Boston’s Kendall Square, close to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is known as “The most innovative square mile on the planet” and, apart from our preference for the metric system, there just might be something we could learn from the Americans.
One of the recommendations is that public and private stakeholders, inspired by the success of Kendall Square developed over the last 30 years, should invest heavily in the Copenhagen Science City area.”
This is the reason why Novo Nordisk Foundation’s CEO Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen in a recent interview in Danish Medwatch explicitly mentioned this specific square as the source of inspiration when the Danish Life Science Council presented their recommendations for a new national Danish life science strategy. One of the recommendations is that public and private stakeholders, inspired by the success of Kendall Square developed over the last 30 years, should invest heavily in the Copenhagen Science City area, which includes among others Rigshospitalet, The Panum Building and BioInnovation Institute (BII).
Although Copenhagen is not Boston, and Denmark is not the USA, Copenhagen is part of the greater Medicon Valley cluster that together in many ways is already the leading life science cluster in the EU. Consequently, we do have an excellent point of departure for such global ambitions despite our limited volume. What we lack in numbers, we will make up for in quality. Besides that, a Danish Kendall square would interact perfectly with existing Skåne-based innovation hubs such as Medicon Village and IDEON in Lund, the Medeon Science Park & Incubator in Malmö and the cutting-edge research facilities MAX IV Laboratory and European Spallation Source ERIC, also located in Lund.
At MVA we hope this joint Nordic vision will inspire both Danish and Swedish national decision-makers drafting and implementing national life science strategies.”
Not only can we build a Nordic version of Kendall Square in Copenhagen, but we can also bridge it to create a unique and booming life science ecosystem in Southern Sweden, catapulting the Medicon Valley cluster, Denmark, Sweden and Nordic Life Science as such into the Champions League of global life science innovation.
At MVA we hope this joint Nordic vision will inspire both Danish and Swedish national decision-makers drafting and implementing national life science strategies. Together we can build something truly excellent that is greater than the sum of its parts!
In the final days of 2023, Swedish Minister for Education, Mats Persson, Swedish Minister for Energy, Business and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister, Ebba Busch, and Swedish Minister for Health and Social Affairs, Jakob Forssmed, invited key Swedish life science stakeholders for an initial hearing and discussion about the most important elements of the planned update of the existing national Swedish life science strategy from 2019.
Hopefully, the idea of bridging Swedish and Danish life science, harvesting the Nordic synergies and jointly promoting the uniqueness of the largest life science cluster in the EU will also inspire the new planned Swedish advisory group when preparing the new strategy update.”
Hopefully, the idea of bridging Swedish and Danish life science, harvesting the Nordic synergies and jointly promoting the uniqueness of the largest life science cluster in the EU will also inspire the new planned Swedish advisory group when preparing the new strategy update.
As research infrastructure was among the specific topics discussed, according to the recently published article from the Swedish Government, and since we are already pioneering joint research infrastructure projects such as the HALRIC-project, as described in my last column, “Nordic Research Infrastructures is key to our innovation performance”, I believe there is reason for considerable optimism. I would also strongly recommend both countries to investigate the potential DA-SE synergies within cell and gene therapy (ATMP), which I expect to be crucial elements in both national strategy updates.
I would also strongly recommend both countries to investigate the potential DA-SE synergies within cell and gene therapy (ATMP), which I expect to be crucial elements in both national strategy updates.”
In sum, I look forward to reading both the updated Danish and Swedish national life science strategies, which will hopefully be slightly more aligned than the previous versions.
This column was originally written by Niels Abel Bonde, Chairman, Medicon Valley Alliance, for NLS magazine No 01 2024, out February 2024
Featured photo of Niels Abel Bonde: Ida Wang
