Highlights from NLSDays 2025
NLSDays 2025 was arranged at Svenska mässan in Gothenburg on October 13-14 and Nordic Life Science was there to cover, report and give you some of the highlights.
October 15, 2025
As the largest life science partnering conference in the Nordics, NLSDays brings together Nordic and international experts to explore the latest industry trends and create new business opportunities.
First time in Gothenburg
At the first day of the event, at a press briefing, representatives from Gothenburg’s life science industry gave a quick introduction to some of the figures and unique features of the city’s life science industry. NLS also had a quick chat with Iris Öhrn, Investment Advisor, Business Region Göteborg, about what she is most excited about when it comes to Gothenburg’s life science industry.
“Gothenburg has realized that life sciences cannot work in silos and also, that we need to focus on tech. And right now we are seeing companies from many different sectors,” she says. “A new kind of life science sector is being built and it’s going fast. But I think it’s an opportunity for Sweden, and also for Gothenburg, to build upon what we already have, and that’s what we are trying to do.”
Western Sweden’s tight-knit life science cluster
Gothenburg, the beating heart of Sweden’s western life science cluster, is home to some 600 life science companies and 10,000 employees in the industry. The cluster prides itself on strong ties between academia, industry, and healthcare.
It’s not easy though, Öhrn adds. “The competition with Asia and the US is tough, but I think we just need to have the mindset that we can do it together and we can do it differently. That’s what we want to do here in Gothenburg.”
If you are interested to learn more about Gothenburg’s life science industry we have just published an in-depth article about the city.
The Swedish pharmaceutical pipeline
During the first day of the event, SwedenBIO also presented its Drug Discovery and Development Pipeline 2026. The fourteenth edition of SwedenBIO’s overview of the Swedish pharmaceutical pipeline and the companies driving was officially released, detailing 152 firms engaged in 518 drug discovery and development projects.
The Swedish Drug Discovery and Development Pipeline 2026
The fourteenth edition of SwedenBIO’s overview of the Swedish pharmaceutical pipeline and the companies driving it has been released, detailing 152 firms engaged in 518 drug discovery and development projects.
First day: CVRM health, Women’s health, and new modalities
NLS also got the opportunity to visit some of the super sessions and workshops organized during the first day of the event. First out was a session on “transforming CVRM (Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolic) health: the future of metabolic medicine”, lead by Peter Bak, Partner and Managing Director at Back Bay Life Science Advisors. The panelists, Lotte Bjerre Knudsen, CSO and Head of IDEA at Novo Nordisk, Regina Fritsche Danielson, Senior VP and Global Head of R&D CVRM diseases at AstraZeneca, and Hai Zhang, Senior Director Business Development at Roche, discussed the latest breakthroughs, new treatments and emerging technologies shaping the future of CVRM and metabolic health. The topic is hot and it was very interesting to learn more about what lies ahead and what the hurdles in this field are.
Business Iceland also hosted a 20 minute insight session about innovation in Iceland, moderated by Sandra Mjöll Jónsdóttir-Buch, Executive coach and Innovation consultant at FÖNN Consulting. She spoke to two representatives from the Icelandic innovation ecosystem and gave the audience a quick overview of what a small country like Iceland is doing to reach out and how they are successfully mentoring startups (KLAK).
The afternoon continued with among other things, a supersession on “Beyond the gap: advancing women’s health”, moderated by Pekka Simula, Partner, Innovestor Life Science. Sanna Brun Jensen, Senior Associate at BioInnovation Institute (BII) and Eva Johnsson, CMO and VP Clinical Development at Gesynta Pharma shared their efforts in growing and developing startups focusing on women’s health (BII) and developing new therapies for endometriosis (Gesynta).
Second day: Neuroscience, Culture, and Awards
The second day of the event also included several interesting supersession, workshops and company presentations. NLS got the chance to for example listen to the supersession “New frontiers in neuroscience”, moderated by Daniel Chancellor, VP Thought Leadership, Norstella. At the session, Martin Jönsson, CEO, AlzeCure Pharma, Niels Plath, CSO, Muna Therapeutics, Hugh Nuthall, EV Search and Evaluation, Eli Lilly and Company, and Lennart Spindler, Senior Analyst, SV Health Managers LLP, discussed how the CNS field is evolving in the Nordic region and what the field’s challenges and opportunities are. Spindler, commenting on the Nordic CNS efforts, stated that “the Nordics has kept the CNS flame lit”, emphasizing the importance of Nordic scientists, dedication and our ecosystems in order to succeed. The panelists also emphasized that we need more Nordic funding in this field.
One of the most interesting supersession at the event was the one titled “Culture as a competitive advantage – A Nordic perspective”, moderated by Magnus Björsne, CEO, AZ BioVentureHub. Leon Wyszkowski, President, Analytical Services Division, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Leif Johansson, former Chairman of AstraZeneca, Johan Christenson, Senior Partner, HealthCap, and Maria Elmquist, Professor, Chalmers University of Technology, discussed the Nordic working culture and how cultural strengths can translate into global business success.
The winner of the Nordic Star Pitch Competition
During the second day of the event, two awards were also announced. The Danish life science company Vesper Bio took home the NLSDays Nordic Star 2025 Award, consisting of a EUR 10,000 cash prize and two tickets to next year’s event. 14 pre-selected startups competing in the Nordic Star Pitch competition
Vesper Bio is a clinical stage biotech developing an oral therapy for frontotemporal dementia. Lovisa Sunesson, Director of Business Development at Vesper Bio accepted the prize onstage.
“I’m super happy, I didn’t expect to win! Every opportunity to get awareness and to spread the word about what we are doing at Vesper is needed to highlight the importance of our work,” she said about the win.
The jury’s motivation for the winning company reads: “A clear presentation with an understanding of the patient population and a patient centric approach, the winning company addresses an unmet need for a severe disease with a desease modifying mechanism of action. The Nordic Star pitch competition was sponsored by HSBC Innovation Banking.”
The pitch competition jury consisted of Yun Yang, Investment Associate, Hadean Ventures, Carl Kilander, Partner, HealthCap, Emilia Carlqvist, Analyst, Innovestor Life Science, Jón Bergsteinsson, Founder and MP, LIFA.VC, Chloé Leprêtre, Head of Global R&D Search and Evaluation, Servier and Marjo Puumalainen, International Director at SwedenBIO and Program Director NLSDays.
The winner of the Innovation Poster Exhibition
To celebrate and offer visibility to early innovators from the Nordics, NLSDays welcomed academic researchers and SME:s to showcase their ideas with commercial potential in the form of posters. 19 innovators were selected to showcase in this year’s Innovation Poster Exhibition.
The winning exhibitor, Veltio Pharma, specializes in enhancing pharmaceutical formulations with a strong focus on sustainability, presenting with a poster titled: “De-Risking Product Development and Shortening Time to Market” The company aims to improve patients’ lives while minimizing environmental impact by transforming poorly soluble drugs into highly effective solid oral dosage forms with enhanced bioavailability through its proprietary nanotechnology platform.
Stina Lundgren from Veltio Pharma accepted the prize on stage: “We worked hard on delivering what we promise in our poster, to be simple yet brilliant. Many delegates also commended us for having a visually appealing poster that is easy to comprehend,” she said.
12 international delegations
This year marks a record number of 12 international delegations, including first-time participants from Korea, Switzerland, Lithuania, and Poland. NLS spoke to some of the international delegations, and at the Swiss booth for example, they highlighted the importance of collaborating across Europe and strengthening the European life science industry.
Voices from NLSDays 2025
NLS also got the chance to speak to some of the many exhibitors and visitors at NLSDays 2025. The general perception was that the strength of this event is the opportunity for the industry to meet each other, and network, and also to gain visibility.
Another shared opinion by many was that there are a lot of opportunities for investors but perhaps not as many opportunities for other kinds of business collaborations and not that many big pharmaceutical companies present.
A final take-home message is that the life science industry is large, multifaceted and very fast growing, and NLSDays is a great place to get an overview of what’s going on in the Nordics.
Next year in Stockholm
Next year’s NLSDays will be arranged in Stockholm in the beginning of September.
Updated: October 17, 2025, 07:28 am
Published: October 15, 2025
