Torsten Jepsen is Medicon Valley’s MVA Ambassador located in Massachusetts. Located at Kendall Square in Cambridge, Torsten Jepsen is focusing on establishing win-win collaborations between life sciences stakeholders in Medicon Valley and Massachusetts. Torsten Jepsen works with various projects ranging from technology scouting, partner search and strategic analysis for companies and universities to arranging partnering delegations and symposiums for larger groups.
Where do you see opportunities for organisations and firms from Medicon Valley in your market?
In Massachusetts you find some of the best universities in the world; eg MIT and Harvard. The concentration of life science companies is impressive. There are more than 550 biotech and pharma companies located in Massachusetts. More than 300 of these companies are drug development companies. Almost 1200 compounds in pipeline makes Massachusetts the land of milk and honey when talking life science. Massachusetts also maintains a strong share of US biotech venture capital investment with more than USD 9 billion invested the past decade. Consequently, there are a lot of opportunities in this area. Investments in biotech are currently experiencing a very positive trend in the US, and some investors are currently looking outside the US as well. This is also a window of opportunity for companies in Medicon Valley. The challenge for companies and organisations in Medicon Valley is to gain access to relevant stakeholders. They can benefit from the network built up through the Ambassador Program in Massachusetts over the past three years.
How well known is Medicon Valley in your market?
Medicon Valley is far better known in Massachusetts than when I started in Boston three years ago; not least due to a lot of contacts, meetings and presentations showcasing companies and organisations in Medicon Valley. The MVA Ambassador Program has brought about a new transatlantic partnership agreement between the US State of Massachusetts and the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Zealand and Region Skåne. The agreement is designed to develop and enhance partnerships across the Atlantic in the field of health, with a particular focus on research and business development in the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical devices industries. This has influenced the knowledge of Medicon Valley to a large extent.
What will be your main focus for 2014?
Many Danish and Swedish companies look towards Boston.. Big Pharma in Massachusetts is looking for projects in increasingly early stages, meaning that they strike partnerships with universities and biotech companies in the very early stages. We certainly have many stakeholders in Medicon Valley that could deliver in this area. Also, I will focus on further development of the partnership agreement between the US State of Massachusetts and the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Zealand and Region Skåne.
