Advertisement
Highlights from NLSDays 2024
The 11th edition of NLSDays was held at Malmömässan in Malmö on September 18-19. Nordic Life Science was there to cover, report and give you some of the highlights.
September 25, 2024
Nordic Life Science Days (NLSDays) is the largest life science partnering event in the Nordics, and every year since 2013 it has gathered Nordic and international life science experts under one roof to provide business opportunities and learn about some of the latest trends in the industry.
Are you ready for Nordic Life Science Days 2024?
The 11th edition of NLSDays is being held in Malmö on September 18-19. Program Director, Marjo Puumalainen, gives us an inside look into the upcoming conference.
“This years NLSDays has been a manifestation of the power of innovation, partnership and collaboration that makes the Nordic life science wonder a global success story,” stated Jessica Martinsson, the CEO of SwedenBIO, the industry association which owns and organizes NLSDays, after the event.
Vibrant exhibition area
NLSDays 2024 had over 1,400 delegate registrations, more than 130 exhibitors, more than 80 sponsors, and more than 120 presenters and speakers from more than 30 different countries. The vibrant exhibition area included for example Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States.
The exhibition area was, according to us, also better organized this year, with smaller clusters of booths providing a more accessible and airier environment/space. It was easier to access and explore the different exhibitors.
Voices on NLSDays
We also asked a few of the attendees about their impressions and reasons for attending. It was the CEO of the Finnish Drug Discovery Center, Maarit Merla‘s first time at NLSDays and she said it was a nice size event and a nice combination between the partnering and the program. “Which is something that I always look for – not only the partnering but I also look at the most interesting presentations as well,” she said.
I like that fact, that this is a get-together of the Nordics. Because we have lots of similarities between our countries and in the structures that we have, so that’s also one of the main reasons to be here.
“I think this is a place where the Nordic players in the industry are meeting, more so than in other events. I like that fact, that this is a get-together of the Nordics. Because we have lots of similarities between our countries and in the structures that we have, so that’s also one of the main reasons to be here,” she said.
Merla was also there to make connections. “The Finnish Drug Discovery Center is only investing in Finnish innovation, so that’s not what I’m looking for here. I’m looking for the VC connections, the pharma connections, and also similar drug discovery center structures that I know exist in many different countries. What do they see as opportunities and challenges, and how can I benchmark against them? I’m also looking for a select number of CROs, for example, that might be super useful for us going forward, when we work with our companies.”
So I think this is an easy-access way to connect to people in the industry.
She added that the proximity of NLSDays is good. “It’s easier to get here than to JP Morgan for example, which is a little bit more for the later-stage companies anyways. So I think this is an easy-access way to connect to people in the industry. It’s super valuable to have those connections, even if you don’t need them right now, you might need them down the line.”
We also spoke to Erik Haeffler, CEO of Apotek Produktion & Laboratorier (APL). APL had a booth at the event and it was also an important opportunity to network and interact with other companies in the industry, he said. “And of course we’re mainly here to make new contacts, find new customers, and discuss new opportunities,” he said.
These spontaneous contacts and discussions that you didn’t plan to have, but which still lead to: “well, we’ll follow up on this, and I’ll make sure to contact this person” – those kinds of interactions happen quite a lot during these days, which I think is very valuable.
There is a great value to NLSDays, he added. “Every year, there are more and more people you know. These spontaneous contacts and discussions that you didn’t plan to have, but which still lead to: “well, we’ll follow up on this, and I’ll make sure to contact this person” – those kinds of interactions happen quite a lot during these days, which I think is very valuable.”
Haeffler is also very happy with the outcome of the event. “We’ve had more traffic in APL’s booth, we’ve had more meetings than we had last year, and I also think we’ve had better quality meetings. It is also a result of your own preparations of course, so that you know why you are here and who you are going to meet,” he concluded.
Two winners announced
Two awards in two different competitions were also handed out during the last day of the event, the Nordic Star Pitch Award and the Innovation Poster Award.
The pitch competition welcomed 20 SMEs from across the Nordics, which each gave a four-minute pitch on-stage to the jury and an audience of investors. Swedish MyCural Therapeutics took home the award, consisting of a EUR 10,000 cash prize and two tickets to next year’s event. MyCural Therapeutics is a company founded by cancer researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Linköping University and Uppsala University.
In addition to the pitch competition, 22 academic researchers and SMEs from Nordic academia and industry were also selected to present posters outlining a project with commercial potential. Giacomo Roman from Oslo University Hospital, Norway, won the innovation poster competition with his poster “Autologous cell-based therapy for coagulation factor deficiency”.
Two winners were announced during NLSDays
This year in Malmö two awards in two different competitions were handed out, the Nordic Star pitch competition and the Innovation Poster exhibition.
Attracting and retaining talent
As always, the event included several super sessions and workshops, covering hot topics in the industry and providing sometimes interesting discussions and reflections from industry leaders and experts. We went to most of them and one of the highlights were the cell and gene therapy manufacturing workshop, organized by Anocca. Elsa Abranches, Senior Director, Head of Cell Therapy Bioprocess, AstraZeneca, Janet Hoogstraate, CEO, NorthX Biologics, Fredrik Wessberg, CEO, CCRM Nordic, and Mark Farmery, CDO, Anocca, discussed different challenges within the field and how these can be addressed. For example there were discussions on how the sector can attract and retain talent with the right sets of skills (as Janet Hoogstraate put it: skills in both hands and brain).
We also believe that this is a hot topic and in our latest issue of the magazine (out now) we take a closer look at the situation in Sweden when it comes to attracting and retaining talent from abroad, and explores challenges and solutions. We have also written about the workforce challenges within this particular field, cell and gene therapy manufacturing, and compared the Nordics to Seattle.
In our latest issue, our columnist Niels Abel Bonde, Chairman, Medicon Valley Alliance, also emphasizes the importance of global talent and how we can boost our cultural attractiveness.
Can we boost our cultural attractiveness?
Both Danes and Swedes like to emphasize, and often make fun of, the more or less significant differences between our cultures.
Hot topics
The very hot topic of artificial intelligence within life sciences was also highlighted, both in a super session, Unveiling the Future: Life Science Industry and Healthcare in the Age of AI, providing the audience with a better sense of what great things AI actually can do within life sciences, and what opportunities there are in the Nordics, and in a workshop organized by Cognizant, Generative AI in Life Science Industry. In this workshop the experts explored how AI can streamline anything from workflows to expedited drug discovery, and propel the industry towards a future of unprecedented efficiency.
Other topics highlighted during the 2-day conference were the next big thing within big pharma, reaching patients with your products, preparing a clinical trial, and not least, the challenge of getting financing and how to attract more international investors to the Nordics.
Exhibition arena
The event also included several sessions taking place in the exhibition arena. For example highlighting the life science sectors in the Netherlands, France, Gothenburg and Medicon Valley. These were nicely planned and easy to access and listen to.
Face-to-face conversations
A final take-home message from NLSDays 2024 is the importance of meeting each other in person, to talk, laugh, discuss, learn, and ask each other questions. The life science industry is large, multifaceted and fast growing, and NLSDays is a great place for everybody to get an overview of what’s going on in the Nordics and meet each other face-to-face.
Updated: October 3, 2024, 07:02 am
Published: September 25, 2024
Advertisement
