Ny rapport: Life science-branchen i Medicon Valley går fremad trods turbulens i omverdenen – mere end 200 corona-relaterede forskningsprojekter er startet op
Mens life science-klyngen er en stabiliserende faktor for økonomien ramt hårdt af covid-19, er sektoren ikke upåvirket af pandemien.
I Medicon Valley er antallet af internationale studerende, der kommer til universiteter, faldet, og betingelserne for markedsføring af regionen internationalt er ændrede.En anden konsekvens af pandemien er, at mønsteret for, hvordan forskere vælger at samarbejde, ser ud til at ændre sig, da barren er blevet sænket for digitale møder, samtidig med at unødvendige rejser frarådes. Det mener Olli Kallioniemi, direktør for svenske SciLifeLab. Universiteter, forskningsinstitutter, hospitaler og virksomheder har også hurtigt skiftet til forskning relateret til covid-19. En samling af data fra universiteter, forskningsinstitutter, regioner og lister over forskningsprojekter, der er bevilget støtte fra fonde, og den danske stat viser, at mindst 200 coronarelaterede forskningsprojekter er startet i Medicon Valley.
Samtidig viser de seneste år en positiv tendens inden for life science i Medicon Valley samt i Danmark og Sverige generelt. Ifølge professor Torben M. Andersen ved Aarhus Universitet, der er interviewet i rapporten, håndterer Danmark kriser som coronapandemien bedre takket være det faktum, at life science-industrien udgør en så stor del af eksporten og ikke er så følsom over for konjunkturudsving.
Sidste år steg life science-eksporten i begge lande til 133 milliarder kroner i Danmark og 112 milliarder kroner (ca. 79 milliarder DKK) I Sverige. Antallet af medarbejdere i branchen steg også i begge lande. I 2018 – det seneste år med tilgængelig statistik – arbejdede 45.200 mennesker med biovidenskab specifikt i Medicon Valley.
Novo Nordisk og flere andre fyrtårne i regionen fortsætter med at udvide. Derudover har Medicon Valleys tre life science-orienterede forskningsparker udvidet deres lokaler i løbet af de sidste to år. Disse er Cobis i København, Medeon i Malmø og Medicon Village i Lund. Ifølge investorerne Novo Seeds og Sunstone Life Science Venture er den internationale interesse for nystartede virksomheder i regionen også steget i løbet af det sidste årti.
• 2018 was a record year for Danish life science exports, and the upswing continued in 2019 and reached 133 billion DKK, which was a 25% increase from the previous year. Swedish exports also increased dramatically – 26% – reaching 112 billion SEK (ca 79 billion DKK).• The Swedish life science sector set a new record for corporation tax contributions. Tax revenue from life science companies in Sweden rose 34% between 2017 and 2018, and corporation tax from Danish life science companies dropped 9% in 2018 compared to the record year 2017.
• The number of people employed in Medicon Valley was 45 200 in 2018, which is the most recent year for which statistics are available from Statistics Sweden and Statistics Denmark. That is a 2.9% increase from the previous year. The greatest increase was in Skåne, at 4.7%, and following Skåne was the Capital Region of Denmark with a 3.5% increase. Employment increased overall in Sweden and Denmark.
• Renewal, success, challenges: these three factors continue to mark the beacon companies of Medicon Valley. This year, Novo Nordisk decided to expand its facility in Kalundborg for two billion DKK. Between 2000 and 2019, 16 billion DKK were invested in the facility. LEO Pharma’s owner, LEO Foundation, has opened up for the possibility of allowing shareholders to create financial volume that will allow the high pace of restructuring and development to continue.
• The region’s three science parks with a life science focus – COBIS, Medeon, and Medicon Village – are growing. At the same time, the Copenhagen-based cluster of three globally-leading hearing aid manufacturers will face competition from Apple that could lead to disruptive changes in the sector.
• Since this spring, over 200 research projects about the novel coronavirus that causes covid-19 have been started at universities, hospitals and research centers in Medicon Valley. They comprise everything from developing vaccines, tests and various drugs or treatments for covid-19 to basic research on how the virus works, as information compiled from universities and research grants reveals.
• The coronavirus pandemic might be changing the way researchers work together, as many have realized just how easy meeting digitally can be. Other important factors for national and international collaborations are funding opportunities, national regulations, geography, traditions – and interpersonal chemistry. That’s what a number of actors from the region and around Europe believe.
• The corona crisis has meant fewer international life science students at Medicon Valley’s universities. The decrease is primarily seen in exchange students; students who have been admitted to longer programmes have chosen to a greater extent to come nonetheless.
• Life science is on the national agenda in both countries. Sweden adopted a new strategy in the area last December, and Denmark is due to present its new national strategy before the year is up.
Life science-sektoren fortsætter med at vokse og bidrage til samfundet ved at ansætte flere og flere mennesker og tegner sig også for henholdsvis 2,2 og 3,3 procent af skatteindtægterne i Danmark og Sverige. Industrien har vist, at den er stabil i den nedgang i konjunkturen, vi er i, og samtidig bidrager med forskning, der forhåbentlig kan hjælpe med at løse krisen, siger Petter Hartman, administrerende direktør for Medicon Valley Alliance.
– Universiteter, hospitaler og virksomheder i Medicon Valley har vist, at de har været i stand til hurtigt at omstrukturere og starte et stort antal forskningsprojekter omkring covid-19, hvilket er en nødvendighed i den nye virkelighed, vi står over for i år, siger Johan Wessman, administrerende direktør for Øresundsinstituttet.
vd Øresundsinstituttet
+46 (0) 702 52 32 41
johan.wessman@
oresundsinstituttet.org