Nordic Life Science 1
the intention Ehnbom has had since she founded th
e Swedish-American Life Science Summit (SALSS) in 2005, an initiative to increase the level of crossborder business between one of the largest markets in the world, the United States, and one of the most important life science industry centers in Europe, Sweden. In April 2019, the invitation-only SALSS conference at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, DC brought together some of the most renowned life science executives, scientists, entrepreneurs and investors in both Sweden and the US. The aim is to build strategic and collaborative relationships between academia, industry and funders to enhance the life science business. SALSS also holds a three-day event in Stockholm annually with the same aim. The event is the brainchild of Ehnbom, a pioneer in the life science industry throughout her career. She was one of the first female executives in several US pharmaceutical companies, a top analyst on Wall Street, followed by many years of investment banking. She has played a particularly strong role in mentoring women in the life sciences industry as well as in business in general. Swedish life science companies in attendance gained valuable insight into how they could gain entry into the important US pharmaceutical market, the largest in the world, during one of the panel discussions during the two-day event. “In terms of engaging with future partners, and with eventual entrepreneurs and pharma, you must have innovative science. Big pharma depends on the innovation that occurs in small companies,” said Dr. Anna Maroney, Vice President of Alliance Management, AbbVie, a US-based biopharmaceutical company. “Our pipeline is over 50 percent partnered in our firm. It is very important when entering into a discussion to have a clear idea of where your innovation rests and to be able to communicate that innovation in a way that is very compelling and concise and will engage us in further discussions.” Venture capital shouldn’t be the only source of funding that Swedish life science companies consider, according to Peter Kash, an entrepreneur and investor in the biotechnology sector, and Partner at the Kash Family Office. With over 25 years in the pharma industry, he has co-founded more than a dozen companies and co-raised over $800 million in private and financings. “Companies seeking money shouldn’t just go over to venture capital but also try family foundation offices. If you want to nail a disease, no one is more passionate than someone who has a personal stake in it. Most family offices diversify, no one needs to make more than eight percent on investments and in nine years you can double your capital. The most important thing is the management. There are great drugs but only a handful of these companies have good management.” Eugen Steiner, partner at HealthCap, a family of life science venture funds in Sweden, added that his firm actively tries to get American investors to invest in their portfolio companies and that co-investment is often a successful route for entry into the US market. “Otherwise you are competing with a lot of interesting investments in the life science and tech clusters around Boston and parts of California.” Maroney said that in the end, the ability to attract an investor “comes down to the science and the innovation, not necessarily the location.” From that perspective, a Swedish life science company with a truly novel idea has the same chance in the US market as any other start-up. “The Swedish brand is one of the finest brands in life science you can find today,” said Steven Eror, Strategic Investor with the Hill Top Group. “There are weaknesses in some of the companies that come over but these are the same weaknesses of any company today. I think there is a preference for giving a chance to a company from Sweden.” Dr. Alexander Nuyken, Partner & Head of Life Sciences, Transaction Advisory, EMEIA at EY, spoke about the growing trend of financing life science start-ups through crossborder mergers & acquisitions (M&A). “Approvals from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) are increasingly coming from smaller companies which creates opportunities for big pharma to source innovation externally, which is driving M&A and licensing deals.” Big pharma, he noted, is accessing innovation via dealmaking with an increase in early-stage deals and overall deal volume. “You have to be fast, place more bets and take more risks,” he said. Among the hot areas he noted are novel modalities that “are becoming personalized and curative disease treatments tailored to the individual patient in oncology and rare diseases. Cell therapy is another hot area, as well as gene therapy. I see these as being very hot in terms of investment. This trend is expected to continue, with novel technologies in high demand and attracting large capital.” “The option of cross-border M&As and other alternative means of funding may be better suited for our smaller cap Nordic companies,” noted Ylva Santesson, Senior Director of SALSS. “We must also seek opportunities to have US venture capital adapt to the conditions facing Nordic corporations in a realistic way, which would likely result in better return to venture capital investors and most importantly, stronger international companies and hence increased value for society.” NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG 53