Nordic Life Science 1
COLUMN // SWEDENBIO Dr Karin Meyer is the CEO of
CTR – Centre for Translational Research, the holding company for a growing group Swedish CROs currently consisting of seven companies. “We currently feel that the financial climate is sluggish, but a lot has happened in this regard if we look at it from a tenyear perspective. The fundraising opportunities have really increased over the last decade,” she says. Dr Meyer attributes the success of domestic companies in part to their ability to use available funding in a smart way: “In Sweden, companies really put in great efforts to focus on the right things, since we generally raise less funds in the Nordics compared to some other countries. We tend to roll up our sleeves, accept that the conditions are what they are, and really make the most out of what we have.” A change that Dr Meyer has seen in the past decade is that actors across the entire life science value chain have matured and found their respective niches, and have also become much more collaborative. “There are fewer silos today compared to 10 years ago. We also have many platforms for collaboration, some of which are government run, which helps to push the industry forward,” she says. “The ecosystem has matured and in the process we’ve torn down a lot of barriers that used to be in the way of collaboration.” “Those of us who are service providers can see a huge difference in how we work with our customers. Only 10-15 years ago, it was a stricter relationship where the customer placed an order, we did it, and they paid for it.” “Today, we’re invited to collaborate with our customers and get a closer look at their projects, which benefits everyone involved. We see greater results when we can collaborate through successes and setbacks,” she says. D r Jeanet Løgsted is the CEO of Denmarkbased Scantox Group – a company with a strong presence in Sweden after the acquisition of three Swedish CROs in the past couple of years. She notices a positive trend also in terms of how business-ready Nordic life science companies are today. “Biotech companies have become more focused on their development efforts. Previously it was more a case of that they raised a lot of money but they didn’t actually upfront have a plan for how get to first-in-human. Now you can see that they really do have a plan, already when they raise money, for how to get to firstin-human,” she says. “The companies have become much more business oriented – of course the science is driving everything, but they have a plan. So they’ve become much more structured, and thereby more successful,” Dr Løgsted says. “Now we see more that they approach us and say what their end goal is, and ask how they can get there with the best scientific quality and best spent time and money?” For more insights into the past decade of Nordic life science and a discussion on what’s next for the industry, join the Opening Session at NLSDays on November 29 (nlsdays.com). NLS ALEXANDRA HOEGBERG, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETING, SWEDENBIO NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 29 ILLUSTRATION SWEDENBIO PHOTO EVA GARMENDIA