Nordic Life Science 1
HIGHLIGHTS FROM NLSDAYS 2023 T E X T B Y M A L I
N O T M A N I A N D OL A B J ÖR K M A N The tenth hosting of Nordic Life Science Days offered interesting discussions on business strategies, health data and developments within CNS, a well-attended pitching contest, and much more in a bubbling atmosphere with beautiful and spacious surroundings. T HE CONFERENCE took place on 29-30 November 2023 at Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark – the first time the event was held outside Sweden. “The tenth anniversary of Nordic Life Science Days is a great opportunity to connect the Danish ecosystem even more closely to the pan-Nordic arena. At SwedenBIO, we keep pushing the event forward and when faced with a challenge we always rise to the occasion. When we started Nordic Life Science Days ten years ago, it was a challenge. When we first moved the conference outside of Stockholm, it was another challenge. Now, after ten years we felt that it was time to take on the next challenge and host NLSDays in Denmark for the first time. This is our biggest event so far, with more exhibitors, sponsors and delegates than ever before,” said Olivier Duchamp Guidicelli, NLSDays' Managing Director. The 2023 event had more than 1600 participants, more than 900 companies/organizations attended, and at the start of the conference there were 22,000 partnering requests and more than 3200 partnering meetings booked, reported SwedenBIO. Unicorns, health data and CNS The event began with an opening address by Duchamp Guidicelli and Marjo Puumalainen, NLSDays Program Director, followed by the first session on the topic “From innovation to improved health – the building blocks of a successful life science sector” with Jessica Martinsson, SwedenBIO CEO, as moderator. “The Nordic region has really emerged as a true hotspot for life sciences and innovation, and this event has provided fertile ground for many new partnerships and business deals over the years,” said Martinsson. A new addition to this year’s program was a small poster exhibition, highlighting 12 Nordic academic projects with commercial potential. A few selected academic projects were highlighted and presented by their founders or innovators. They also competed for a Nordic Innovation Award and the winner was Dr Dafne Quixabeira from Helsinki University with a poster titled “Next oncolytic immunotherapy candidates for the treatment of human solid tumors: From bench to patients.” The second super session of the first day had the title “Preparing for the next unicorn: how to choose your business strategy.” This session was led by João Ribas, Principal, Novo Holdings. It was particularly interesting to hear from Agnete Fredriksen, Chief Business Officer and cofounder of Nykode Therapeutics, when she spoke about her company’s journey and strategies, and also her choice to stay true to what she is passionate about in her role at the company. The third super session of the first day was on the topic “Harnessing data to improve our health.” The session was NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 27