Nordic Life Science 1
EUROPE // GLOBAL REPORT “It is worth noting that
there is very broad support in the US for making medicines more affordable, and we have good reason to hope that policymakers there and elsewhere will keep that top-of-mind as the trading environment develops.” RÓBERT WESSMAN Róbert Wessman, founder, Chairman and CEO, Alvotech be addressed by Sweden and the EU collectively. In the long run, the EU’s life science industry will probably need to reduce its dependence on the US to mitigate the impact of extraordinary events like these. N LS asked Róbert Wessman, CEO of Icelandic Alvotech, who recently announced their acquisition of one of Swedish Xbrane’s biosimilars candidates and parts of its organization, if he envisions an even stronger European presence for his company given the current global life science landscape. “Iceland may not have been the most obvious place to build up a global biosimilars enterprise, but in a commercial sense it is proving to be a very good base in these changing times. Coming from a Nordic country, within the EEA and with strong trade links to both Europe and the US, we believe we are well positioned to serve all of these markets,” he says. “The evolving tariff environment presents both risks and opportunities for us. It is worth noting that there is very broad support in the US for making medicines more affordable, and we have good reason to hope that policymakers there and elsewhere will keep that top-of-mind as the trading environment develops.” The Nordics leading the way The Nordics are strong in innovation and collaboration, so we need to dare to lead the way in showing how to build and grow life science companies by putting the right people together to solve global health problems, emphasizes Marjo Puumalainen. “By creating a common reimbursement system across Nordic countries, the Nordic market would be more attractive for both Nordic companies and global companies. Most importantly, Nordic patients would benefit from the latest healthcare,” she says. “I believe that the Nordic countries, spearheaded by Denmark and Sweden, could start by strengthening the current life science collaboration between the two countries to stimulate innovation and create more critical mass and points of contact. The newly updated national Danish and national Swedish life science strategies have been developed in parallel but, apparently, they are not coordinated. There is still room for improvement,” adds Niels Abel Bonde. NLS NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 37