Clustering involves key regions and disciplines, with the intention of strengthening certain geographical areas within certain business areas and industries. Medicon Valley is a region that includes southern Sweden (the Skåne region) and the Copenhagen region on the Danish side. Together, the two regions form a strong and cohesive whole with a focus on Life Science.
Advantages to working together
In Medicon Valley, approximately 75,000 people are employed within the broad Life Science industry, both within large well-known companies in for example pharmaceutical development, but also within smaller companies operating in various business and/or research areas, such as precision medicine and cell therapies. This is just one of many areas in which the Medicon Valley Alliance’s 350 member companies operate.
Regardless of the field of activity, there are many advantages to working together. In the past, developers in Life Science often sat in their own chambers and thought out new smart solutions, without sharing their progress publicly. This secrecy is not good for growth, neither within your own company nor within Life Science as an industry. It is definitely not good for building strong clusters with members who want to develop the world’s best solutions in their cutting-edge areas. That is why the Medicon Valley Alliance was established almost 30 years ago.
Medicon Valley Alliance is a non-for-profit organisation, that supports member companies in providing a platform of a “meeting and market place” where they can gain new knowledge and insights, find partners and/or potential customers and investors. Through dedicated network symposia within for instance Oncology, Microbiome, Medtech, the members can gain new insights and discuss challenges and opportunities related to Research and Development, regulatory affairs, commercialisation and market release and access of their products and services. This, in turn, leads to business which, in the long run, creates growth in the region. As the companies develop, so does the region and the Medicon Valley Alliance becomes an even stronger cluster globally.
“Competition is of course always the name of the game, and competition keeps us at our toes. But we are not looking to compete, we are looking for collaborations that can strengthen us, our companies and our region. This is our true raison d'être”, says Anette Steenberg.
Triple-helix for stronger impact
Medicon Valley Alliance is a completely independent non-profit organisation, which finances its entire operation from member fees and services. They receive no subsidy from the Swedish nor Danish State. Anette Steenberg:
“One of the biggest advantages of being part of our life science community and eco-system is that you get access to a whole cluster of industrial partners in Life Science, also potential collaborations and engagement with academia, university researchers and the healthcare system. Collaborations across borders involve actors from different bodies within the private and public as well as academia, provide added value. They become the strongest collaborations, based on the magic of the triple helix”.
“We have a strong foundation and advantage when we do things together. Individually, we would not have been able to achieve the impressive results that we have achieved. The most important thing for us at the Medical Valley Alliance is to create a really strong ecosystem based on the triple helix”.
Based on its success so far, the Medical Valley region and the Medical Valley Alliance as a cluster organisation receive a lot of international attention. Talents from other countries seek the region because they know that they get to be part of a strong cluster collaboration and that the region has world-leading research and companies in many Life Science-related fields.
In addition, the cluster receives attention from stakeholders from all over the world. Anette Steenberg frequently gets requests from representatives from some of the world’s strongest life science regions and countries to visit Medicon Valley. “They want to visit Medicon Valley to learn how to work efficiently and successfully with cluster formation based on the triple helix and completely without governmental support”.
Events of global interest
There are exciting events going on within the region and within the Medicon Valley Alliance. An event that Anette Steenberg would like to highlight is their only two year Network on women’s health.
“Women’s health receives far too little attention. It is important to create awareness and change the inequality in R&D in health. These network symposia are in very high demand from our members and stakeholder due to the challenges but also this enormous unexplored potential in the field. Consider that over 50 percent of the world’s population is a potential end customer. Now imagine the potential business you could make”.
Next, the MVA Annual Summit 2024 will be organised in November. Under the theme “Faster, Higher, Stronger Together,” this event will bring together industry leaders, researchers, and experts to delve into the latest advancements and opportunities in the vibrant Medicon Valley region. The four core subjects of this year’s summit are the importance and growth of the CMOs & CDMO’s in the Medicon Valley, AMR – challenges and initiatives with Antimicrobial Resistance, Better performance with Innovative Hospitals, and the Women’s and Men’s Fertility declining. All are areas of high global interest.
