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Then, one day, an unexpected opportunity came his
way. “I was invited to be CEO of a clinical lab company called Calab. They had invented the first large-scale laboratory robots and were pioneers in building automated computerized analytical machines. They were keen that a doctor and researcher should be in the lead. The offer came out of the blue really. It was not something I was looking to do. I was happy with my career, after my PhD.” The offer, he reflects, is not one he could refuse. “It was basically a door that opened. In academia it would take ten or more years to have your own lab, but here I was being invited to do just that,” Steiner says. “And it was there that I learned about running a business.” When he left his position at Calab in 1996 after the company was sold to the healthcare company Capio, Steiner says, “I started to look around for something else to do.” At the time HealthCap had just been started by Björn Odlander and Peder Fredrikson. “They were sitting on boxes with borrowed furniture,” Steiner recalls when he met with them. “They started something unique in Sweden: venture capital in life sciences. A lot of large pharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca [formerly Astra AB] and Pharmacia had been investing in medical research but at the time there was no venture capital.” Steiner was intrigued and agreed to come on board. Today HealthCap is one of the largest life sciences venture capital firms in Europe. It has invested in 113 companies, with 22 approved drugs, $40 billion in accumulated sales, 50 medical technology products, and over two million treated patients. Some 50 to 70 clinical trials are usually ongoing at any time with its portfolio companies, Steiner says. There have been over 66 exits. His preference, he says, is working with start-ups. “I have worked with a dozen companies. Some are public companies today, others unfortunately failed, while still others were acquired.” The journey, he explains, is always interesting, even when a promising idea or company doesn’t pan out in the end. “We focus on the companies, to reach breakthrough rather than finances. It’s about recruiting the right people as well as raising money and building the infrastructure of the company. We not only invest money, we invest a lot of our time and our soul into the companies we work with.” Like an ambitious child, these companies often yearn to spread their wings far from home. For many, that means becoming a successful life sciences company in the US. It is the biggest pharmaceutical market in the world, valued at around $446 billion in 2018, and representing over 45 percent of the global pharmaceutical market. Steiner agrees it is important for a Swedish company to have a physical presence in the US. “Once you start large clinical trials it is good to have a location in the US,” he says. 30 NORDIC LIFE SCIENCE