Nordic Life Science 1
EUROPE // GLOBAL REPORT Alexandra Peth, Managing
Director, Finnish Bioindustries Marjo Puumalainen, International Director, SwedenBIO also suffer from heavy and sometimes even overlapping regulation,” agrees Peth. “As Europe lacks a common reimbursement system for pharmaceuticals and medtech devices, the European life science market appears scattered and difficult to navigate,” adds Puumalainen. Innovation: Capital and Talent When it comes to scientific progress and conditions for conducting excellent science, Europe performs very well, everyone we interview agree, but the problem is when science needs to become innovation and be scaled. Just three decades ago half of all new treatments originated in Europe. Now it is just one in five, according to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). It matters where innovation happens, EFPIA states. “This has partly to do with access to capital, where the US is often the preferred place to list your company once you have reached a certain level of maturity,” says Bonde. “Attracting talent is also a challenge, I believe. Traditionally, Europe has been more reluctant and less open and attractive to global talent, for a variety of reasons. I do, however, sense a change in perception, at least in Denmark and Sweden, where attracting talent is crucial if the industry is to continue to grow and prosper,” he says. “We need to make Europe even more enticing so that people choose to come and live and work here. We also need to create international centers of excellence combining worldclass academia with an inspiring start-up community, entrepreneurial spirit, and access to lab facilities and top-notch hospitals. In the Medicon Valley region we are currently building “Innovations district Copenhagen” which has been inspired by Kendall Square in Boston and has international ambitions. Innovation is key to future prosperity and this is where Europe is losing pace. The cluster and targeted investment in existing clusters of excellence is surely part of the solution,” says Bonde. Near-shoring or move to the US When the world feels less secure and harder to predict, industries look closer to home for collaborators and business deals. Indeed, strategic near-shoring between Medicon Valley’s members has already started, according to Bonde. “For geopolitical reasons and due to the risk of sanctions and/or tariffs, companies with a global reach have been diversifying production for several years to prepare for a potential crisis, which most people of course hope to avoid. But as they say, “hope is not a strategy” and the global economy is generally weaker, and less innovation and wealth are being generated,” he says. SwedenBIO also hears from stakeholders in the industry that manufacturing companies are assessing whether they need to move their manufacturing to the US due to the tariffs, notes Puumalainen. NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 35 PHOTO SINI PENNANEN PHOTO EVA GARMENDIA