Nordic Life Science 1
Life Science Summit (SALSS), held annually since
2005, was back in Stockholm in 2021 after a two-year break due to the pandemic and a visit to Washington D.C. in 2019. The conference took place in an autumnal Stockholm on October 20-22. As always, the conference included several prominent experts and guests, from both Sweden and abroad. The initial goal of SALSS was to increase the level of cross-border business between the U.S. and Sweden, but over the years it has become increasingly global in nature. Each year the summit aims to highlight important progress and challenges within the life science industry. “The last 20 years have changed my experience of the industry. Not only have I had the fortune to meet so many brilliant and goodhearted people who truly want to improve people’s lives. With the expansion of life science into a worldwide segmented industry, and particularly following the financial crisis 2008, our own summit became more international, with attendees from India, China, Singapore, Brazil etc, while all-along retaining a close-knit spirit based on knowledge and respect. The concept ‘SALSS Family’ has been born out of this feeling and makes me happy and proud!” states Barbro Ehnbom, founder of SALSS. Due to the ongoing pandemic there were less international attendees than usual this year, but some attended digitally, exemplifying the digital adjustment the world has had to make over the past 1.5 years. “The onslaught of the pandemic over the last one and a half years has certainly humbled and scared us all, but also unified us and strengthened our belief in science. I am so thankful that we actually could have this summit and thank you all for helping making it happen!,” says Barbro Ehnbom. In order to build collaborative relationships between academia, industry and investors at SALSS, exciting people and interesting topics are mixed with relaxing settings where conversations can grow and new contacts can be made. The first evening of the event took place in the Prince’s Gallery, at the beautiful Stockholm City Hall. “It was great to be able to meet so many of the top thinkers and practitioners of Swedish life science in one place. A wonderful forum in such a convivial environment where dissemination, discussion, and debate, in a similar way to a microbiologist’s agar plate, could not only co-exist but flourish. We thoroughly enjoyed the format and content and of course the wonderful Swedish hospitality,” wrote Mark Goldstone, Eckuity, after the event. Opening remarks were made by Anna König Jerlmyr, Mayor, Stockholm City Council, Staffan Ingvarsson, CEO, Stockholm Business Region and Barbro Ehnbom, Founder and Chairman of SALSS. The two-day conference, arranged at Mannheimer Swartling’s headquarter and EY’s old headquarters, included welcoming remarks by Jenni Nordborg, Life Science Coordinator, Government Offices of Sweden, and Peter Dahlen, Managing Director, AmCham Sweden. The symposium and discussions about COVID-19 involved several renowned international experts, including William A. Haseltine, President, Access International (via video), who spoke about the face of COVID-19 in the USA. Mathias Uhlén, Professor, Human Microbiology, KTH and multiple biotech entrepreneur, Anders Tegnell, State Epidemiologist of Sweden, Yuval Binur, Managing Partner, Arsuf Global Partners, and Florence Haseltine, Professor, Texas University, also discussed what has been learned about COVID-19 to date. One of the take-home messages from the COVID-19 panel was, “It is by no means over! Something we now a few weeks later are very aware of!” Robert Langer, David H. Koch Institute Professor, MIT, and co-founder Moderna, spoke about the 10 months race for a vaccine and the importance of collaboration to succeed. In addition, Daniel Kraft, Chair, Singularity University, spoke about how COVID-19 transformed the future of medicine. “This year, perhaps more than ever, the ongoing pandemic and its current and coming imprints on the industry and human lives will be explored. There is an incredible amount of scientific research going into new diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines and medical devices that have been crucial to combating this pandemic. This, placed in the frame of the essence of SALSS – enhancing networking and bridging Swedish-U.S. exchanges in terms of interaction between academia, industry, politics and financing – will hopefully lead to new ideas, collaborations and acquaintances as it has many times in the past,” wrote Robert Langer after the conference. SALSS 2021 also included inspiring speeches and discussions about what it takes for success in the life science industry, providing both a global and a Nordic/Swedish perspective. Speakers included Sana Alajmovic, CEO, Sigrid Therapeutics, Evelina Vågesjö, CEO, Ilya Pharma, Sara Mangsbo, co-founder, Immuneed and Strike Pharma, and Lao Saal, founder and COO, SAGA Diagnostics. Lars Ekman, Executive Partner,