Nordic Life Science 1
68 science consulting group PharmaRelations. “Our
role is to guide and advise on the best way forward to find the solution. Whilst some remain set in their ways, many are realizing the need to be more open to considering new ways of thinking about what essential skills a person needs to perform in the position.” One might assume there is an easy answer – upon closer inspection it seems there are a myriad of solutions. We need to create more relevant programs at our universities says one respondent, companies need to change how they look at their wish list of skills, and we need better migration policies to attract international talents says another. One message remains constant from all stakeholders – we cannot fix the skills shortage in silos, industry, academia, policy makers and healthcare must communicate and collaborate in a better way. If we look at one piece of the puzzle, the education system, with the pace of change in the industry occurring at a staggering rate, one might wonder how realistic it is for academic institutions to update their programs at a pace to match and keep up with the skills required. According to Jenni Nordborg, universities in Sweden are on their toes to meet the need for new skills but it takes a very long time. “Maybe they know what type of knowledge is needed however the question is whether the knowledge is workable for industry – and here there is a need for a joint effort and dialogue between academia, industry, and healthcare.” Magnus Björsne, CEO of AstraZeneca BioVentureHub remarks that there are certainly some hot areas where the universities have not caught up. “If we take the skill data stewardship, today there is one education in the UK, a few in the US and none in the rest of Europe. There is a need to follow everything that accompanies digitalization but also when it comes to all new developments in therapies. Take for example cell and gene therapy, ATMP or the microbiome – these are areas where the education is lagging,” he says and highlights that this is not necessarily unique to the Nordic environment, although some countries seem ‘more alert’ than others. Hanne Mette Dyrlie Kristensen, CEO of the Life Science Cluster in Norway, explains that the skills most highly in demand in Norway are those that are related to digitalization, precision medicine and development and production. Attracting international talent will also be important. “We see a rapid and positive growth in Norwegian life science industries, but this has also led to an increased demand for competence that the educational institutions haven’t been able to meet,” Kristensen says. At the same time, she is of the impression that the academic institutions are, more than ever, aware of their crucial role in meeting the need for competence in the industry. “Academia is willing to address the skills shortage in Norway through improved interaction and communication with the industry to create more industryrelevant courses. As a cluster we can play an important role in bringing together the right players, but we would also like to see the new government give extra incentives for the universities to prepare students better for a transition to industry, similar to what we see in the other Nordic countries,” Kristensen says. Also in Norway, Jørund Sollid, Chief Business Officer at Lytix Biopharma, maintains that, “The change and transformation within pharma and biotechs is accelerating,” meaning that the slow-to-change academic education system is lagging further and further behind. “If one looks at the roles and responsibilities typically found in pharma and biotechs, academia is maybe a good place to educate some of the critical roles needed to efficiently run a pharma or biotech operation, but most functions need to be taught working in the industry itself, or in the various public bodies regulating the industries,” he says. CAREERS