MVA newsletter no. 10, October 2006
EDITORIAL
Political changes for university research in Medicon Valley
By Deputy Managing Director Stina Gestrelius, Medicon Valley Academy
The autumn 2006 has seen many political changes for the universities on both sides of Øresund:
The University of Copenhagen will include pharmaceutical science and veterinary and agricultural sciences after a merger with DFU and KVL from January 2007.
The University of Lund needs a new University Director to follow Peter Honeth, who after the public election in Sweden left for the Ministry of Education and Research, to become the State Secretary for the new minister Lars Leijonborg (fp).
The Nordic Council of Ministers and the European Commission arranged a 3-day meeting in Copenhagen on “Investigating in Research and Innovation”. Collaboration via the Nordic Research Council (NordForsk) and the Nordic Innovation Center (NICe) were displayed and discussed. One workshop challenged the national research councils on their willingness to open up the national research programmes for applications from neighbours. Another workshop dealt with Nordic-Baltic initiatives such as the network between bioregions; ScanBalt (co-founded by MVA in 2002). Emphasis was put on the importance of Nordic collaboration as a foundation for pan-European collaborations, including ERA nets and Joint Technology Initiatives such as Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). The Copenhagen Conference Conclusions propose gradual opening of national programmes for research and innovation throughout Europe, with Norden as a front running region.
The Nordic ministers met in Copenhagen for the Nordic Council annual meeting 31 October-2 November, including discussions on research. The new Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt participated together with foreign minister Carl Bildt and the ministers Jan Björklund (schools), Andreas Carlgren (environment), Sten Tolgfors (foreign trade) and Cristina Husmark Pehrsson (social security as well as Nordic collaboration).
Internordic PhD programmes organised by NordForsk is one of the themes for the NORIA meeting in Oslo in November, and are proposed to include industry-PhDs of the type MVA organised via the Medicon Valley PhD programmes. A short article Biotechnology from a Medicon Valley perspective (in Swedish) will be published in a new book on Nordic strength in research.
From MVA’s perspective, the ongoing national mergers and new steps towards Nordic and European collaborations are in accordance with our view that excellence requires collaboration in order to meet the international competition. A future merger across Øresund, whenever that becomes possible, would result in a combined Copenhagen-Lund University with the size and competence of a truly European university, and with an increased attraction on international students and top researchers.
For discussion on research collaborations, please contact Stina Gestrelius. Stina is a board member of NordForsk, NICe, the Swedish Research Council/ Science & Technology Board and the technical faculty (LTH) of Lund University.
MVA MEMBER NEWS
Strong financing round for Danish Action Pharma A/S
The Medicon Valley Academy member Action Pharma A/S has received venture capital to assure rapid development of the company’s pipeline of novel pharmaceuticals targeted at several major indications. A consortium of investors has invested 6 Mio Euro plus an option for investing additional 3 Mio Euro. The investors are InnovationsKapital (Sweden), Growth Foundation (Denmark) and Incuba Ventures (Denmark). Read more
Danish biotechcompany negotiates for 300m USD deal
The Medicon Valley Academy member Enkam Pharmaceuticals is negotiating on the drug FGL against Alzheimer with five of the 10 largest medical pharmaceutical groups in the world. The drug FGL has showed good signs in the treatment of Alzheimer patients and at best the Copenhagen based biotech company Enkam Pharmaceuticals with only 14 employees can score USD 300m on selling. This is estimated by the Director in Enkam Pharmaceuticals, Morten Albrectsen according to Berlingske Tidende. Read more
Danish biotech acquisition worth EUR 1.5 billion may be on its way
Immediately after the sale of the hearing aid producer GN Resound for EUR 2.1 billion, it may be possible that another of Denmark’s important technology companies is up for an acquisition similar to the sale of the computer chip company Giga to Intel five-six years ago. EUR 1.5 billion sounds of much for a company in which a very problematic merger with American Cytomation in 2002 is still significantly felt, with late product launches and a recent management change as the result. Read more
Claus Braestrup, CEO of Lundbeck, appointed to Santaris Pharma Board
The Medicon Valley Academy member Santaris Pharma, specialising in the development of RNA Targeted Medicines, announces that Dr Claus Braestrup, President and CEO, H. Lundbeck A/S, has been elected a member of the Board of Directors of Santaris Pharma. Read more
Largest univesity in Scandinavia
A milestone in Danish research. This is how The Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, and The University of Copenhagen look upon a new merger. The three universities merge into a new University of Copenhagen with The Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences and The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University as two new faculties. The intention is to create a major Life Science Centre encompassing research in nutrition, foodstuffs, pharmacy, and health. The new University of Copenhagen will be the largest university in Scandinavia by number of researchers. The University will count over 5,500 researchers and about 36,000 students. Read more
ACTIVITIES IN MEDICON VALLEY
Seminar on Swedish Biotech Industry
November 8th / Elite Hotel Savoy / Malmö
The purpose of the seminar is to give an update of the international development and a sample-card of ongoing activities in Sweden. The seminar will also address the question how we should proceed on the Swedish arena in order to use our favourable position in the life science area to develop our knowledge-based bioeconomy. Read more
Sleep and genetics
17 November 2006 / Ny Carlsberg Glyptoteket / Copenhagen / Denmark
The sleep apnoea syndrome and other sleep related respiratory diseases are strongly associated to overweight and metabolic dysfunction, and the past years have shown an increasing interest into research within sleep and sleep disorders. On behalf of the EU COST Action B26 programme Copenhagen, Denmark is hosting an international scientific conference and workshop addressing genetics and the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. The target participants for the conference are COST members, co-workers and other interested in the area. Read more
MatchMaking 2006 – A meeting place for entrepreneurial spirits
16 November 2006 / C4 Videncenter / Krakasvej 17 / 3400 Hillerød
During the last nine years, the MatchMaking events have created a special and unique frame of interaction between Danish and Swedish small- and medium-sized companies. It all began in 1997 as an Interreg project where Slangerup municipality cooperated with Skurup municipality. The main goal was to support communication and corporation between the companies in the two municipalities and to create a physical ‘meeting-place’ where companies could save time and money finding partners. Read more
Building Open Innovation Platforms in Bioscience
23 November 2006 / Medicon Valley Academy / Arne Jacobsens Allé 15-17 / Oerestad City / Denmark
In today's world, developing successful innovations in bioscience increasingly requires sophisticated platforms that emphasize both collaboration and commercialization. At the core of these innovation platforms that emphasize knowledge sharing and joint development among key stakeholders from healthcare, academia, SMEs, big pharma, and regulatory organizations is the need to effectively manage intellectual property. Read more
Presentation of The Medical Malmø
4 December 2006 / Malmø University Hospital / Malmø / Sweden
The Medical Malmö (Det Medicinska Malmö) will be presented at the Clinical Research Centre, Malmö University Hospital, on December 4th at 4 pm. Invitation in Swedish. Read more
Symposium: Intelligent drug development - to accelerate and improve your development programme
12 December 2006 / H.C. Andersens Castle Tivoli / Copenhagen / Denmark
Learn from industry and academic leaders about exploratory IND applications, microdosing studies, SPECT and PET imaging technologies to expedite your development of new oncology and CNS drugs and biologics. Read more
INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Nordic Venture Capital Summit 2006
15-16 November 2006 / Radisson SAS Plaza hotel / Oslo / Norway
The Purpose of the “Nordic Venture Capital Summit” event is to create a unique forum for dialogue between political policy makers and the public-private venture capital players. The programme has been created with the much appreciated support of the Nordic Venture Capital Forum, a forum consisting of Nordic and Baltic public and private market-players. The forum was initiated by Nordic Innovation Centre as an advisory group for Nordic initiatives aiming for a common Nordic venture market. Read more
NORIA Symposium - Nordic Research Initiatives
28-29 November 2006 / Oslo / Norway
NordForsk has the pleasure of inviting you, or your designated representative, to the NORIA (Nordic Research and Innovation Area) Symposium, November 28 – 29th in Oslo. The purpose of the Symposium is to discuss both the processes and the organisation of the planning of future Nordic research cooperation, and to identify and discuss possible areas and priorities of cooperation. A central question will be how the expertise of different actors (such as national research funding bodies, the NOS committees, other existing Nordic collaborative organs, innovation actors, universities, etc) can be brought together to optimise Nordic cooperation and the utilisation of common infrastructure and databases. The venue of the Symposium is Voksenåsen Kultur og Konferensehotell in Oslo, Norway. The Symposium will be held in English. Read more
NEW MVA MEMBERS - see complete membership list
Biotech-IgG A/S - www.biotech-IgG.com
Biotech-IgG A/S was formed in 1989 to provide the Scandinavian biotechnology and medical immunodiagnostics markets with high quality products for research, routine and process scale purposes. Biotech-IgG develops biotechnology products for use in existing manufacturing processes and in the development of new processes. Furthermore Biotech-IgG works with immunodiagnostics for use in research and routine diagnostic laboratories as well as they do contract consultancy for market surveys, project-, process- and product design.
Promech Lab A/B - www.promech.se
Promech Lab offers custom-made scientific equipment and experimental systems to researchers and laboratory staff. We combine our theoretical knowledge with practical solutions to design and manufacture high-quality products according to your unique specifications. At Promech Lab you will work directly with physicists, mechanical engineers, Lab-View programmers, digital technicians and CAD/CAM operators.
With 20 years of experience in the business Promech Lab A/B have established a reliable network of subcontractors, which makes fast delivery possible.