The minister opened the meeting
The Minister for Higher Education and Research, Helene Hellmark Knutsson, opened the meeting with a speech on the strengths of Nordic and Swedish life science. Among other things, she said:
“The Nordic countries have a long tradition of medical research of world class, successful large and small pharmaceutical companies, and a well-developed and well organized health care. Partnerships between academia, industry and health care have been very fruitful. They have led to significant innovations in the form of medicines and better treatments. The open collaboration and access to health care resources have been key factors for this success.
(…)
I would like to see more collaboration between academic research and industry. It is important that publicly funded research is useful for society in many ways. This can be by providing highly educated people through higher education, by new scientific breakthroughs – but also through direct cooperation between scientists and companies.”
10 super sessions on the future of life sciences
Financing strategies, business models, the future of healthcare and digitalization were just some of the topics highlighted in the 10 super sessions held during the days.
The sessions were widely followed on Twitter, see the #nlsdays15 feed and the #nlsdays feed.
Three focus areas dominated the discussions
In connection with NLSDays, SwedenBIO together with Arthur D. Little released a comprehensive report on the technology-driven trends affecting the future of life science. The report identifies the three areas “Digitalization, Precision and preventive medicine and Breakthrough therapies” and what these mean for both companies and societies that want to take the lead in the future of life sciences. The three trends were then discussed extensively over the two days.
Download the report Welcome to the future.
Partnering meetings everywhere
Investors and global life science companies met with Nordic life science entrepreneurs to identify new collaborations. During the two days, 1939 scheduled partnering meetings were held in the specially built booths and many more spontaneous meetings in the corridors.
Agreement between Sweden and Lithuania
During the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between SwedenBIO and Enterprise Lithuania. The agreement will promote cooperation between the two organizations and Sweden and Lithuania.
Read more: Sweden and Lithuania sign life sciences agreement at NLSDays
500 gathered in the town hall
On Wednesday evening, over 500 delegates gathered at a welcome reception in Stockholm City Hall. The Golden Hall was buzzing with life science discussions.
Three winners of the Nordic Stars Awards 2015
Amra, BerGenBio and Nexstim were this year’s winners of the Nordic Stars Awards. The award is given to companies that particularly demonstrate the innovative power of Nordic life science entrepreneurs.
Read more: AMRA, BerGenBio and Nexstim receive Nordic Stars 2015 Awards at NLSDays in Stockholm
Nordic life sciences in the spotlight
NLSDays was covered by journalists from the Nordic region and Europe.
European Biotechnology News: Nordics in the limelight
Affärsvärlden: Broad focus on personalized health care in industry
Di.se: Combo drugs and biomarkers the future of cancer treatment
Finance: Medico is back in investors’ sights
Medwatch: “It’s professional speed dating for life sciences”
New record figures
Nordic Life Science Days continues to grow and when we now summarize the 2015 meeting we can conclude that:
- There were 1026 delegates
- 31 countries were represented
- 630 companies were present
- There were 541 business opportunities presented in the partnering system.
- There were 9519 meeting requests in the partnering system.
- There were 1939 meetings
Nordic Life Science Days 2016
Planning for NLSDays 2016 starts now! Mark your calendar for September 13-15, 2016 and get in touch if you have any ideas or want to participate. Email olivier.duchamp@bionordic.com (English).
