research in Europe, Nico van Meeteren points to
three characteristics that set the country apart. The
first is that he believes that Dutch society is open
to acquiring and sharing knowledge; this plays into
the more general image of the Netherlands and has
fuelled research and innovation of many Dutch
sectors, one of which is life science and health. The
government’s prioritisation of this has led to further
progress of that sector.
– Secondly, we are a first mover. We have a
reputation for liking to take on the heavy stuff, such
as discussions about life’s end or about gender-trans-
formation. Our society is also very open. You can
also see these cultural habits in the life sciences and
38
health sector. In the Netherlands there is conti-
nuous cross-pollination between citizens, business,
government, and knowledge institutes – the so-called
”quadruple helix”. Ideas and research lead to new al-
liances and spectacular innovations and consequently
to resourceful ways to improve health, healthcare and
life sciences. We do the things we do boldly, he says.
Thirdly, Nico van Meeteren points out that simi-
larly to the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands
is above the EU- and global averages when it comes
to developing for instance enabling technologies
and -methodologies.
He feels that among many others, Denmark
could be a fitting partner in various areas, not
least in research on healthy ageing, elder care and
e-health, areas in which the two countries take a
similar approach.
– If Belgium weren’t so close, I think we’d colla-
borate more with Denmark. I’m joking of course,
but your younger population fits in well in our
football teams, and the same is true for science, says
Nico van Meeteren with a laugh.
One of the Netherlands’ main collaborative
partners is Belgium though, which is also related to
the countries’
long tradition
of collaborating
in the Bene-
lux-formation. In
addition, Dutch
researchers frequ-
ently collaborate
with public and
private partners in
the USA, the UK,
Germany and
Switzerland.
He also says
that the EU is an
Nico van Meeteren, executive
important actor
director of the Bureau of the Top
when it comes to
Sector Life Sciences & Health in the
research collabo-
Netherlands.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
rations, not least in Horizon 2020, EU’s framework
programme for research and innovation for 2014-
2020, and its upcoming successor Horizon Europe.
– The amount of collaboration and its progress
depends heavily on people’s shared interests, of cour-
se, but also on for instance whether there are com-
panies involved. Based on this involvement, there’s a
fine mix of both competition as well as cooperation
on a multilateral level. We’re already doing fine, but
with others, we could definitely enhance this collabo-
ration a lot, for the sake of increasing success, he says.
As Nico van Meeteren sees it, one possibility that
can make all quadruple helix partners more inclined
to collaborate in the future is a new approach that
supports cross-border societal federated learning via
a turnaround of data-use and data-analysis.
– In the next few years, the ’antiquated’ Internet
of Things will become the Internet of Fair Data and
Services and this will support federated learning
technologically. With the help of federated learning,
one can benefit from others’ data without requiring
the data-sets; instead, algorithms surfing around
the internet can simply visit data-stations, when
exclusively permitted to do so by the owner, and
FACTS: LIFE TOP SECTOR
LIFE SCIENCES & HEALTH
Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (Health~-
Holland) is designated by the Dutch Ministry of
Economic Affairs and is selected for its ability to
contribute substantially to adressing global socie-
tal challenges. The Top Sector LSH initiates and
stimulates interdisciplinary research and deve-
lopment in public- private partnerships (PPP) to
valorise innovation. By attracting funding, sharing
best practices, the connective role and communi-
cating as one voice through Health~Holland, the
Top Sector is boosting a productive infrastructu-
re, thereby investing in the government’s five
missions for the Societal Theme of Health and
care under the motto: vital functioning citizens in
a healthy economy.
without capturing the data, extract the information
that another actor needs, for instance for his or her
health. History will prove me right or wrong, but
I believe this will be a tipping point for innovation
and lead to more cooperation, he says.
OUTSTANDING RESEARCH MAKES INTERESTING
COMPANIES, SAY INVESTORS
The investors Novo Seeds and Sunstone Life Science Ventures are seeing increased international in-
terest in Medicon Valley’s startup companies. They believe that the success of research in the region is
important and can lead to interesting offshoot companies, and they say that this is the case here. They
see an important influence in the other direction as well, as the industry makes its mark on research.
PHOTO: LSH; HEALTH-HOLLAND
As investors in the life science sector, Novo Seeds’
and Sunstone’s research focus is primarily on the
degree to which research will lead to interesting and
successful offshoot companies. And in Medicon Val-
ley, it does, according to both Sten Verland, general
partner at Sunstone Life Science Ventures, and Søren
Møller, managing partner at Novo Seeds. Both are
Copenhagen-based venture capital firms with focus
on life science startups – Novo Seeds is part of Novo
Holdings, and Sunstone Life Science Ventures is an
independent enterprise. The companies are also more
closely linked since Novo Holdings recent contribu-
tion to Sunstone’s newest fund.
– From my perspective – the commercial – the
cluster is full of life, with lots of startup compa-
nies. There are a lot of important actors involved,
and in many ways it is a complete ecosystem as
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
it has a variety of funding systems, incubators
and skilled people. That has a lot to do with the
industry’s strength on the Danish side, with Novo
Nordisk, Leo Pharma and Lundbeck, and AstraZe-
neca in Sweden, which still influences the region
even if they are no longer there, because they gave
access to highly skilled people, says Sten Verland.
He immediately brings up the reciprocal rela-
tionship between research and industry; research
can be commercialised and become the founda-
tion for new enterprises, but the region’s large
companies also have a strong influence on which
research areas become substantial and successful in
a particular region, he says.
– In Sweden for example, AstraZeneca had a
definite impact, and the level of research on respi-
ratory disorders remains high. In Denmark, our
39
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PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
The Øresund bridge.
level is very high in diabetes and endocrinology in
general. There are a few cluster differences that can
affect the areas where we find high quality, says
Sten Verland from Sunstone.
The image that emerges in the research institute
CWTS Leiden’s bibliometric comparison of ten
European life science clusters corresponds well
with his take on things, he says, although there
was one area in which the results surprised him.
– One might wonder why neuroscience has
a relatively poor position, even when Lundbeck
is active in the region. Why doesn’t that rub off
more on research? But I think it has to do with
Lundbeck having had a relatively private research
division for many years, with no large networks to
the universities, he says.
Both Sten Verland and Søren Møller from
Novo Seeds feel that on the whole, a lot of good
companies spring up in the Medicon Valley-regi-
on. In part, that’s because there’s an ecosystem for
new enterprises that has recently gotten a boost
from the Bioinnovation Institute, and it is also due
to the successful pharmaceuticals industry on the
Danish side of the border, they say.
– We’ve been investing in biotech companies in
the region for the past ten, twelve years, and we’ve
seen an enormous development toward larger-scale
funding and larger companies and more mature
projects, so as far as the region goes, I’m positive,
says Søren Møller.
There has been a huge increase in international
investor interest in the region during the same
period, according to Sten Verland.
– When we started Sunstone in 2007, there
were huge headlines about a foreign venture fund
investing in the region. There aren’t any anymore;
now we coordinate our investments with others as
a rule. Usually there are 3-5 other investors, and
usually most of them are from abroad. That’s very
important, he says.
Novo Seeds is currently invested in 25 mostly
40
Nordic-based startup companies and has invested
in e.g. the vaccine developer MinervaX and BioP-
hero, which works with sustainable pest control.
Both of those companies have their offices in
Copenhagen, but the venture capital firm also has
investments in Sweden.
Novo Seeds and Sunstone’s involvement in com-
panies sometime overlap – for example, MinervaX is
in Sunstone Life Science Ventures’ active investment
portfolio, along with around 20 other life science
startups around Europe. Another regional is example
is the company Alligator Bioscience from Lund,
which develops cancer drugs based on antibodies.
Although Novo Seeds and Sunstone are both based
in Medicon Valley, their investments reach far broader
than that. Søren Møller wants a shifted perspective,
where all of Scandinavia is seen as one region.
– We look at all of Scandinavia and see that
there is good basic research and a culture of bud-
ding entrepreneurship that makes a lot of young
people want to be entrepreneurs, he says.
In a European context, he sees Scandinavia is
definitely making progress as a life science cluster,
and he says it can be considered one of Europe’s
successful clusters, alongside the ”golden triangle”
in the UK, and other key clusters in Switzerland
and the Benelux countries.
Sten Verland agrees and adds that the region
around Munich is another good example.
Both investors consider research quality a de-
termining factor for the quality of the companies
started up in the life sciences and believe that it
is thus important for Medicon Valley to position
itself as such a high quality science region as it
does in the comparison by the research institute
CWTS Leiden.
– The research quality in Medicon Valley is
high, beyond a doubt, but the research volume is
lower since we have a smaller population; if it’s
considered in relation to the population size, the
picture changes. And we’re primarily attracted to
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
areas that are interesting from a biotech perspec-
tive – that are investment-friendly, for example
gene- or cell therapy, oncology and inflammatory
disorders, says Søren Møller from Novo Seeds.
To exemplify the importance of high-quality
research, he points to the regions around Boston
and San Francisco in the USA – on the whole, he
believes that the American clusters are on a higher
level than the European.
– It’s apparent that growth in those cities has been
driven by research quality and a strong economic
funding system that enables ideas that have emerged
from research to become companies and generate
value. So research is the raw material of the scientific
community from which the foundation is built and
if you add management talent and capital you have a
strong ecosystem, he says.
Sten Verland from Sunstone also mentions other
positive effects of high-quality research. Among
other things, he believes it is an advantage for Suns-
tone that they can turn to top local researchers who
can help determine the quality of the companies in
which Sunstone is considering investing.
– Research quality is also very important when
we’re recruiting skilled researchers in our companies,
especially research students. They are also a product
of the quality of research at universities, he says.
For Sunstone, physical proximity to the compa-
nies in which one is investing is important when it
comes to companies that are just forming, accor-
ding to Sten Verland; in part because that proximity
means a cultural and verbal closeness and pre-un-
derstanding, and in part because the companies
need more support at that stage. Physical proximity
is unimportant for more mature companies, he says.
Søren Møller from Novo Seeds concurs.
– At the same time however, we’re seeing sig-
nificantly fewer opportunities in Sweden than in
Denmark. Presumably it’s because we don’t know
Sweden as well; there is probably a regional mind-
set that we all need to work on, he says.
Another factor is that the Novo Nordisk Foun-
dation – another part of the Novo Nordisk family
– is active locally in the region.
– From where we are, we can also see that the
foundation’s strategy makes its mark on the acade-
mic environment, and that mark is significant, says
Søren Møller.
Both investors see a value in carrying out com-
parisons of life science clusters, to bring attention
to things that can be improved on one’s home turf.
– Oxford-London is good at recruiting interna-
tionally and attracting talent – what do we do to
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
Sten Verland, general partner at Sunstone Life Science
Ventures.
PHOTO: NOVO SEEDS
Søren Møller, managing partner at Novo Seeds.
make our cluster better at that? And if you look at
Boston – besides that they’re also good at recru-
iting international scientific talents, they have a
knack for creating attractive financial framework
to fund companies, says Søren Møller.
Attracting international talents is one thing
that Sten Verland also feels Medicon Valley could
be better at. He also finds it positive that two new
venture capital firms recently came to the region,
since the small number of actors previously was
something of an obstacle for companies looking
for funding. Compared with many other clusters,
Medicon Valley is relatively small, and this is clear-
ly evident in a research comparison, he points out.
– One weakness we have is that we are a small
region in many ways. We can’t really measure
up to the really big regions in terms of scientific
publications and international positioning. Some-
times we have to be more opportunistic, we have
to make the best of what we have, he says.
Sten Verland believes that collaboration
between clusters plays a much greater role than
competition, although that can’t be ignored:
– There is no competition situation between
clusters; for me, it’s more about whether one mar-
kets oneself against others. As a nation however, one
can have the desire for the Swedish-Danish cluster
to have a strong position in the world. Scientific
competition is always a good thing, and we all feel a
certain pride for our own cluster, so yes, certainly –
the competition is there, he says.
41
PHOTO: SUNSTONE
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CLUSTER RANKING
CLUSTER RANKING
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
Source:
The universities’ and research institutions’ own numbers.
Life science researchers includes professors, associate professors, lecturers, post docs, doctoral students,
etc. See footnotes in the Appendix for more information about the figures.
* Researchers at the hospitals in the region often conduct research part-time. Some of the researchers
at the hospitals and at the Danish Cancer Society also have part-time positions at the universities in the
region.
11. REGION SKÅNE*
14.
1. REGION ZEALAND*
Life science researchers: 570
of which professors: 32
of which doctoral students: 150
Life science students: -
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
Life science researchers: ca 1 800
of which professors: 125
of which doctoral students: 750
Life science students: -
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
3.
12.
6.
2.
1.
7.
8.
4.
5.
9.
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
13.
10. 11.
12. THE SWEDISH UNIVER-
SITY OF AGRICULTURAL
SCIENCE IN ALNARP
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
2. ROSKILDE UNIVERSITY
Life science researchers: 55
of which professors: 6
of which doctoral students: 19
Life science students: 459
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
Life science researchers: 204
of which professors: 20
of which doctoral students: 71
Life science students: 607
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
7. AALBORG UNIVERSITY
IN COPENHAGEN
Life science researchers: 17
of which professors: 10
of which doctoral students: 2
Life science students: 60
9. DANISH CANCER SOCIETY*
Life science researchers: 153
of which professors: 9
of which doctoral students: 40
Life science students: -
13. LUND UNIVERSITY
Life science researchers:
1 618
of which professors: 243
of which doctoral students: 1 211
Life science students: ca 4 222
3. TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
OF DENMARK (DTU)
Life science researchers: 1 306
of which professors: 94
of which doctoral students: 430
Life science students: 4 293
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
Other learning institutions:
Copenhagen Business School (CBS) does not conduct life science research in the traditional
sense, but it is touched upon, for example through research in organisation and public
management.
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
4. UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN
Life science researchers: 4 350
of which professors: 586
of which doctoral students: 2 190
Life science students: 13 642
5. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF
PUBLIC HEALTH (NIPH), UNIVER-
SITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK
Life science researchers: 107
of which professors: 9
of which doctoral students: 15
Life science students: -
6. REGION HOVEDSTADEN*
Life science researchers: 3 927
of which professors: 240
of which doctoral students: 801
Life science students: -
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
8. STATE SERUM INSTITUTE
Life science researchers: 150
of which professors: n.a.
of which doctoral students: n.a.
Life science students: -
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
10. MALMÖ UNIVERSITY
Life science researchers: 210
of which professors: 37
of which doctoral students: 87
Life science students:1 995
14. KRISTIANSTAD
UNIVERSITY
Life science researchers: 70
of which professors: 20
of which doctoral students: 14
Life science students: ca 1 600
42
43
PHOTO: KRISTIANSTAD UNIVERSITY
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
UNIVERSITIES, REGIONS AND RESEARCH
INSTITUTIONS
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CLUSTER RANKING
CLUSTER RANKING
HUNDREDS OF RESEARCH PROJECTS IN MEDICON
VALLEY ABOUT THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS
Since this spring, over 200 research projects about the novel coronavirus that causes covid-19 have
been started at universities and hospitals in Medicon Valley. In addition, many businesses in the region
are venturing into corona research, either with universities or on their own.
STUDY: HOW HAS COVID-19 AF-
FECTED FALCK’S EMPLOYEES
IN DENMARK AND SWEDEN
Every second week, 4 000 employees of the Danish
company Falck, whose business activities include
ambulance services, company healthcare, and
rescue and fire services, are offered a serological
test to detect antibodies for covid-19 in Denmark
and Sweden. The research project is being jointly led
with researchers from Rigshospitalet, the University
of Copenhagen, and Herlev-Gentofte Hospital, and
the aim is to investigate how immunity develops in
various professions and in two countries that have
followed different strategies to manage the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
Preliminary results has showed that employees
with more patient contact, e.g. ambulance person-
nel, developed antibodies against covid-19 more of-
ten than the others. 6.6% of the Falck employees in
Sweden who participated in the study had developed
antibodies, compared to 1.6% in Denmark.
EXAMPLES OF COMPANIES
WITH CORONAVIRUS RESEARCH
Adaptvac,
Hørsholm (vaccine development)
AGC Biologics,
Søborg (vaccine development)
Bavarian Nordic,
Hellerup (vaccine development)
Elplatek,
Espergærde (antibacterial surfaces on e.g.
door handles)
Evaxion Biotech,
Copenhagen (vaccine development)
Expres2ion Biotechnologies,
Hørsholm (vaccine
development)
Falck,
Copenhagen (see left)
Immunitrack,
Copenhagen (contribution to vaccines
and tests)
JVS,
Greve (shields to protect healthcare workers)
Konduto,
Taastrup (contagion tracing via algorithms)
Oncology Venture,
Hørsholm (drug development)
Qlife Holding,
Helsingborg (development of antibody
test)
Synact Pharma,
Lund (drug development)
UNION Therapeutics,
Copenhagen (drug development)
Xintela,
Lund (development of stem cell treatment)
When it comes to the Danish and Swedish compa-
nies that are putting efforts into corona research, the
focus is usually on developing a vaccine, a drug, or
something else to aid in the treatment of covid-19.
The Copenhagen-based pharma company UNION
Therapeutics, for example, has initiated clinical studies
based on the theory that an optimized salt form of
niclosamide can be utilised to treat corona patients,
and the Lund-based Viraspec is developing a corona
test meant to be easier, rapider and more reliable than
those on the market today. The Danish companies
Bavarian Nordic, Adaptvac, Expres2ion and the
contract manufacturer AGC Biologics are working
with researchers from the University of Copenhagen
and a number of Dutch and German higher learning
institutions to develop a vaccine against the virus.
The research projects at universities, hospitals and
other research institutions comprise everything from
developing vaccines, tests and various drugs or treat-
ments for covid-19 to basic research on how the virus
works and affects people. Furthermore, some projects
examine how other patient groups, for example those
who have gotten cancer or suffered heart attacks,
have been affected in the corona pandemic. Projects
also concern how to best organise healthcare to cope
with the pandemic and similar questions.
As an example, researchers from Malmö University,
Linköping University and Umeå University are working
to develop a sensor that will detect new pathogens, such
as the novel coronavirus, in a simple and inexpensive way
via special surfaces – Reversible Self-Assembled Mono-
layers (rSAMs) – that can be linked to electrochemical
or optical transducers. Another example is the Technical
University of Denmark (DTU), which has joined up
with the healthcare company Konduto in Taastrup to
develop a tool based on pattern recognition algorithms
to detect where and when covid-19 infections are trans-
mitted in hospitals and care homes.
The Danish and Swedish governments both have
specially designated grants for research of the novel
coronavirus. In addition, funds have been made avai-
lable by large foundations such as the Novo Nordisk
Foundation, Lundbeck Foundation and the Carlsberg
Foundation in Denmark, as well as the Knut and Alice
Wallenberg Foundation in Sweden. Some universities
have chosen to offer their own grants for research into
the coronavirus, and the EU is also granting funds
specifically for corona-related research.
Many actors in Medicon Valley have been able to
take advantage of these research funds. There are on-
going projects at most of the higher learning institu-
tions in the region, with the exception of some of the
smaller actors and universities whose operations are
focused elsewhere. We will not provide any figures
here for the number of projects at each seat of lear-
ning, research institution or in any region, as many
of them have reported that it is difficult to supply any
exact numbers. Generally speaking however, there
are a greater number of projects at larger universities
than at their smaller counterparts, and there is a great
deal of research being done in the regions. Based on
a compilation of the data supplied by the universities
themselves, combined with some review of research
grants, there are a total of more than 200 projects be-
ing carried out in Medicon Valley. It should be noted
that due to multiple participating actors, some of the
projects were possibly counted two times or more.
Nonetheless, data from some actors has been scarce,
and it is thus conceivable that there are a greater
number of projects than those that we identified.
In addition to the projects at the region’s univer-
sities and hospitals, research, as earlier mentioned,
is also being conducted at many of the companies
based in the region – both Danish and Swedish.
There are registers in both Denmark and Sweden
that show how many studies related to covid-19
have received ethical approval. In mid-October, the
Swedish Ethical Review Authority’s register included
240 approved projects; the vast majority of these
were based in Stockholm. Some of the studies were
collaborative however, with multiple participating
universities. In 25 of the 240 projects, either Region
Skåne or Lund University was the responsible autho-
rity, or the southern healthcare region, comprising
the regions Blekinge, Kronoberg, Skåne and southern
Halland, was involved in the project.
The Danish National Committee on Health Re-
search Ethics’ register included 76 ethically approved
healthcare-science research projects in all of Denmark
in mid-October, with no data on the institution or
region behind each individual project.
There are also ongoing coronavirus research
projects in both countries that do not require ethi-
cal approval, and the information compiled above
can thus not be considered an exhaustive list of the
research being conducted.
Examples of research projects at universities, hospitals and in the industry
- Researchers at Hvidovre Hospital in the Capital Region
of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen and the
University of Southern Denmark are studying the effect
of covid-19 on pregnant women, foetuses and newborns.
Among other things, researchers are investigating
whether the infection has any genetic effects. The
objective is to formulate guidelines for pregnant women.
The project received 5.8 million DKK from the Danish
government’s special grant fund for corona research.
- Region Skåne has put its obduction facility at the disposal
of a research group from Lund University to enable them
to study how body tissue has been affected in people who
have died from covid-19. The research group will perform
analyses on lung tissue and enable the discoveries to be
organised according to different blood biomarkers. To the
Swedish Ethical Review Authority, Region Skåne states that
since the obduction facility is unique in Sweden in terms
of size and security, they have an obligation to perform
examinations that others are unable to perform.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
- A research group at the University of Copenhagen is in a
research consortium that includes numerous companies,
e.g. Bavarian Nordic, Adaptvac and others. The consortium
has received 20 million DKK from the EU’s research pro-
gramme Horizon 2020, and the research group was granted
25 million DKK by the Carlsberg Foundation to develop a
vaccine against covid-19. The researchers have had promi-
sing results from tests conducted on mice. In brief, the tech-
nique is based on attaching coronavirus antigens to what are
called ”capsid Virus Like Particles” – cVLPs – to which the
body’s immune system reacts, producing antibodies.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
- The biotech company Synact Pharma, whose head-
quarters are in Lund, has developed a potential drug to
activate the body’s own immune cells, unlike current
drugs which inhibit the immune system. The plan has
been to use the drug for inflammatory and autoimmune
diseases; now Synact Pharma is planning a clinical study
to investigate whether the potential drug can also be
used to treat patients with covid-19 who have developed
severe pneumonia to prevent acute respiratory distress
syndrome (ARDS), a serious condition that often requires
respiratory therapy.
44
45
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2274553_0024.png
University of Copen-
hagen on top
After ranking higher than Lund Univer-
sity in the latest Times Higher Education
Ranking, the University of Copenhagen
now ranks higher than Medicon Valley’s
other learning institutions on all three
of the major ranking lists. Copenha-
gen’s placement varies from list to list
– it is number 33 on Shanghai Ranking
and number 84 on the Times Higher
Education Ranking. Of the Medicon
Valley universities, the next to follow are
Lund University, then DTU.
LUND SLIPS ON THE MAJOR RANKING LISTS.
Lund University ranked lower this year than
last on the QS World Ranking as well as
Shanghai Ranking and Times Higher Education
Ranking. While the shift is by no means huge
– usually a few slots – the trend is consistent.
The picture was different last year, when Lund
University held the same place in two lists and
placed slightly higher on the third.
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
Three influential ranking lists
UNIVERSITY
TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION
RANKING 2021 (2020)
84 (101)
103 (96)
187 (184)
201-250 (201-250)
251-300 (251-300)
351-400 (301-350)
601-800 (601-800)
SHANGHAI RANKING
2020 (2019)
QS WORLD RANKING
2021 (2020)
University of
Copenhagen
Lund University
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Aalborg University
University of Southern Denmark
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Roskilde University
33 (26)
151-200 (101-150)
151-200 (101-150)
301-400 (201-300)
301-400 (301-400)
301-400 (301-400)
-
76 (81)
97 (92)
103 (112)
305 (324)
353 (372)
-
-
University of Copenhagen
comes 18th in life science
ranking
In QS World Ranking’s subcategory
”Life Sciences & Medicine” as well
as in CWTS Leiden’s ”Biomedical and
Health Sciences” (for the number of
scientific publications), the Univer-
sity of Copenhagen ranks highest in
Medicon Valley. The Danish univer-
sity ranks 18th in the world on QS
World Ranking’s list.
UK heads European lists
American universities are usually at the
top of the international ranking lists like
Shanghai Ranking and QS World Ranking,
but when it comes to Europe, the UK is in
the lead. The two universities that rank
highest most often in Europe are Oxford
and Cambridge in England, followed
by other British universities, as well as
Swiss, French and German. A Scandinavi-
an university that frequently ranks highly
is Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
DTU’s researchers cited most
The Technical University of Denmark is the
Medicon Valley university whose publica-
tions are most frequently among the 10%
most cited in the world, according to CWTS
Leiden Ranking 2020. 13.2% of the publi-
cations released by researchers from DTU
from 2015-2018 belong to this category.
Following DTU, researchers from the
University of Copenhagen and then the
Swedish University of Agricultural Sci-
ences were cited more than researchers
at Medicon Valley’s other higher learning
institutions, according to that same ran-
king list.
In CWTS Leiden Ranking’s subcategory
”Biomedical and Health Sciences” as well,
DTU researchers’ scientific publications
were most often among the 10% most fre-
quently cited, but the University of Copen-
hagen was at almost exactly the same level.
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
FIVE UNIVERSITIES FROM MEDICON VALLEY
ARE ON ALL OF THE MAJOR LISTS.
Although
the ranking lists every year are including
more universities all over the world, not all of
Medicon Valley’s seats of learning are repre-
sented. The five universities with their base or
operations in Medicon Valley included in the five
major lists CWTS Leiden Ranking, QS World
Ranking, Shanghai Ranking, Times Higher
Education Ranking and US News Best Global
Universities are the University of Copenhagen,
Lund University, Aalborg University and the
University of Southern Denmark. The Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences is generally
also included, except on QS World Ranking.
A number of smaller institutions in the
region are also listed on at least one of the lists.
Roskilde University is on Times Higher Educa-
tion Ranking and US News Best Global Uni-
versities for example, and Malmö University is
ranked on US News Best Global Universities as
well as in QS World Ranking’s subcategory ”Life
Sciences & Medicine”.
Competition growing for
every year
In ten years, Times Higher Educa-
tion Ranking has gone from listing
200 universities around the world to
ranking over 1 527. The other major
ranking lists have seen a simi-
lar development. In recent years,
Shanghai Ranking has ranked 1 000
higher learning institutions, and
there are 1 003 on QS World Ran-
king’s latest list.
Number of scientific publications
2015-2018
According to CWTS Leiden Ranking 2020
•
•
•
•
•
•
University of Copenhagen:
12 651
Lund University:
8 181
DTU:
5 860
University of Southern Denmark:
3 962
Aalborg University:
3 489
Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences:
2 565
Footnote: Shanghai Ranking is published by the independent orga-
nisation Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. Times Higher Education is
published by the eponymous journal and reviewed by Pricewaterhou-
seCoopers (PwC). QS World University Rankings is published by the
British student guidance company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
 ERU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 62: Rapport/Analyse "State of Medicon Valley" - input til forhandlingerne om en ny national dansk life science strategi
2274553_0025.png
CLUSTER RANKING
CLUSTER RANKING
FEWER INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS COME TO
MEDICON VALLEY DURING THE CORONA CRISIS
The corona crisis has meant fewer international life science students at Medicon Valley’s univer-
sities. It will be a few years before comprehensive statistics are available for 2020, but the trend is
unmistakable at DTU, Lund University and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the Uni-
versity of Copenhagen. The decrease is primarily seen in exchange students; students who have
been admitted to longer programmes have chosen to a greater extent to come nonetheless. Time
will tell whether the same is true for the number of international researchers in Medicon Valley.
Travel restrictions, universities that have suspen-
ded on-site teaching, uncertainty about the future
and home universities that advise their students to
avoid travel – these are just some of the effect of the
coronavirus pandemic that have made international
students refrain from travelling to study at the Uni-
versity of Copenhagen, DTU and Lund University.
DTU and Lund University welcomed around half
as many international students than usual at the
beginning of this year’s autumn term.
– Most things in Denmark and around the world
were shut down this spring, so relatively few students
went through with their exchange study programmes.
Many universities have suspended their exchange
programmes this autumn, and we have done the same
– both for ingoing and outgoing students, says Lærke
Vester-Andersen, who heads the internationalisation
division at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
at the University of Copenhagen.
She is hoping that exchanges will start up again in
the spring of 2021, but she admits that it doesn’t look
promising, as the University of Copenhagen’s partner
universities have already started cancelling their
exchange programmes for that term as well. DTU
has also noted the same trend, and they expect the
decrease in student exchanges to continue as long as
the pandemic itself.
– The coronavirus pandemic creates widespread
worry, and a lot of partner universities are making
the decision for their students and have prohibited
them from travelling because of the coronavirus. We’re
seeing the same thing when it comes to the spring
of 2021, reports Bjørn Sparre Johansson, Exchange
Admissions Officer at the office for Study Programmes
and Student Affairs at DTU.
Admissions to master’s programmes at DTU had
increased between 2019 and 2020, but several hund-
red students chose to postpone the start of their studies
NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN THE STUDY YEAR 2018/19
Number of students
Skåne
Stockholm-Uppsala region
Västra Götaland
Sweden, rest of
Sweden
1 199
4 181
1049
1 753
8 182
of whom in research
programmes
Change 2008/09 - 2018/19
International researchers
The number of international researchers taking
advantage of the Swedish tax relief schemes for rese-
archers has risen over the past decade. In Denmark,
the number of researchers who take advantage of
the scheme doubled between 2007 and 2017, and
the number of applications that were approved in
Sweden between 2009 and 2019 tripled.
328
1 552
235
240
2 355
31%
44%
34%
17%
34%
FACTS: TAX RELIEF SCHEMES IN DENMARK AND SWEDEN
• Both Denmark and Sweden offer special tax
schemes for foreign employees to make it easier for
companies and universities to attract talent from
other countries.
• The Danish system is distinctly more advantageous.
While a key employee in the Danish scheme needs to
earn a minimum of 65 100 DKK per month including
employee benefits, a foreign expert in Sweden needs
a monthly salary of 94 601 SEK to be approved.
• When comparing the minimum level for the salary
in Denmark and Sweden, it is important to note that
the salary on a Swedish payslip is generally lower than
its Danish counterpart due to differences in the way
the social security systems are financed. In Sweden,
employers have to pay employer contributions for the
employee in addition to their salary, whilst in Denmark,
the social security system is financed via income taxes.
• In Sweden, tax relief can be received for a period
of maximum three years, and in Denmark, for seven
years.
Eastern Denmark
Denmark, rest of
Denmark
2 559
1 422
3 981
953
373
1 264
134%
49%
94%
Medicon Valley
Source: Statistics Sweden and Statistics Denmark
3 497
1 326
95%
48
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
49
PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
until the spring of 2021, in particular students who
are not EU/EEA nationals. The number of students
in international programmes at the Faculty of Health
and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen
also decreased, albeit to a lesser extent than students in
exchange programmes.
– In reality of lot of them chose to come to Den-
mark even though they had to be quarantined, since it’s
a two-year programme, says Lærke Vester-Andersen.
Official statistics from Statistics Denmark and Sta-
tistics Sweden (SCB) for the number of international
students in the life science field do not yet include the
year 2020, but statistics for the academic year 2018-
2019 show that the number of international students
increased in both the Danish and Swedish sides of
Medicon Valley compared to the previous year. This is
true of students in both undergraduate and graduate
programmes. In total, 3 497 international students
were enrolled in life science training programmes in
Medicon Valley in the last academic year – 2 559 in
eastern Denmark, and 1 199 in Skåne.
That means that the number of international
students in Medicon Valley has doubled in the last ten
years. The greatest increase has been in eastern Den-
mark –134% – and in Skåne, the increase has been
31%; that is just under the average for Sweden.
The two countries utilise different models, and the
Danish system is distinctly more advantageous than
its Swedish counterpart; the number of people taking
advantage of the tax relief schemes in the respective
countries should thus not be compared. In the most
recent year for which statistics are available, 6 899
people took advantage of the Danish tax relief scheme
(2017), and 1 127 applications were approved for
participation in the Swedish scheme (2019), according
to figures from the Danish Ministry of Taxation and
the Swedish Taxation of Research Workers Board, res-
pectively. This represents an increase in both countries
compared to the year prior.
In response to a new EU-directive on the topic,
the Swedish government introduced new rules for
residency permits given to international researchers
and students as of 1 January 2020. Researchers and
students at higher learning institutions are now able
to e.g. remain in Sweden for up to one year after
completing their studies or research in order to seek
employment or start a company of their own. They
must however supply documentation that they can
support themselves for the entirety of the period until
they have received a residency permit – in the past, ten
of twelve months per year was sufficient.
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ANALYSIS
PHOTO: LUNDBECK
The coronavirus pandemic has put the life science sector in the spotlight, both
because of its steady growth in the crisis and for its ability to rapidly redirect in re-
sponse to new needs. More than 200 research projects about the novel coronavirus
that causes covid-19 been started at universities and hospitals in Medicon Valley.
•
Universities, hospitals and businesses in Med-
icon Valley have the competence and capacity
to redirect their efforts – this is clear after this
spring, when more than 200 research projects
were started up about the novel coronavirus
that causes covid-19. More companies are
working with projects related to covid-19.
The international competition for life science
companies is becoming tougher as the sector
is faring well in the crisis, according to Anette
Steenberg, director of Investment Promotion at
Copenhagen Capacity.
New life science strategy and a new national
cluster in Denmark. This July, the Danish
Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial
Affairs published the report ”Life science-in-
dustriens fodaftryk”. It asserts that measured
from its contribution to the country’s BNP, the
sector is nine times larger than it was in 1990.
The life science sector is on Denmark’s agenda.
A new, Copenhagen-based cluster – the Danish
Life Science Cluster – is being jointly created
by 26 public and private actors. It has been
selected by the Ministry of Science, Innovation
and Higher Education as one of 14 new cluster
initiatives, and has also received funding from
the Danish Executive Board for Business
Development and Growth. A new life science
strategy for Denmark is expected in 2020.
•
Increased optimism at Novo Nordisk, which rai-
sed the outlook for sales and operating profit for
2020 and decided to invest a further two billion
DKK in its facility in Kalundborg, on top of the 16
billion invested between 2000 and 2019.
Renewal is permeating Denmark’s oldest big
pharma company LEO Pharma. A new CEO,
dismissing employees and hiring anew and in-
tensive R&D efforts are redirecting the company
toward biopharmaceuticals. The owner founda-
tion is now seeking additional shareholders.
•
•
•
A GROWTH SECTOR THAT LENDS STABILITY
Just like in the financial crisis, the importance of the life science cluster for the Swedish, but above
all for the Danish economy is plainly apparent during this coronavirus pandemic. The cluster gives
growth and stability in a time when other areas of society are going astern. At the same time, over 200
research projects about the novel coronavirus that causes covid-19 have been started at universities
and hospitals in Medicon Valley. In addition, many businesses in the region are venturing into corona
research. Increased optimism at Novo Nordisk means that the outlook is raised for turnover and profit
this autumn. That doesn’t mean all of Medicon Valley’s businesses are looking at upward-arching cur-
ves. Large-scale renewals are also underway; this is best illustrated by LEO Pharma, which is simulta-
neously dismissing employees and hiring anew to change competence.
ANALYSIS:
Focus on the life
science sector
Denmark’s life science exports are 67% greater than
Sweden’s; this is largely due to Danish successes in
the USA via Novo Nordisk, which has half of its sales
in North America. The value of Danish life science’s
exports to the USA rose to 45.5 billion DKK in
2019, while Sweden’s exports to the USA increased to
the equivalent of 12.6 billion DKK. That means that
in 2019, the USA stood for 34% of Denmark’s total
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
life science exports of 133 billion DKK, and for 16%
of Sweden’s total life science exports of the equivalent
of 79 billion DKK. Instead, Sweden exports more to
China and Germany than Denmark.
The life science sector is responsible for a signifi-
cant part of Danish exports and makes an important
socioeconomical contribution, and this is a strength,
according to Professor Torben M. Andersen from
51
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2274553_0027.png
ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS
Aarhus University in an interview on pages 18-19.
– That such a large part of our exports aren’t es-
pecially sensitive to cycles means a lot for Denmark.
Neither medicine nor food is strongly
affected the
way other goods are, he says, and goes on:
– The life science sector is not so sensitive to
slumps, and it thus has a stabilising effect on the
economy. That means most for income, as the
sector is not very employment-intensive.
Optimism at Novo Nordisk
After the uncertainty of the early coronavirus pandemic
in the spring of 2020, optimism has begun to grow at
the region’s largest pharma company, Novo Nordisk.
On 8 October, the company announced that it was rai-
sing the outlook for both sales and operating profit in
2020. Novo Nordisk has decided to expand its facility
in Kalundborg for an additional two billion DKK, on
top of the 16 billion invested between 2000-2019.
Companies in an overhaul process
Lundbeck and LEO Pharma are two companies
currently in a renewal phase – for Lundbeck, becau-
se important patents are expiring and new products
are greatly needed; LEO Pharma is restructuring
the entire company at high speed with a new CEO,
many new heads and soon, most probably, a new
shareholder alongside the LEO Foundation. The
emphasis on dermatology remains, but the focus is
now on biopharmaceuticals.
Copenhagen’s cluster of hearing aid manufacturers
– Oticon, GN Hearing and WS Audiology – are also
part of a quickly developing sector. Lying in wait in
the background as a future competitor are Apple and
new technological and marketing solutions.
New life science strategy and new
national cluster in Denmark
This July, Denmark’s Ministry of Industry, Business
and Financial Affairs published the report “Life
science-industriens fodaftryk”, which reports that
the sector is nine times bigger than it was in 1990,
measured in terms of its contribution to the country’s
BNP. The life science sector is on the agenda in Den-
mark. It is one of eight sectors to be covered by an
export recovery package that the Danish government
and parliament agreed to issue to help boost the
industry after covid-19. A new cluster – the Danish
Life Science Cluster – is being jointly created by 26
private and public actors. It has been selected by the
Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Educa-
tion as one of 14 new cluster initiatives, and has also
received funding from the Danish Executive Board
52
for Business Development and Growth. After some
discussion, it was decided that the cluster should be
located in Copenhagen. The launch of a new life
science strategy for Denmark is expected in 2020.
In Sweden, the government assigned Growth
Analysis the task of developing an analytic method
for following the life science industry’s develop-
ment. The assignment comes after the completion
of the life science strategy that was adopted last
December. There is a need for knowledge about the
sector’s performance in relation to that of compara-
ble countries, they wrote in a press release.
At least 200 research projects related to
the coronavirus
Universities, hospitals and companies in Medicon Val-
ley have the competence and capacity to redirect their
efforts; this is clear after this spring, when over 200
research projects about the novel coronavirus that cau-
ses covid-19 were started up. They comprise everything
from developing vaccines, tests and various drugs or
treatments for covid-19 to basic research on how the
virus works, as information compiled from universities
and research grants reveals. Read more on pages 44-45.
Travel restrictions due to the corona crisis have
meant fewer international life science students at
Medicon Valley’s universities. According to inter-
views with DTU, the Faculty of Health and Med-
ical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen and
Lund University, around half as many international
students than usual were welcomed at the beginning
of this year’s autumn term.
– The coronavirus pandemic creates widespread
worry, and a lot of partner universities are making
the decision for their students and have prohibited
them from travelling because of the coronavirus.
We’re seeing the same thing when it comes to the
spring of 2021, reports Bjørn Sparre Johansson,
exchange admissions officer for Study Programmes
and Student Affairs at DTU.
Homeworking leads to internationalisation
and democratism of research collaborations
Travel and meeting restrictions related to covid-19
mean that researchers around the world can
participate in international collaboration on more
similar terms; this is evident from interviews con-
ducted for this analysis.
– Covid-19 means that everybody is at home,
meeting digitally. This leads to internationalisation,
and democratisation. I believe covid-19 will have
long-term consequences. We will work more with
international collaborations, because they’re just as
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
easy, says Olli Kallioniemi, director of the Swedish
life science centre SciLifeLab.
He believes that local cooperation will continue
to play an important role in research collaborations,
but also that it will become easier to work together
digitally over considerably longer distances.
The Leiden review shows that collaboration is vital
for getting the best results. In this report, we con-
ducted in-depth interviews to capture other clusters’
perspectives on working with researchers in Medicon
Valley. According to interviews with the researchers
Stefan Jovinge, professor at Van Andel Institute and
Michigan State University and adjunct professor at
Stanford University, and Henrik Bjursten, cardiac
surgeon and associate professor of thoracic surgery at
Lund University, collaborations are often personal.
– When I was starting out, I contacted other
researchers and thought, we’re all adults and can look
out for our own interests. I didn’t think about what
the others could get out of our collaboration. But the
people one wants to work with, the good researchers,
are very busy, and I noticed that the projects didn’t
move forward. So I learned to make certain that the
project would have significant advantages for the
other party as well, because otherwise our project
wouldn’t be prioritised highly, says Stefan Jovinge,
and maintains that a good personal connection is a
determining factor for a good collaboration.
Increased competition for life science com-
panies in the coronavirus pandemic
The international competition for life science com-
panies has stiffened as the sector has done well in the
crisis, says Anette Steenberg, director of Investment
Promotion at Copenhagen Capacity, in an interview
on pages 54-55. The organisation works to increase
the international visibility of Greater Copenhagen,
and the intensified competition is clearly evident in
their investment promotion work, she says.
The challenge for us has been that we’re small
and we have limited resources for going out and
spreading the word. But everyone is saying the
same thing: the global competition is really tough.
Corona has made it harder, and not least in the life
sciences, because the field is incredibly attractive.
The coronavirus pandemic has put a stop to tra-
velling to international trade shows and conferences
around the world to market the region; instead,
work has shifted to digital platforms. In addition,
Copenhagen Capacity and Invest in Skåne have
both made it a priority to support the foreign-ow-
ned businesses that are already located in the region.
– We try to support the local management teams
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
Greater Copenhagen
MEDICON VALLEY
is the bi-national life sci-
ence cluster spanning the island of Zealand
in Eastern Denmark and the Skåne region of
Southern Sweden. Today, the Danish-Swedish
region is marketed internationally with the
name ‘Greater Copenhagen’, and its increasing
population has reached four million residents.
In Sweden, the same geographical area is often
called the ‘Øresund Region’.
with help and arguments they can present to their
international owners to expand and for example
move their production here. During the corona
pandemic, we’ve worked a lot with the companies
that are already here, now that there is a risk that
production is brought back home, says Ulrika Ring-
dahl, CEO of Invest in Skåne.
Covid-19 challenges at the border of
Danish-Swedish Medicon Valley
This spring, Denmark decided to partially close
its borders to control the spread of covid-19. For
businesses and commuters in the Danish-Swedish
Medicon Valley, that has meant a challenge. Although
border control permitted commuters to enter the
country, travel times were longer, and employees were
encouraged to work at home if possible. This led to the
next challenge. According to the Danish-Swedish tax
agreement, border commuters pay tax in the country
in which they work. Working from home means that
border commuters owe tax in a different country.
The life science environments in Denmark
and Skåne are connected in a variety of ways: a
number of businesses are active with facilities of
their own on both sides of the strait, and there
are also around 100 Danes working at life science
enterprises in Skåne. 20 companies in Skåne have
a Danish CEO. The exchange manifests in other
ways as well, such as through public equity offers,
capital funds, research collaborations and incubator
programmes.
53
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INTERVIEW - COPENHAGEN CAPACITY
INTERVIEW - COPENHAGEN CAPACITY
As a sector, the life sciences have fared well during the corona pandemic. That also entails that
the international competition for these companies has increased, according to Anette Steenberg,
director of Investment Promotion at Copenhagen Capacity. ”Everyone wants winners”, she says.
Since travelling to international trade shows and conferences is impossible, as is receiving visiting
delegations in the region, Copenhagen Capacity has adapted its operations with digital solutions and
focused more on existing companies to give them reasons to stay in the area.
paigns. The campaigns have long been a feature,
Copenhagen Capacity works to make Greater
but corona has pushed them even further in that
Copenhagen more visible internationally, and the
direction, Anette Steenberg says.
life sciences are one of the industries that they
– The area where we see the greatest demand is
highlight; others are cleantech, AI and smart cities.
tech, but life science is also an important field. We
– Life science is one of our region’s major st-
target the mid-range and specialist area – not begin-
rengths. We work to draw talent as well as foreign
ners or CEOs. When attracting talent is a challenge,
investors, says Anette Stenberg, director of In-
we work together with companies.
vestment Promotion at
It can be all over the world; some-
Copenhagen Capacity.
”Corona has made it
times in the EU, other times in
When it comes to
harder, and not least
the US or Brazil. We join together
enticing talent to the
region, the attractive
in the life sciences, be-
with a number of companies that
for staff
career opportunities and
cause they’re an incre-
are lookingshe says. and we do a
campaign,
the balance between
In practice, that means sear-
work and recreation are
dibly attractive field.”
ching for a specific profile on e.g.
highlighted in particular.
Facebook and LinkedIn. Copenhagen Capacity
– We describe what it’s like to work in this
and the companies define their target group, which
region, that it’s possible to have a successful career
also receives a directed advertisement campaign.
as well as an interesting recreational life. We
– All of the campaigns have KPIs; how many
highlight the lifestyle – being able to ride a bike to
people have seen our websites, and then how many
work and have time for one’s kids – and then we
have downloaded the pages, and how many have
show that we have a life science cluster, and they
seen the job, and then how many applied for it.
have companies as well as jobs. We work
different-
We don’t do the recruiting; it all goes to the com-
ly than headhunters and recruitment firms, says
panies, who take over from there. The people who
Nikolaj Lubanski, director of Marketing & Talent
don’t get the job or who were only interested in it
at Copenhagen Capacity, and continues:
go into our database. We have a big database with
– Why move? It’s not just about earning money –
40 000 candidates that we can go in and search in,
if it is, you should go to the US or Singapore, where
says Nikolaj Lubanski.
you work a lot, have very little time for your child-
Copenhagen Capacity has no set goal regarding
ren, two weeks of holiday and a short parental leave.
the number of campaigns that should be done; that
The new generation wants time for family and career,
is determined by demand. Companies pay to be in-
and money is no longer the most important thing.
cluded, but the efforts are subsidised by other fun-
They look for purpose-driven jobs – work where you
ders, including, among others, the Greater Copen-
make a difference and have a balanced life. You can
hagen Committee. Nikolaj Lubanski estimates
have that in our region, says Nikolaj Lubanski.
that they hold an average of one large-scale talent
campaign like that in the life sciences per year.
The organisation leads e.g. Greater Cph Ca-
reer Portal, which is aimed at highly educated
As far as efforts to promote investments go, Anette
STEM-specialists. The website was recently rede-
Steenberg find that the corona pandemic has in-
signed and a number of matchmaking functions
tensified competition in the field of life sciences.
were added, and they also do directed digital cam-
54
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
– The challenge for us has been that we’re small
and we have limited resources for going out and
spreading the word. But everyone is saying the
same thing: the global competition is really tough.
Corona has made it harder, and not least in the life
sciences, because they’re an incredibly attractive
field. It’s a field in which things are going well; the
companies in it aren’t suffering. The challenge will
be making those companies even bigger. Everyone
wants a winner. It’s been tough for traditional
industry. The tourist industry has had a hard time,
but it’s going well for the life sciences, and that
means competition.
Since the corona pandemic has put a stop to travel
to international trade shows and conferences around
the world to market the region, Copenhagen Capa-
city has shifted to digital platforms and is even more
focused on the companies that are already here.
– We’re doing what’s called expand and retain,
where we ask foreign companies how they’re
doing. We help them stay in the area, to not
disappear or outsource. We try to hold on to the
clients who are already in the shop – this has been
especially important now, in the corona era. It’s
hard for us to get out and travel and find new
companies. We haven’t had a lot of visitors, but
the need to take care of those we have has become
even greater, says Anette Steenberg.
Copenhagen Capacity has arranged webinars
as well as taken part – virtually – in international
conferences. She also sees potential for the digital
solutions in the future.
– Digital conferences are getting better all the
time, there are essential differences since before the
summer. In the beginning a lot of people thought
learning was possible, but networking and getting
into discussions was more difficult. But since
everyone is in the same boat, it’s the only option.
I’m actually quite positive about it; even when we
can travel again, I think that some parts of it are
here to stay. We’ve spent a lot of time and money
on travelling, of course we’ll start travelling again
– but less, she says.
Copenhagen Capacity usually works with Invest in
Skåne, for example when it comes to delegations
that visit the region.
– When we’re marketing the region, it makes
sense for us to join forces. We’re a tiny region
when we’re competing with London; competition
between Malmö and Copenhagen doesn’t make
sense, she says. She continues:
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
Anette Steenberg, director of Investment Promotion at
Copenhagen Capacity.
PHOTO: COPENHGAEN CAPACITY
Nikolaj Lubanski, director of Marketing & Talent at
Copenhagen Capacity.
– We go to trade shows together, and when
they have visitors, they usually have things sche-
duled on both side of the Øresund. So we work
together in the sense that if a client lands here,
well, that client is here and not in Stockholm or
Finland or Amsterdam. Usually we’re up against
Helsinki or Amsterdam. We join together to show
what Medicon Valley has to offer, she says.
A large-scale campaign is currently being laun-
ched that Copenhagen Capacity and a number of
other actors in the region have created to attract
research investments from abroad in the field of
microbiomes. Its foundation is the Interreg-project
Microbiome Signature Project, which is being
jointly led by Copenhagen Capacity, Invest in
Skåne and Medicon Valley Alliance.
– Together, we analysed the competences we have
in Medicon Valley, on both sides, and in terms of
academic and industrial expertise. Then we did map-
ping to detail the concentration of companies and
academics in microbiomes around the world. The
campaigns will be narrowly focused and directed, so
a lot of people will never see them. It has taken a year
to develop the project, says Anette Steenberg.
55
PHOTO: COPENHGAEN CAPACITY
INTENSE COMPETITION FOR LIFE SCIENCE
COMPANIES IN THE CORONA PANDEMIC
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INTERVIEW - INVEST IN SKÅNE
INTERVIEW - INVEST IN SKÅNE
“WHEN IT COMES TO LIFE SCIENCE, IT’S NOT
REALLY WORTH TALKING ABOUT ANYPLACE
ELSE THAN MEDICON VALLEY”
When Invest in Skåne works to increase the visibility of Skåne’s life science industry, they use the
brand Medicon Valley. They started their work in the 1990s, and today the brand is so well known
that anything else would be unimaginable, says Ulrika Ringdahl, CEO of the marketing company
whose endeavours include promoting internationalisation by attracting investments in the region
from abroad. Invest in Skåne will be putting more effort into helping companies recruit talent, and
they will be hiring a new team member to work directly with such questions. Support provided to
companies during the corona pandemic has included e.g. making material about the public support
packages accessible to companies with foreign ownership as well.
projects, because a lot of them don’t have the time
or money to travel; Invest in Skåne can act as an
ambassador for them, she says.
The work requires that Invest in Skåne is up to
date on what the companies in Medicon Valley and
around the world do, says Ulrika Ringdahl.
– When it comes to research collaborations, it’s
about being close to the big pharma companies;
what products they have right now, what will be
needed in the future. Which molecule is it they
need? As far as establishing companies goes, it
happens seldom in the life sciences. Invest in Skåne
works with a lot of sectors, but with the pharma
industry it’s usually about establishing marketing-
and sales offices. We do however have quite a few
smaller biotech- and medtech companies who see
moving to an international innovation environment
like Medicon Valley as an advantage, she says.
Foreign-owned companies that are already in the re-
gion are responsible for a large part of Skåne’s exports
and employment opportunities, according to Ulrika
Ringdahl. Working to give them support has become
even more important during the corona pandemic.
– We try to support the local management team
with help and arguments they can present to their in-
ternational owners to expand and for example move
their production here. During the corona pandemic,
we’ve worked a lot with the companies that are
already here, now that there is a risk that production
will be brought back home, she says, and continues:
– The support packages for companies during the
pandemic are not something foreign-owned companies
have always been informed about; we’ve been able to
offer support there, among other things by translating
the information to English. It’s been well received. The
information has now also been sent out all over the
country with Business Sweden, and we’re now have
discussions with some 100 companies all over Skåne,
where we try to look at the risks linked to the pandemic
– if there’s a risk that they will move, then we look at
how we can support them with material to convince the
company’s leadership that this is where they should be.
The corona pandemic has made it more difficult to
establish new contacts, says Ulrika Ringdahl.
– We have a big network, and we stay in contact
with the people in it. What has gotten harder is
finding new contacts in digital meetings, compared
with physical meetings. We’ve become more digital-
ly active, with small campaigns and films. We also
use tools via LinkedIn for example, where things
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
Ulrika Ringdahl, CEO Invest in Skåne.
region come to the meetings, and they get a time
The marketing company Invest in Skåne works
slot to meet the delegations one by one, she says,
with international marketing of Skåne as a brand
adding that no such meetings were possible this
and provides export support to companies in
spring because of the corona pandemic.
Skåne. Skåne is a strong brand, but in an interna-
Invest in Skåne and Copenhagen Capacity also
tional context, it’s sometimes warranted to use a
work together on campaigns designed
common brand for both
to attract talents to the region; this
the Swedish and Danish si-
”Medicon Valley is
is an area in which Invest in Skåne
des of the strait, says CEO
known all over the
would like to work more in the
Ulrika Ringdahl.
future, and discussions are currently
– When it comes to life
world, and it’s the
underway with the owners to create
science, it’s not really worth
brand we use to
opportunities to do just that. Ulrika
talking about anyplace
else than Medicon Valley.
market life science.”
Ringdahl also sees the need to have
someone who focuses on such issues
That was our starting point
working in the organisation.
in the 1990s. Medicon Valley is known all over
– We need to have someone in-house who can
the world, and it’s the brand we use to market life
do that. It’s a question of getting talents to stay
science. We often use Greater Copenhagen, but for
here, for example by taking care of the people who
life science specifically, the brand Medicon Valley is
have accompanied them here, and also of cam-
well founded.
paigns to attract new talents. We’ll join forces with
When Invest in Skåne goes to international con-
the industry so that there are actual jobs. It will be
ferences and sets up stands, Medicon Valley is what
a combination of generally marketing how good
they market. They also run the website mediconval-
the region is and highlighting specific jobs where
ley.com with Copenhagen Capacity. A new version
there’s a shortage
of staff, she says.
of the website will be launched this November.
– We market the region to an international
Within the life sciences, Invest in Skåne’s work –
audience, we talk about our common areas of
beyond trying to entice companies to relocate to
strength. There’s a special page for the microbiome
the region – frequently entails helping research
field for example, she says, referring to the Inter-
collaborations to come about.
reg-project Microbiome Signature Project, which
– They might be co-development projects, whe-
they are leading jointly with Copenhagen Capacity
re the industry comes and helps with the clinical
and Medicon Valley Alliance until 2022.
phase, for example. At BioEurope for instance,
Their work with Copenhagen Capacity also
there’s a partnering- and matchmaking section
includes visitor’s programmes for delegations.
where we promote companies from Medicon Val-
– Often we’ll welcome visitors together and
ley. It’s hard for the big international companies
set up a visitor’s programme on both sides of the
to find small, innovative companies and university
strait. When we have visitors, companies from the
56
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
can be sent to the right target group, she says.
People are more than welcome to spread and
use the material that Invest in Skåne produces, she
emphasises.
– We could become even better at collaborating
even more and standing together as a region behind a
message. If we take on the task of creating the image of
Medicon Valley, we want as many people as possible to
use it, also in the industry. We are happy to share ma-
terial that others can use. We need to create a common
view of what Medicon Valley is. Often when we have
meetings with international and regional companies,
we open by talking about the region, and the small,
local companies sometimes find that they had no idea
that it the region was so good as it is. People don’t
realise what a fantastic ecosystem they are operating in.
They’ve been living here their whole lives. We’re happy
to help in that respect; it helps the entire ecosystem.
Like Anette Steenberg from Copenhagen Capacity,
Ulrika Ringdahl emphasises that the life sciences are
a sector in which positive development has continu-
ed, even throughout the corona pandemic.
– It has gone well for life science as an industry,
in spite of corona. We’ve seen a lot of activity, and
we’ve even seen companies establish themselves
here, she says.
Influential factors for how well companies have
weathered the current situation are dependent on
where a company is at the time, among other things,
says Ulrika Ringdahl. Companies that are just star-
ting a clinical study or have been in an investment
phase have been more affected by various closures.
– There are a few companies that have really suf-
fered, for example because they were just starting an
investment period. We’ve noticed that investors have
been a bit cautious, but now people are seeing that it
didn’t get that bad. Investors want to invest. From a
general point of view, the life sciences as a sector have
fared much better than many others, she says.
57
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ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS
The life science sector in Skåne is growing, although the past 20 years have been characterised
by a small number of large company closures or relocations, which has had a negative effect on
employment. This is shown by a survey of the sector conducted as part of the Interreg-project
Greater Copenhagen Life Science Analysis Initiative, due to be published shortly. The survey shows
that there are 420 companies comprising Skåne’s life science sector, 91 new startup companies
have been established since 2015.
Øresundsinstituttet performed a survey of Skåne’s
life science companies within the framework of the
Interreg-project Greater Copenhagen Life Science
Analysis Initiative, which is being carried out
jointly by Øresundsinstituttet and Medicon Valley
Alliance. The report reveals that there are 420
identified life science companies in Skåne. The lar-
gest subsector is medtech. Over the past five years,
91 new startup companies have been established;
of these, 70% are located in Lund.
Of the 420 companies identified in the life
science cluster in Skåne, 306 can be categorised as
pharma-, biotech-, medtech- and contract research
companies. Around 75% of all of the life science
companies thus belong to what can be considered
a core segment of the life sciences. The remaining
ca 25% of the life science companies identified –
comprising 114 companies – make up a supple-
mentary segment in the overlap between the life
sciences and other sectors. The overlap is primarily
between traditional life science and ICT; for
example, the software company Capish Nordic AB
is active in the life science- and the food sectors,
as well as between them; the same is true of other
biotech companies such as e.g. Glucanova AB.
Need for STEM expertise
The areas of expertise for which life science com-
panies in Skåne
consider it difficult to recruit are
predominantly related to the STEM programmes
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathema-
tics). Companies report that expertise in regulato-
ry affairs and quality assurance, as well as in sales
and marketing, also pose a recruitment challenge.
There is also a question of expertise in several
different areas such as e.g. knowledge of Scandi-
navian languages. Around 52% of the businesses
interviewed report however that they have not ex-
perienced difficulties recruiting specific expertise.
If life science companies in Skåne have the
58
opportunity to recruit new employees despite the
uncertain atmosphere caused by covid-19, what
they’ll need more than anything else are more pe-
ople with competence in R&D and sales and mar-
keting. Of the 13 potential areas for recruitment,
the majority of the 126 companies interviewed
would like to recruit more personnel with scienti-
fic expertise and skills in sales and marketing.
8 of 10 life science companies in Skåne report
that they have not had to reduce their staff since
the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. A
smaller group of companies however reports that
they have made or expect to make employees
redundant as a result of the pandemic, and a few
companies expect to or have already recruited
more employees as a result of the pandemic.
Danish presence in Skåne
The life science environments in Denmark and
Skåne are connected in a variety of ways: a
number of businesses are active with facilities of
their own on both sides of the strait, and there
are also around 100 Danes working at life science
enterprises in Skåne. 20 companies in Skåne have
a Danish CEO. The exchange manifests in other
ways as well, such as public equity offers, capi-
tal funds, research collaborations and incubator
programmes.
Upcoming reports from the project will des-
cribe the Øresund links in the life science sector
further, and a survey of the Danish life science
companies in Medicon Valley like the survey of
companies in Skåne will also be performed.
The survey of companies in the life science
sector in Skåne consists of qualitative and quan-
titative methods; statistics retrieved from SCB
combined with our own research and external
contacts were the foundation for a manual survey
before the companies were contacted and in many
cases interviewed.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
UPCOMING REPORTS
DANISH COMPANY REVIEW AND ØRESUND
FOCUS.
A report with an Øresund focus will
be published in the beginning of next year in
the framework of the Interreg-project Greater
Copenhagen Life Science Analysis Initiative. The
report will look at commuting, collaboration and
investments in the region’s life science cluster.
Following the report, the survey of companies
will continue with focus on Medicon Valley’s
Danish businesses.
GREATER COPENHAGEN LIFE
SCIENCE ANALYSIS INITIATIVE
Greater Copenhagen Life Science Analysis
Initiative is and EU-project that aims to analyse
and increase knowledge about the need and
demand for competencies and skills (conducted
by Øresundsinstituttet) as well as support the de-
velopment of the integrated labour market in the
Danish-Swedish life science cluster (conducted
by Medicon Valley Alliance). The project has re-
ceived funding from the EU-programme Interreg
Öresund-Kattegatt-Skagerrak.
59
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UPCOMING REPORT: 420 LIFE SCIENCE
COMPANIES IN SKÅNE
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APPENDIX
PHOTO: LUNDBECK
LARGER MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES
Below are some of the larger meetings and conferences being arranged in the Greater
Copenhagen Region in the coming year, as well as a selection of international meeting places
where representatives from organizations and companies from the region’s life science clus-
ter will be participating. Due to the corona pandemic, most of the events scheduled for the
near future have been relocated to digital platforms and will be held virtually.
• 2-6 November 2020, virtual
Int. Forum on Quality & Safety
in Healthcare
• 4-6 November 2020, virtual
European Microbiome
Congress
• 9-10 November 2020, virtual
European Statistical Forum
• 10 November 2020, virtual
Bioscience 2020
• 16-19 November 2020, virtual
Medica
• 18 November 2020, virtual
NOME Annual Meeting
• 18-19 November 2020, virtual
Drug Development Boot
Camp 2020
• 22-23 November 2020, virtual
The Nordic-American Life
Science Conference
• 26-29 November 2020, virtual
BIO-Europe
• 3 December 2020, virtual
Healthtech Nordic
Investor Forum 2020
• 7-8 December 2020, virtual or
in Lille
BioFIT 2020
• 10 December 2020, virtual
Genesis 2020
• January 2021, Copenhagen
Medicon Valley Alliance
New Year’s Reception
• 10 February 2021, virtual
Swiss Nordic Bio 2021
• 22-24 March 2021, Barcelona
BIO-Europe Spring
• 29-31 March 2021, Amsterdam
SynBio Markets
• 15-16 April 2021, Rotterdam
Innovation for Health
• 20-23 April 2021, Malmö
Nordic Life Science Days
• 25 -26 May 2021, London
Anglonordic Life
Science Conference
• 21-24 June 2021, Dubai
Arab Health
• 9-13 July 2021, Milan
EAU21
• 2 September 2021, Lund
The Future of Swedish
and Danish Life Science
• 26-29 September 2021,
Copenhagen
EuroTox 2021
• November 2021, Copenhagen
Medicon Valley Alliance
Annual Meeting
APPENDIX:
Facts and definitions
DIGITAL MEETINGS GROW WITH NEW NETWORK SOLUTIONS
For Copenhagen Capacity and Invest in Skåne,
the corona pandemic has entailed – among other
things – that travelling to international conferences
and trade shows around the world to market the
region is impossible. Instead, the efforts have mo-
ved to digital platforms. Anette Steenberg, director
of investment promotion at Copenhagen Capacity,
finds that the opportunities for digital networking
have already improved since this spring, and as
she sees it, the new digital solutions have future
potential as well.
– Digital conferences are getting better all the
time, there are essential differences since before
the summer. In the beginning a lot of people thought
learning was possible, but networking and getting
into discussions was more difficult. But since
everyone is in the same boat, it’s the only option. I’m
actually quite positive about it; even when we can
travel again, I think that some parts of it are here to
stay. We’ve spent a lot of time and money on travel-
ling, of course we’ll start travelling again – but less,
she says. Read more in an interview on page 54.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
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APPENDIX
APPENDIX
REPORTS AND FACTS
The following is a selection of recent reports
from the life sciences in Sweden, Denmark and
Greater Copenhagen.
This August, life science was selected as one of eight
sectors to be covered by an export recovery package
that the Danish government and parliament agreed
to issue to help boost the industry after covid-19.
Each sector was represented by a ’restart team’,
and in September they each submitted their own
account of the situation, complete with sugges-
tions for action. The chairperson of the
Restart
team for life science and biotech
was the CEO
of Novo Nordisk, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen. This
October, the political agreement to which the work
led –Genstart
af dansk eksport
(Restart of Danish
Exports) was presented. All in all, it concerns 27
initiatives for just under half a billion DKK. A new
life science strategy is also due to be launched in
Denmark in 2020.
In July, Denmark’s Ministry of Finance published
the report
Life science-industriens økonomiske
fodaftryk
(The Life Science Industry’s Econo-
mic Footprint). The report confirms that the life
science industry is an area of strength in Denmark.
According to the most recent available figures
from 2017, the sector comprises a total of 1 518
companies and has an annual turnover of 225
billion DKK. On the authority of the report, the
life science industry is nine times the size it was in
1990, measured in terms of its contribution to the
country’s BNP, and CO2 emissions were halved in
the same period.
In the strategy
Erhvervsfremme i Danmark 2020-
2023
(Business Promotion in Denmark 2020-
2023), the Danish Executive Board for Business
Development and Growth indicates life science and
healthtech as one of the country’s strengths. ”Over
the past 20 years, life science has established itself
as one of Denmark’s most competitive industries,
with rapid growth and high productivity” asserts the
report.
In June, the Danish Association of the Pharmaceu-
tical Industry , Lif, presented
input
to the Danish
government with suggestions on how Denmark can
become even stronger as a life science nation. Initia-
62
tives were introduced in eight areas, and a proposal
was made for a dialogue forum for life science, inn-
ovation and collaboration with representatives from
four departments. In August, Lif gave an account of
pharmaceutical exports
for the first half of 2020
and reported a 12.2% increase in the second quartal
compared to the same quartal in the previous year.
Also in June, the Confederation of Danish Industry
introduced suggestions for
seven initiatives
that
can help the life science industry get back on track
after covid-19. Among other things were a national
strategy for the use of health data and increased
capacity to approve medical equipment.
In Sweden, the government assigned Growth Ana-
lysis the
task
of developing an analytic method for
following the progress of the life science industry
this June. The assignment comes after the comple-
tion of the life science strategy, which was adopted
last December. There is a need for knowledge about
the sector’s performance in relation to that of com-
parable countries, they wrote in a press release.
The Swedish coordination programme Hälsa och
life science (Health and Life Science), led by the
national coordinator for the life sciences Jenni
Nordborg, asserts in its
report
from this spring’s
meetings that more focus is needed on measures
to prevent illness and disease to cope with the
challenges that welfare is now facing. New ways of
working, techniques and treatments are required,
and research and innovation are an important part
of that, states the report.
Region Skåne published the report
Skånes
innovationsstrategi för hållbar tillväxt
(Skåne’s
Innovation Strategy for Sustainable Growth) via the
Research and Innovation Council of Skåne (FIRS).
The strategy entails that FIRS will act in e.g. life
science and health bland to increase the commerci-
alisation of research, promote internationalisation,
and develop research and development environme-
nts with a particular focus on test beds and clinical
testing opportunities.
The industrial foundation published the report
Funding Report – The Life Science funding
landscape in Sweden 2015-2019
in June of this
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
Life science-
industriens
økonomiske
fodaftryk
Erhvervsministeriet juli 2020
projects, from discovery to Phase III. The overview
demonstrates that 148 Swedish R&D pharma and
biotech companies are actively developing new
drugs. 53% of the companies have projects in clini-
cal phase I-III.
In September, the Scandinavian ministers of enter-
prise approved
eight initiatives
for 2021–2024 that
are intended to boost the economy after covid-19
and to make transnational collaboration easier.
The package is worth 250 million DKK. In the life
science field, there was emphasis on the necessity of
enabling secure sharing of and access to health data
across Scandinavian borders.
The consultancy firm Deloitte published the report
2020 Global Life Science Outlook
on the topic of
creating new value and building blocks for the futu-
re. The compilation shows that there are nearly 180
startups involved in applying AI to drug discovery.
”AI startups are specifically working on repurposing
existing drugs or generating novel drug candidates
using AI, machine learning, and automation”, the
report says.
The European Federation of Pharmaceutical
Industries and Associations, EFPIA, published
The
Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures – Key Data
2020.
The report asserts that the Brazilian, Chinese
and Indian markets grew by 11.22%, 6.9% and
11.1% during the period 2014-2019. This can be
compared to an average market growth of 5.4% for
the top 5 European Union markets and 6.1% for
the US Market.
In July, Denmark’s Ministry of Finance published the
report Life science-industriens økonomiske fodaftryk
(The Life Science Industry’s Economic Footprint).
year. Swedish life science companies raised a total
35 billion SEK between 2015–2019, according to
the report. The majority of the funding – 75% – is
from the stock market.
In July, ForskaSverige! published its
Lägesrapport
år 2020, Forskning i Sverige – investeringar och
kvalitet, fokus life science
(Status Report 2020
– Investments and Quality, Focus Life Science).
According to the report, pharma companies inve-
sted 11.4 billion SEK in research and development
in Sweden in 2017 – an increase from 10.7 billion
in 2015 and 8.9 billion in 2009. The number of
annual work hours dedicated to internal research
and development in pharma companies in Sweden
decreased 62% over ten years, however.
The trade association SwedenBio released the report
The Swedish Drug Discovery and Development
Pipeline 2020,
which shows 420 currently active
NEW REPORT ON SKÅNE’S LIFE SCIENCE
COMPANIES
Øresundsinstituttet performed a survey of Skåne’s life science
companies within in the framework of the Interreg-project Greater
Copenhagen Life Science Analysis Initiative, which is being carried
out jointly by Øresundsinstituttet and Medicon Valley Alliance. There
is more information on the report’s main results on pages 58-59;
among other things, it reveals that there are 420 identified life scien-
ce companies in Skåne. The largest subsector is medtech. Over the
past five years, 91 new startup companies have been established; of
these, 70% are located in Lund.
This report,
“State of
Medicon Valley 2020”,
is an annual report,
published for the first time
in November 2016. The
report has been prepared
by the Danish-Swedish
knowledge centre Øre-
sundsinstituttet and com-
missioned by the network
organisation Medicon
Valley Alliance.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
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APPENDIX
APPENDIX
ORGANISATIONS
TRADE AND NETWORKING ORGANISATIONS:
• ASCRO
– Swedish association focused on clinical
research and clinical trials
• BioPeople
– a publicly-funded catalyst for collabora-
tion between companies and public research
• Cluster Excellence Denmark
- a support function
for clusters and innovative networks in Denmark
co-funded by the Danish Agency for Institutions and
Educational Grants and the regions
• CHC,
Copenhagen Healthtech Cluster – Danish organi-
sation that aims to create growth opportunities within
healthcare
• CHI,
Copenhagen Health Innovation – Danish organis-
ation focused on developing new educational and
development activities within healthcare
• Danish Life Science Cluster
– one of 14 new cluster
organisations in Denmark that was highlighted by the
Ministry of Science Innovation and Higher Education
and received funding from the Danish Executive Board
for Business and Growth in October.
• Dansk Biotek
– Danish trade organisation for compa-
nies in biotechnology
• EuropaBio,
the European Association for Bioindustries
– European trade organisation for the biotechnology
industry
• EFPIA,
European Federation of Pharmaceuticals Indu-
stries and Associations – European trade association
for the pharmaceutical industry in Europe
• FOIN,
the Association of Innovative Settings in Den-
mark – Danish trade association for science parks and
innovative settings, formerly Forskerparkforeningen/
The Science Park Organisation
• Healthcare Denmark
– Danish organisation with politi-
cal mandate to market the Danish health care sector
• IFPMA,
International Federation of Pharmaceutical Ma-
nufacturers & Associations - international trade associ-
ation for pharmaceutical companies and associations
• Kemi & Life Science
– Danish trade community and
network for distributors and manufacturers of chemicals
• Lif Danmark
– Trade association for the pharmaceuti-
cal industry
• Lif Sverige
(researching pharmaceutical companies) –
Trade association for manufacturers of pharmaceuticals
• Life Science Law DK
– an independent society that
aims to improve legal conditions for the Danish life
science industry
• Medicoindustrien
– Danish trade association for
companies that produce, sell, or have an interest in
medical equipment
• MVA,
Medicon Valley Alliance – Networking and mem-
ber organisation in the Danish-Swedish life science
cluster Medicon Valley in Greater Copenhagen
• Pharma Danmark
– trade union for academics
employed in the Danish life science industry
• Swecare
– Swedish member organisation that works
for broad collaboration with the health and healthcare
sectors
• SwedenBIO
– Swedish trade association for the life
science sector
• Swedish Labtech
– Swedish trade association for com-
panies working in diagnostics, laboratory equipment,
analysis and biotechnology
• Swedish Medtech
– Swedish trade association for
medical technology
• SISP,
Swedish Incubators & Science Parks – Swedish
trade association for incubators and science parks
• Synapse Life Science Connect
– a student-driven,
non-profit organisation that strives to link the academic
bioscience community and the life science industries
• In addition, there are the broader trade organisations
Dansk Industri (Confederation of Danish Industry) and
Dansk Erhverv (Danish Chamber of Commerce) and Han-
delskammaren (Sweden’s Chamber of Commerce) and
Svenskt Näringsliv (Confederation of Swedish Enterprise).
FOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
Hackathon at Novozymes inno-
vation campus in Kgs. Lyngby,
arranged by HelloScience and
Synapse in November 2019.
PUBLIC ACTORS:
• Copenhagen Capacity
– A public initiative to promote
investments and economic development in Greater
Copenhagen
• Erhvervsfremmebestyrelse
(The Danish Executive
Board for Business Development and Growth) – a part
of the Danish Business Authority that promotes and
funds decentralized business approaches
• Erhvervsstyrelsen
– Danish business authority that
works to improve companies’ competitive strength
• Innovationsfonden
– Fund from the Danish Ministry
of Higher Education and Science that invests in new
knowledge initiatives
FOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
The Swedish government’s life
science coordinator, Jenni Norberg.
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
• Invest in Skåne
– A public initiative to attract foreign
investments to the region, promote exports and inter-
nationalisation for companies in the Skåne region
• Läkemedelsverket/Medical Products Agency
– Swedish
authority that tests and approves pharmaceuticals
• Lægemiddelstyrelsen /Danish Medicines Agency
–
Danish authority that tests and approves pharmaceuticals
• Patent- och registreringsverket/Swedish Patent and
Registration
Office
– Swedish authority for intellectual
property rights
• Danish Patent and Trademark Office/Patent- og
Varemærkestyrelsen
– Danish authority for intellectu-
al property rights
• Styrelsen for Forskning og Innovation
– Danish autho-
rity that works to strengthen research and innovation
• The Government Offices of Sweden’s coordinating Office
for Life Science
– was established in 2018 and is working
among other things with a new life science strategy.
• The Life Science Office at Denmark’s Ministry of
Industry, Business and Financial Affairs
– the govern-
ment office responsible for the implementation of the
Danish national strategy for life science.
• Tillväxtverket/ Swedish Agency for Economic and
Regional Growth
– Swedish authority to promote com-
panies’ competitive strength
• Tillväxtanalys/Growth Analysis
– Swedish authority
with tasks such as analysing and evaluating Swedish
growth policies
• Trial Nation
– Danish organisation that offers a single,
national entry point for actors wishing to conduct
clinical trials in Denmark.
• Vetenskapsrådet/Swedish Research Council
–
Swedish authority that works to promote Swedish
research
• Vinnova
– Swedish authority that works to improve
opportunities for innovation and research
• Wonderful Copenhagen
– Danish organization
working to attract e.g. life science conferences to the
Medicon Valley region
MEDIA:
• Altinget
– News site with a website and newsletter on
research, health and more.
• Dagens medicin
– Swedish journal about the health-
care sector
• Dagens medicin, Dagens Pharma, Kommunal Sund-
hed and Praktisk medicin
– Danish journals about the
healthcare sector
• European Biotechnology News
– European journal
about life science
• Greater Copenhagen Life Science Magazine
- Scandi-
navian life science magazine published by the Danish
marketing and advertising agency Nem Media
• Kemivärlden Biotech
– Scandinavian journal for chem-
istry, chemical engineering and biotechnology
• Labiotech.eu
– European news site on the biotechno-
logy industry
• Life Science Sweden
– Journal on the Swedish bio-
technology, medical technology and pharmaceutical
industries
• Medwatch
– Danish news site on the medical and
pharmaceutical industries
• Nordic Life Science News
– journal and news site on
the Nordic life science industry
• Pharma Industry
– Swedish trade journal for the phar-
maceutical industry
64
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APPENDIX
APPENDIX
FOTO: NEWS ØRESUND
STATISTICS AND METHOD
Describing the life science sector with statistics is a challenge. The sector is far from homogenous, and
it shifts over time. There are only five sub-areas designated in the national statistics as exclusively life
science sectors; the remainder are spread out over a long string of sector codes. The same is true for
universities where life science is not a clearly defined research area. Therefore, the exclusive use of
statistics from the national statistics offices cannot provide a sufficiently complete and comprehensive
representation. We have thus also chosen to complement the statistics with facts from the Nordic Busi-
ness Key, as well as information provided by the companies and universities themselves.
The macro-level numbers in this report and certain
special figures, such as for example domestic and inter-
national students, have been specially requested from
Statistics Denmark and Statistics Sweden. We have used
the following statistic divisions to define the life science
sector and export of life science products:
SNI and DB07-sector codes are exclusive to life science
sectors, used for
figures regarding employment:
21 Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and
pharmaceutical preparations
26.60.10 Manufacture of hearing aids and supplies
26.60.90 Manufacture of irradiation, electromedical and
electrotherapeutic equipment
32.5 Manufacture of medical and dental instruments and
supplies
46.46.10 Wholesale trade of medical goods and nursing
supplies.
The following codes are used for the description of
scientific research and employment:
72.11 Research and experimental development in bio-
technology
72.19 Other research and experimental development in
natural sciences and engineering.
These two industries encompass companies whose pri-
mary purpose is research in natural sciences and not life
science production companies.
Some of these are life science companies; however,
since the sectors also contain research within other areas
than life science, the sectors are not included in the fig-
ures for employment in the life sciences, but are instead
presented separately.
The commodity groupings (SITC) in trade statistics
utilised to describe exports:
54 – Medical and pharmaceutical products
872 - Medical Instruments and appliances and similar
sector of the workplaces. This definition cannot be used
in the calculation of the sector’s tax contributions, since
corporation tax is paid on the company/concern level,
and the main sector of a workplace does not necessarily
correspond to the company’s main sector. The following
method has thus been used:
1.
For each year, the number of full-time employees who
work at a workplace whose main sector is life science is
tallied.
2.
Information is retrieved for the companies/concerns to
which these workplaces belong. The number of employ-
ees who work in life science branches at these work-
places is tallied, as well as the number of employees on
the company/concern level.
3.
For a given year, a company/concern in the life science
sector is included if:
a.
The company/concern has employed more than 50%
of its employees at workplaces in the life science sector
during the year in question; or
b.
The company/concern meets criterion a) throughout the
entire period 2008-2017 for the majority of its active period.
It has been necessary to include criterion b) in order
to encompass companies/concerns that pay taxes via
a holding company certain years, and in others via the
producing company.
The source for the Swedish figures of income and corpora-
tion tax is the FRIDA database. FRIDA is a combined indivi-
dual database and firm register for all Swedish companies.
The life science sector has been defined according to the
sector of the company’s headquarters.
Corporation tax
Corporation tax for Danish life science companies is de-
fined as the corporation tax paid by companies/concerns
that fulfil the above criteria. For Sweden corporation tax
is the company’s final tax, which consists of state tax (bo-
lagsskatt) on the year’s result (22% of reported surplus)
plus other taxes that may be applicable, e.g. yield tax.
Income tax
Income tax for people employed in the life science sector
is defined for people employed in the companies/con-
SCIENCE PARKS IN MEDICON VILLAGE THAT
COMPLETELY OR SIGNIFICANTLY FOCUS ON THE
LIFE SCIENCES:
• DTU Science Park
– focus on deep tech. Located in
Hørsholm and Lyngby. Formerly known as Scion DTU.
Incubator:
Futurebox.
• Cobis
– focus on life science. Located in Copenhagen.
Owned by DTU Science Park and Symbion. Incubator:
BioInnovation Institute.
• Symbion
– focus on life science, foodtech, edtech, hard-
ware/makerspace and SaaS. Located in Copenhagen.
• Ideon
– focus on future transportations, smart cities,
smart materials and health tech. Located in Lund.
Incubator:
Ideon Open/Beyond.
• Krinova
– focus on food, the environment and health.
Located in Kristianstad. Incubator:
• Medeon
– focus on life science. Located in Malmö.
Incubator:
Medeons inkubator.
• Medicon Village
– focus on life science. Located in Lund.
Incubator: SmiLe.
LEARNING AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS IN MEDI-
CON VALLEY WITH ACTIVITY IN THE LIFE SCIENCES:
• University of Copenhagen
– A large university with
departments for health and medical sciences, science,
humanities, law, social sciences and theology.
• Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
– A technical
university in Kongens Lyngby, just north of Copenhagen.
• Roskilde University
– A university in the middle of
Zealand with emphasis on transdisciplinarity.
• Aalborg University in Copenhagen
– A campus of
Aalborg University in Jutland with a broad range of
departments.
• The National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Uni-
versity of Southern Denmark
– A research institution
that is part of the University of Southern Denmark, but
also serves the Danish authorities, supporting them
with research and counsel on public health.
• CBS
– A university in Copenhagen with focus on
economics, as well as educational training in Business
Administration and Bioentrepreneurship.
• Copenhagen School of Design and Technology
– An
institute of higher education in Copenhagen with some
research in optometry.
• Capital Region of Denmark
– The region encompasses
a large number of hospitals, predominantly in Copen-
hagen and northern Zealand. The largest of them is
Rigshospitalet.
• Region Zealand
– The region encompasses a number
of hospitals, primarily in Zealand and Lolland. The
most important of them is Zealand University Hospital
in Roskilde and Køge.
• The State Serum Institute, Copenhagen
– A research
institution of the Danish Ministry of Health. Its focus
is on diagnostics, epidemiological monitoring and
vaccination research.
• Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen
– a hospital spe-
cialised in diabetes that offers some education and is
part of the Capital Region today.
• The Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen
– A patient
organisation to fight cancer. With a research centre in
Copenhagen.
• Lund University
– A large university with departments
for medicine, science, technology, the humanities, law,
economics, theology, art, music and theatre.
• Malmö University
– A university with a transdiscipli-
nary focus.
• The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in
Alnarp
– One of the largest campuses of the Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences, which has campu-
ses throughout Sweden. Its main areas are landscape
architecture, horticulture and plant production.
• Kristianstad University
– A college in north-eastern
Skåne with a strong focus on education.
• Region Skåne
– The region encompasses a number
of hospitals in Skåne, the largest of which is Skåne
University Hospital in Lund and Malmö.
ABOUT THE FIGURES
TAXATION, PAGES 8-19
Defining the Danish life science sector to calculate taxes
In the statistics for the number of employees in the life
science sector, the sector is defined according to the
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
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APPENDIX
APPENDIX
cerns that fulfil the criteria described in ’Defining the Life
Science Sector’. Income tax is determined geographically
according to where the income is earned, and not where
the employee resides. Thus, border commuters from
Sweden are included in the analysis of Danish income tax.
Residents of Denmark who work abroad are in turn not
included in the analysis of Danish income tax.
Income tax is calculated from the total personal income;
i.e. it includes income from salary and self-employment, as
well as any transfers of income that are subject to taxation.
In Denmark, income tax is equivalent to the total personal
final tax on income, including labour market contributions.
The total personal final tax includes state tax, health care
tax, municipal tax, preliminary corporation tax, tax on stock
dividends and stock profit, and labour market contributions.
Final tax is determined after the deductions have been
made and various tax additions have been included.
The amount of labour market contributions paid for
employees in the life science sector is calculated by in-
ferring that the labour market contributions comprise the
same share of the total income tax, including labour mar-
ket contributions, for the life science sector in its entirety
as for the economy as a whole. The income tax, excluding
labour market contributions, for employees in the life
science sector is divided by the share of the total income
tax including labour market contributions, comprised by
the labour market contributions for the economy as a
whole, to calculate the income tax including labour market
contributions for employees in the life science sector.
In Sweden, income tax is equal to the total income
tax on gainful employment. The source for this data is
the Swedish income register for the period 2008-2017.
Income from gainful employment includes income from a
position of staff employment including benefits, surplus
from business operations, sickness benefits, unemploy-
ment benefits and pension income after general deduc-
tions. These may be social security duties to another
country, alimony or social contributions.
Income and corporation tax comprise only part of the
amount contributed to the treasury through taxes and
duties; of which value-added tax is the absolute largest in
both countries. In Sweden, duties and other taxes include
e.g. a municipal property tax, burial tax, duties to religious
communities, vehicle tax and a series of excise duties on
e.g. alcohol and tobacco. In Denmark there are a large
number of taxes and duties in addition to corporation tax
and income tax, for example municipal property tax, which
is calculated based on value, registration duties on cars
and a number of excise duties on other products such as
tobacco, wine, spirits, chocolate and sugar.
EXPORT, PAGES 8–19
The figures for the global pharmaceuticals market are the
amounts invoiced to pharmacies and hospitals by distribu-
ters. Those amounts are not equivalent to the amounts that
manufacturers of pharmaceuticals receive for their products;
discounts and other price agreements are not included.
The source for the information on the global market
is IQVIA. The source for the global market export is the
UN Comtrade database and figures for the Danish and
Swedish life science export are retrieved from Statistics
Denmark and Statistics Sweden, respectively.
The Danish and Swedish life science sectors’ exports
are calculated as the export of Medicinal and pharmaceu-
tical products (SITC 54), as well as Instruments and app-
liances, n.e.s., for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary
purposes (SITC 87.2). The SITC classification is the UN’s
classification system for goods (Standard International
Trade Classification). The sources are the foreign trade
statistics from Statistics Denmark and Statistics Sweden,
respectively.
EMPLOYMENT, PAGES 8–19
The employment figures cover the manufacturing sectors:
21 Pharmaceuticals, 26.60.10 Manufacture of hearing
aids and supplies, 26.60.90 Manufacture of irradiation,
electromedical and electrotherapeutic equipment, 32.50.00
Manufacture of medical and dental instruments and
supplies and 46.46.10 Wholesale of pharmaceutical and
nursing goods. The sources are the register-based Labour
Force Statistics in Denmark (RAS) and in Sweden (RAMS).
Statistics Denmark and Statistics Sweden utilise national
industry classification (DB07) and (SNI2007), both of which
are based on and correspond to the European industry
classification NACE. A company can perform business
that is within more than one sector classification. In such
cases, the company has a main sector and one or more
additional sectors. In the register-based Labour Force Sta-
tistics, all of a company’s employees are registered under
the company’s primary sector.
Note that it is also possible that branch codes are assig-
ned to companies differently in Denmark and Sweden.
Other industry subdivisions of the life science sector
cannot be extracted, as they are placed within service
sectors such as business services, which covers a sig-
nificantly broader area than life science. The advantage
of using the narrow definition of the sector is that it
becomes possible to trace the industry’s development
over time, as well as to draw European and international
comparisons. The disadvantage is that the life scien-
ce industry is not shown in its entirety. Therefore, the
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
figures are supplemented by figures for employees at life
science companies not covered by the national statistical
figures from Statistics Denmark and Statistics Sweden;
an example of a company that we have supplemented
with employee figures is Novozymes. The supplemen-
tary information has been collected from the relevant
companies either via email, telephone or via the company
website; from Nordic Business Key; www.allabolag.se; or
from news articles.
PATENTS, PAGES 8–19
For patent applications figures from the European Patent
Office (EPO) are used. Normally, a patent application to
EPO is preceded by an application to the national patent
office. The filing date for the application to the national
patent office is the priority date for the subsequent appli-
cation to EPO. The publishing date for a patent application
to EPO is usually 18 months after the priority date. Patent
information from United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) is rather old at the time of publishing,
and for that reason it has been chosen primarily to
present data for EPO, even though the interest in patent
applications at USPTO has grown as a consequence of the
growth of the American medical market.
UNIVERSITIES, RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS AND
REGIONS, PAGES 42-43
Figures for the number of researchers and students have
been provided by the universities, regions and research
institutions themselves. All figures are headcounts and
from 2019 unless otherwise noted.
University of Copenhagen.
Number of doctoral students
at departments and centres with life science activities.
Lund University.
The numbers apply to the total number
of researchers at the Faculty of Medicine, and a number
of researchers at the Faculty of Science and the following
departments at the Faculty of Engineering: Institutio-
nen för immunteknologi, the Department of Biomedical
Engineering (figures from 2018) and Chemical Engine-
ering. There are also researchers in the life sciences at
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
SECTOR CLASSIFICATION
The definition of life science often includes:
• BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANIES
• PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES
• MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES
the Department of Computer Science, the Department of
Transport & Roads and the Department of Technology and
Society at Lund University’s Faculty of Engineering. Of the
doctoral students, 756 are employed elsewhere and have
not been och has not been counted in the total number of
life science researchers.
Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
The information
is for the total number of researchers at the following
departments: DTU Food, DTU Vet and Centre for Diag-
nostics, DTU Aqua, DTU Biosustain, DTU Bioinformatics,
DTU Bioengineering, DTU Chemical Engineering, DTU
Environment and DTU Nutech, and an equivalent selection
of students for the academic year 2019/20. Research in the
life sciences was also performed at DTU Chemistry, DTU
Electrical Engineering, DTU Nanotech, DTU Mechanical
Engineering, and DTU Compute.
The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Al-
narp.
The number of students includes those from Hor-
ticultural Science, Landscape Engineering, Agronomics,
Plant Biology for Sustainable Production, Agroecology,
Lantmästare and Outdoor Environments for Health and
Well-being for the academic year 2019/20.
Malmö University.
Life science students: full-time
equivalents. Includes students of Dentistry, Oral hygiene,
Dental technician studies, Welfare work, Social work and
related, Nursing – Care, Specialist nursing, Biomedical
analysis and related, and independent courses.
Kristianstad University.
Number of students for autumn
2019.
Roskilde University.
Figures from the turn of the year
2016/17.
Aalborg University in Copenhagen.
Figures from 2020.
Data on professors includes associate- and assistant
professors. All students study Sustainable Biotechnology.
The Capital Region of Denmark.
Figures from 2018. The
number of researchers indicates people who dedicate at
least 10% of their working hours to research – often, but
not always – in the life sciences. A number of resear-
chers also have part-time positions at the University of
Copenhagen.
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APPENDIX
Region Skåne.
All professors also have part-time
positions at Lund University. Head count for research-
ers – many conduct research part-time. The number of
professors refers to positions funded or partially funded
by Region Skåne; there may also be professors with
external funding.
Region Zealand.
Head count for researchers – many
conduct research part-time.
The State Serum Institute.
Head count.
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCHERS AND STUDENTS,
PAGE 48-49
International students
The figures for the number of students and their con-
nection to the job market are retrieved from customised
analyses by Statistics Denmark and Statistics Sweden.
The selection of educational programmes was made from
the programme classifications in Denmark and Sweden,
and programmes have been chosen within which work in
the sector is usually found after education is completed.
The figures for Denmark and Sweden are not directly
comparable due to differences in the educational systems
and the available data material.
The Danish and Swedish educational systems are
structured differently. In Denmark, students – apart from
exchange students – register for an entire programme at
the bachelor or graduate level. In Sweden, it is possible
to register for individual courses, and it is also possible
to complete a master’s degree by combining individual
courses from different programmes. The criterion is that
one must earn 120 ECTS points to complete a master’s
degree. A student who has registered for two courses in
the same semester will thus be accounted for two times
in the statistics. An attempt has been made to account for
this in the extracts from the Swedish data. Students re-
gistered for more than one course at the same institution
are only counted as one student; however, if that student
is registered for courses at two separate institutions,
APPENDIX
s/he will be accounted for twice in the data material. The
figures for the number of students are thus not directly
comparable between Denmark and Sweden.
The definition of an international student depends on
national definitions and the possibilities offered in the
dataset at hand. Therefore, the definition differs in Danish
and Swedish data extractions. In Sweden, an international
student is defined as 1) a person from a country outside
of the EU/EEA, who upon moving to Sweden reported
that the move was motivated by studies, and where a
residency permit has been issued for less than two years
before the commencement of studies; 2) students who
have moved to Sweden less than six months prior to
the commencement of studies; and 3) other individuals
lacking a Swedish personal identification number in the
educational institutions’ study administration systems. In
Danish data, an international student is defined as such
if s/he came to Denmark within a period from one year
prior and three months after commencement of studies,
and does not have a Danish secondary education.
International researchers
Data for foreigners who have not completed their educa-
tion in the country are incomplete in the national statistics
office’s register of the population’s education. Because
of the poor data quality on the education of workers who
have come to Denmark from abroad it has been necessary
to use additional sources such as the utilisation of the tax
relief schemes, and the Danish Agency for Labour Market
and Recruitment’s database Jobindsats.dk.
It is not possible to extract specific data material for
the life science sectors in Medicon Valley from the data
sources used here; however, by the use of the available
complementary Danish sources, the Danish life science
sector’s need for highly qualified workers from abroad
becomes clearly visible. The Danish Ministry of Taxation
and the Forskarskattenämnden websites offer statistics
about the utilisation of the tax relief scheme.
CLUSTER RANKING:, PAGES 24-49
Selection of life science clusters
Medicon Valley Alliance has chosen to commission an
analysis from the Centre for Science and Technology
Studies (CWTS) of Leiden University.
For technical reasons, CWTS recommended a comparison of
European clusters rather than of clusters around the globe.
CWTS uses NUTS-coding to identify European clusters, and
would not be able to work with the same precision for clus-
ters around the world. The result is also a more consistent
range of clusters with which to compare Medicon Valley.
To identify relevant life science clusters in Europe, Øre-
sundsinstituttet, which has prepared the report for Med-
icon Valley Alliance, compiled a number of sources. The
selection process was based on the Leiden Ranking from
2012-2015 (which was the most recent available ranking
at the time of the selection), which is independent of the
consultant report later produced by CWTS. It investigated
the locations or geographic areas in which the first 25
universities on the European list of the greatest number
of scientific articles in the field “Biomedical and Health
Sciences” are situated. While “Biomedical and Health
Sciences” does not encompass the area identified as life
science in CWTS’ analysis completely, it is decisively the
category that corresponds most closely.
Earlier reports were then consulted with the aim of iden-
tifying additional locations or geographic areas with life
science clusters. The following reports were consulted:
- “The Leading Life Sciences Clusters in Europe”, prepa-
red by SANOFI on behalf of Science Business 2015.
- “Evaluation of Future Opportunities in Medicon Valley”,
prepared by The Boston Consulting Group on behalf of
Medicon Valley Alliance 2012.
- “New Home for the European Medicines Agency”, pre-
pared by KPMG on behalf of Novo Nordisk 2017.
Using these reports, we identified cluster areas that
were not linked to a university on the top-25 list in
Leiden’s Ranking of “Biomedical and Health Sciences”,
or that are transborder, but have strong research in the
life sciences on the whole.
For each cluster, we conducted online research to en-
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
sure the existence of a cluster organisation or confirm
that the area or location in question is locally recognised
as a cluster. As there is no simple definition of a cluster,
some clusters have a larger scope than others. A crystal
clear definition in this area is almost impossible.
Departing from the above parameters, we compiled the
following list of clusters in Europe whose universities
published the greatest number of scientific articles
in “Biomedical and Health Sciences” from 2012-2015
(currently the most recent available period). Arranged
according to the number of articles in the ten per cent
most frequently cited articles, the clusters are:
- London-Cambridge-Oxford
- The Netherlands
- Paris / Île de France
- Flanders
- Stockholm-Uppsala
- Scotland
- Medicon Valley
- Zurich
- BioValley (a German-French-Swiss cluster inclu-
ding Basel, Alsace, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Mulhouse,
Strasbourg)
- Munich
- Rome
- Berlin
- Heidelberg
- Barcelona
- Milan
Of these, we have chosen to compare the first ten clus-
ters on the list, which CWTS identified according to the
following NUTS code definitions:
- London-Cambridge-Oxford: UKH1, UKH2, UKH3, UKI
and UKJ1
- The Netherlands: the entire country
- Paris/Île de France: FR10
- Flanders: BE21, BE22, BE23, BE24, BE25 and BE10
- Stockholm-Uppsala: SE11 and SE12, except Linköping
University, Örebro University and Mälardalen University
College
THE EFFECT OF SECTOR DRIFT AND SECTOR CHANGE
Statistics for the number of employees in the
life science sector are based on figures from the
register-based Labour Force Statistics in Denmark
(RAS) and in Sweden (RAMS). The employment
figures cover the manufacturing sectors: 21 Phar-
maceuticals, 26.60.10 Manufacture of hearing aids
and supplies, 26.60.90 Manufacture of irradiation,
electromedical and electrotherapeutic equip-
ment, 32.50.00 Manufacture of medical and dental
instruments and supplies and 46.46.10 Wholesale of
pharmaceutical and nursing goods. Sector drift and
sector changes for individual companies can affect
the figures to a greater or lesser degree. The more
detailed statistics are for individual sectors and
smaller geographic areas, the more visible sector
drift and change of sector become. A sector drift is
a slow change in a company’s product portfolio that
eventually leads to it belonging to a different sector
than it did originally. A change of sector is the switch
to another sector code without changes to the com-
pany’s product portfolio.
State of Medicon Valley 2017 contains an
example (Coloplast) of how sector code can
change over time.
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APPENDIX
- Scotland: the entire country
- Medicon Valley: SE22, DK01 and DK02, except Blekinge
Institute of Technology
- Zurich: CH04
- BioValley: CH03, FR42, DE11, DE12, DE13 and DE14
- Munich: DE21 and DE27, except Neu-Ulm University of App-
lied Sciences and Kempten University of Applied Sciences
All scientific publications in the relevant categories from
every region have been included, regardless of whether
the research was performed at e.g. a university, a univer-
sity hospital, or other research institutions or commercial
enterprises.
Selection of the bibliometric database
CWTS conducted its analysis in an in-house version of
Web of Science:
“Our CWTS Citation Index (CI) system will be used for
these analyses. The core of this system is comprised of
an enhanced version of Clarivate’s citation indexes: Web
of Science (WoS) version of the Science Citation Index,
SCI (indexed); Social Science Citation Index, SSCI and
Arts & Humanities Citation Index, AHCI.
We therefore calculate our indicators based on our
in-house version of the WoS database. WoS is a biblio-
graphic database that covers the publications of about
12 000 journals in the sciences, the social sciences, and
the arts and humanities.”
APPENDIX
universities, regions, and other research institutions
themselves. Multiple actors emphasise however that
the figures are approximate, and it is possible that some
projects are being conducted at e.g. a university as well
as a hospital, and that they have thus been counted
twice. To supplement scarce data on the Danish side
of the cluster, we also reviewed research projects that
had received funding from the Novo Nordisk Founda-
tion, Lundbeck Foundation, Carlsberg Foundation, and
the Danish government. (Data from universities on the
Swedish side was more thorough, and a corresponding
review was thus omitted.) It is however probable that a
greater number of research projects than those that we
found in this manner are being conducted at the lear-
ning institutions that provided scanty information. The
figures for the number of research projects here – in
spite of some of them possibly being counted twice – are
presumably lower than the actual number of projects
being conducted.
The higher learning institutions, regions and other
research actors in Medicon Valley conducting research
projects on the novel coronavirus are the Capital Region
of Denmark, Region Zealand, Region Skåne, DTU, the
University of Copenhagen, Lund University, Malmö
University, Roskilde University, State Serum Institute,
National Institute of Public Health (Denmark), which is
part of the University of Southern Denmark and the State
Serum Institute. Researchers from Aalborg University
in Copenhagen were also a contributing partner in an
American research project, and the Danish Cancer Socie-
ty has supported research related to the coronavirus at
hospitals all over Denmark.
Definition of life science
CWTS has limited its bibliometric analysis to encompass
only publications within the category life sciences. They
define this category as follows:
“… all the publications selected for these regions were limited
to those that are designated to the higher level category of
‘Medical and Life Sciences’. This category is a derivative of
those Web of Science categories that adhere to the moniker
that was defined for this higher level field of science. This is to
some extent an arbitrary process in which choices are made
on the basis of best practice and educated assumption.”
The complete list of categories is as follows:
For a more detailed description of the methodology,
please refer to the report “CWTS Bibliometric Report:
Benchmark Life Science Regions Research for Øresund
Institute 2006-2016/17” by Erik van Wijk, 2018.
*van Wijk, Erik (2018): “CWTS Bibliometric Report:
Benchmark Life Science Regions Research for Øresund
Institute 2006-2016/17”
MISCELLANEOUS
We have also collected information from personal inter-
views, telephone interviews and in e-mail contact with
experts and companies. This applies, among others, to the
chapter on beacons. Data for the reviews of companies
has been retrieved from Bisnode, through contact with the
companies and from their websites, as well as from media
reports. We have also utilised the public investigations
from within life science, as well as other reports from
public actors and trade and networking organisations.
ABOUT THE FIGURES - RESEARCH ABOUT THE CORONA-
VIRUS, PAGES 44-45
Information about the number of research projects on
the novel coronavirus are primarily based on infor-
mation on the number of projects supplied by the
Web of Science Categories in ’Medical and Life Sciences’
Agricultural engineering
Agricultural experiment station
reports
Agriculture, dairy & animal
science
Agriculture, multidisciplinary
Agronomy
Allergy
Anatomy & morphology
Andrology
Anesthesiology
Audiology & speech-language
pathology
Behavioral sciences
Biochemical research methods
Biochemistry & molecular
biology
Biology
Biophysics
Biotechnology & applied micro-
biology
Cardiac & cardiovascular
systems
Cell & tissue engineering
Cell biology
Chemistry, medicinal
Clinical neurology
Critical care medicine
Dentistry/oral surgery & med-
icine
Dermatology
Developmental biology
Emergency medicine
Endocrinology & metabolism
Engineering, biomedical
Entomology
Evolutionary biology
Fisheries
Food science & technology
Gastroenterology & hepatology
Genetics & heredity
Geriatrics & gerontology
Gerontology
Health care sciences & services
Health policy & services
Hematology
Horticulture
Immunology
Infectious diseases
Integrative & complementary
medicine
Marine & freshwater biology
Materials science, biomaterials
Mathematical & computational
biology
Medical informatics
Medical laboratory technology
Medicine, general & internal
Medicine, research & experi-
mental
Microbiology
Mycology
Neuroimaging
Neurosciences
Nursing
Nutrition & dietetics
Obstetrics & gynecology
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Ornithology
Orthopedics
Otorhinolaryngology
Parasitology
Pathology
Pediatrics
Peripheral vascular disease
Pharmacology & pharmacy
Physiology
Plant sciences
Primary health care
Psychiatry
Public, environmental & occu-
pational health
Radiology, nuclear medicine &
medical imaging
Rehabilitation
Reproductive biology
Respiratory system
Rheumatology
Social work
Soil science
Sport sciences
Substance abuse
Surgery
Toxicology
Transplantation
Tropical medicine
Urology & nephrology
Veterinary sciences
Virology
Zoology
INTERVIEW LIST
• Torben M. Andersen,
professor, Aarhus University,
digitally, 13 Oct. 2020.
• Henrik Bjursten,
cardiac surgeon and associate pro-
fessor, Lund University, telephone, 30 Sept. 2020
• Stefan Jovinge,
professor at Van Andel Institute, Mi-
chigan State University, adjunct professor at Stanford
University, digital meeting, 8 Oct. 2020
• Olli Kallioniemi,
Director, SciLifeLab, telephone, 14
Sept. 2020
• Sarah Lidé,
Senior Strategy & Project Manager, Medi-
con Valley Alliance, digital meeting, 12 Oct. 2020
• Nikolaj Lubanski,
director of marketing & promotion,
Copenhagen Capacity, e-mail 14 Oct. 2020.
• Nico van Meeteren,
Executive Director, Top Sector
Life Sciences & Health (LSH; Health~Holland) in the
Netherlands, digital meeting, 14 Sept. 2020
• Søren Møller,
managing partner, Novo Seeds, digital
meeting, 25 Aug. 2020
• Ulrika Ringdahl,
CEO, Invest in Skåne, digitally, 18
Sept. 2020.
• Vanita Singh,
Admissions and Recruitment Manager,
DTU, e-mail, 14 Oct. 2020
• Bjørn Sparre Johansson,
Exchange Admissions Officer,
DTU, e-mail, 14 Oct. 2020
• Anette Steenberg,
director of investment promotion,
Copenhagen Capacity, digitally, 29 Sept. 2020
• Sten Verland,
general partner, Sunstone Life Science
Ventures, telephone, 20 Aug. 2020
• Lærke Vester-Andersen,
head of the internationaliza-
tion division, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences,
University of Copenhagen, telephone, 14 Oct. 2020
72
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APPENDIX
REFERENCE LIST
The exact sources are provided with the statistics in the
respective chapters and on pages 67-73.
PRIMARY STATISTICAL SOURCES:
• SCB/Statistics Sweden, including customised analyses
• Statistics Denmark, including customised analyses
• UN Comtrade
• World Bank
OTHER SOURCES:
• Biostock: Stamceller i fokus när Xintela får miljonbi-
drag för covid-19 projekt (2020-05-15)
• Biostock: SynAct Pharma om Covid-19-satsningen
(2020-04-02)
• Bisnode, Nordic Business Key, business database
• Børsen, Niels Lunde: Hvis de danske producenter af
høreapparater Demant, GN Hearing och WS Audiology
fik nervøse trækninger forleden, forstår man dem godt.
Apple er på vej (2020-07-01)
• Børsen, Analyse: Historien gentager sig i Lundbeck -
derfor reagerer ATP (2020-09-15)
• Carlsberg Foundation
• CWTS B.V. Benchmark Life Science Regions Research
for Medicon Valley Alliance 2006-2016/17, August 2018
• CWTS Leiden Ranking, www.cwts.nl
• CVR, www.datacvr.virk.dk
• Danish Ministry of Taxation, Bruttoskatteordningen for
forskere og nøglemedarbejdere – fakta og statistik,
www.skm.dk. (Gross Tax Scheme for Researchers and
Key Employees – Facts and Statistics)
• Danish Industry: Tilbage på sporet efter Covid-19: Life
science industriens syv bud på hvordan vi lykkes, 2020
• Danish Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Af-
fairs: Life science industriens økonomiske fodaftryk, 2020
• European Patent Office, www.epo.org
• Danish Ministry of Finance: Økonomisk Redegørelse,
August 2020
• Forum for genstart af dansk eksport: Genstart af
dansk eksport - i lyset af covid-19, 2020
• Forskarskattenämnden, Om skattelättnad, statistik
(About Tax Relief, Statistics),
www.skatterattsnamnden.se
• Fujifilm, Fujifilm Completes Acquisition of Biogen’s
Manufacturing Site in Denmark, August 2019
• Genstartsteam for life science og biotek – en grøn og
sund genstart, 2020
• Innovation Fund Denmark: Se hvilke COVID-19 projek-
ter Innovationsfonden investerer i
• Insikt Medicin: Pharma 2019 100 life science bolag
• Karolinska Institute: Nya regler om uppehållstillstånd
(2020-01-01)
• Kliniska studier: Kliniska studier rörande covid-19
(data compiled from Swedish Ethical Review Authority)
• Lif - De forskande läkemedelsföretagen:”Svensk läke-
medelsexport passerade 100 miljarder 2019”, article
(2020-03-27)
• Lundbeck Foundation
• Danish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry:
”Meget stærk lægemiddeleksport i 2019”, article
(2020-02-10)
• Life Science Sweden: ”Kraftigt ökad export av läkeme-
del”, article (2020-03-02)
• Medicon Valley Alliance: Microbiome Signature Project
• Medwatch: Bavarian indgår licensaftale med danske
Adaptvac om coronavaccine (2020-05-06)
• Medwatch: Biotekselskab får millioner til hurtig
udvikling af vacciner – covid-19 bliver første indsats-
område (2020-10-02)
• Medwatch: Oncology Venture melder om gode corona-
data med eget lægemiddel (2020-08-26)
• Medwatch: Qlife starter udvikling af ny test for covid-19
(2020-06-02)
• Ministry of Higher Education and Science: Research
projects connected with COVID-19
• National Committee on Health Research Ethics: Tiltag
iværksat på grund af COVID-19
• Novo Nordisk Foundation
• QS World University Rankings 2019
• The Riksbank, www.riksbank.se
• The National Bank of Denmark,
www.nationalbanken.statistikbank.dk
• Shanghai Ranking – Academic Ranking of World Uni-
versities 2018
• Smile Incubator: Smile Startups
• Swecare medlemsundersökning: Hur har svensk life
science export påverkats av covid-19? 2020
• Swedish Tax Agency, www.skatteverket.se
• Times Higher Education – World University Rankings 2018
• US News Best Global Universities
• Press releases and annual reports from respective
companies.
• In addition, we received data via email from companies,
municipalities, trade organisations, universities and
other players.
Behind the report:
MEDICON VALLEY ALLIANCE AND ØRESUNDSINSTITUTTET
Øresundsinstituttet and Medicon Valley Alliance have a long-term analysis collaboration. State of the
Region is an annual analysis of the developments in Medicon Valley. Medicon Valley Alliance and Øre-
sundsinstituttet are both member-based, and a selection of the member-actors are represented in the
board of directors.
Board of directors:
Board of directors:
MEDICON VALLEY ALLIANCE (MVA)
is a non-profit
membership organization in the Danish-Swedish
life science cluster Medicon Valley, which is a part of
Greater Copenhagen. Our 300 members represents
the region’s triple-helix and include universities,
hospitals, human life science businesses, regional
governments and service providers.
ØRESUNDSINSTITUTTET
is an independent Da-
nish-Swedish centre for analytics and information that
brings together more than 100 actors from the indu-
stry, the public sector and academic institutions with
the aim of strengthening knowledge about societal
developments on both sides of the Øresund Strait.
As a member of Øresundsinstituttet, you become part
of our strong Danish-Swedish network – and gain
access to network meetings, facts, analyses and news
about developments in the Greater Copenhagen region.
The analysis “State of
Medicon Valley” is prepared
by Øresundsinstituttet and
commissioned by Medicon
Valley Alliance.
74
STATE OF MEDICON VALLEY • November 2020
 ERU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 62: Rapport/Analyse "State of Medicon Valley" - input til forhandlingerne om en ny national dansk life science strategi
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The analysis “State of Medicon Valley” is prepared by Øresundsinstituttet and commissioned by Medicon Valley Alliance.
ØRESUNDSINSTITUTTET
Øi is an independent Danish-Swedish centre for analytics and information that brings together more than 100 actors from the
industry, the public sector and academic institutions with the aim of strengthening knowledge about societal developments on
both sides of the Øresund Strait. As a member of Øresundsinstituttet, you become part of our strong Danish-Swedish network –
and gain access to network meetings, facts, analyses and news about developments in the Greater Copenhagen region.
www.oresundsinstituttet.org
MEDICON VALLEY ALLIANCE
MVA is a Gold Label-certified, non-profit member organisation in the Danish-Swedish life science cluster Medicon Valley. Its
300 members include universities, hospitals, human life science businesses, regional governments and service providers
that represent the Region’s ’double triple-helix’. The activities in MVA focus on strengthening collaborations for a vibrant life
science ecosystem in Medicon Valley through networking events and increased collaboration across borders and sectors.
www.mva.org
THE VISION
The vision is to be a well-known and respected member-
driven contributor to the realisation and positioning of
Medicon Valley as the most competitive and vital life science
cluster in Northern Europe.
THE MISSION
MVA is committed to realising Medicon Valley’s potential by
facilitating networking, knowledge-sharing, and collabo-
ration, analysing challenges and potentials, and mobilising
support from key opinion leaders.
CALL TO ACTION
Read more about the Danish-Swedish life science cluster organisation Medicon Valley Alliance’s events and activities on
www.mva.org, where you can also find more information about how YOUR company can benefit from a membership.