Life science
Sweden’s Skåne region is home to groundbreaking research, a vibrant ecosystem with a vast talent pool, and world class universities and research infrastructure. It is also part of Medicon Valley – the leading life science cluster in the Nordics made up of Eastern Denmark and the southernmost part of Sweden.
Some of Skåne's strongholds in life science
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Medtech
There are over 100 medtech companies in Skåne offering a large pool of medtech products in the pipeline within diagnostics, oncology, cardiovascular, neurology, diabetes, infectious diseases, haemotology and others.
Biotech
There is a large base of biotech candidates available for partnerships in Skåne – 75 biotech projects in pipeline mainly within oncology, inflammation, neuroscience, metabolism, infectious diseases and regenerative medicine.
Pharma
Skåne has a long history within pharma with Lund University and its medical research providing a foundation from which companies have grown, e.g. pharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca. The region is a breeding ground for innovative companies in drug development.
Healthtech
Skåne has a strong tradition in healthtech and offers a fast-growing number of healthtech companies, thanks to a technology industry at the forefront of the mobile revolution.
Why Skåne is ideal for life science
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Strong collaborative ecosystem
Medicon Valley, including Skåne, is a diverse melting pot of highly-skilled talent that thrive on open collaboration and knowledge-sharing between public sector, academia, industry and civil society. Researchers based here have access to a generous life science ecosystem that includes innovative companies, leading universities, hospitals, clinical research institutions, science parks, incubator and accelerators - all with a life science focus.
World-class life science research
Skåne is internationally renowned for its life science research across multiple areas; most notably diabetes, inflammation, neuroscience, oncology and biomarkers/diagnostics. The life science community here also actively collaborates with international partners, facilitating cross-border research projects and access to global expertise. Within Medicon Valley, there are 15,000 life science researchers and 35,000 life science students (2022).
Partnership opportunities
Currently , there are over 100 biotech and medtech projects in Skåne, almost all with opportunities for partnerships, licensing, or both. These ongoing projects focus on areas from cardiovascular medicine, diabetes, haematology, infectious diseases and inflammation to metabolism, neuroscience, oncology, regenerative medicine. There’s also a fast growing number of healthtech firms at the forefront of developing and integrating mobile and digital tech within the sector.
Access to leading research universities & hospitals
The region boasts both leading hospitals and renowned universities that play a vital role in education, research, and healthcare services, and contribute to the region's academic and medical excellence. Lund University, in particular, has a strong international reputation and is consistently ranked among the top 100 universities in the world.
Advanced research facilities
Skåne hosts two of the world's most advanced research infrastructures offering state-of-the-art instruments and imaging techniques for materials and life science. Max IV Laboratory is an X-ray light source that research-intensive companies are already using to improve their R&D outcome (eg. Novo Nordisk, Tetra Pak). European Spallation Source (ESS), a neutron imaging facility, opens in 2026.
Access to unique biobanks in Sweden & Denmark
Medicon Valley researchers have access to regional and national biobanks organised at different levels nationally, regionally, and locally at hospitals, but interconnected through the unique civil registration system in both countries. This allows linking biological samples with the data registries in research projects upon approval by ethical committees. Data registries contain extensive healthcare data and socioeconomic information.
Additional reading
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Investment Promotion | Management
Micael Györei
Investment Promotion
