EDITORIAL

MVA appoints new important board members and decide on a new name for the organisation
At MVA’s Annual General Meeting on 28 March 2007 two significant developments were approved: The MVA Board of Directors was strengthened by the inclusion of new Danish and Swedish high level executives and a new name for MVA was endorsed. This summer Medicon Valley Academy will officially take the name Medicon Valley Alliance to better reflect the substance of the organisation and its tasks. Both events signal the next stage development of Medicon Valley as a world leading life science cluster. Read more


MVA PROJECT NEWS

International Relations Manager to create innovative international network
Through the appointment of Andrew Munk as International Relations Manager, Medicon Valley Academy takes another step forward in the ambitious Ambassador Programme named “10 in 2010”. A strategic network programme that will collaborate with 10 of the top life science clusters in the world by the end of 2010.
As of April 2007 Andrew Munk is responsible for the programme and will both attract funding and coordinate the work between the different life science clusters. Andrew Munk comes from a position as Senior Trade Advisor, health and life sciences, at the Trade Commission of Denmark in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

- We are very excited to have established our first agreement with the Kobe-Kansai life science cluster in Japan and we will have several more agreements in place with clusters in North America, Europe and Asia by the end of 2010. There are no limits to what can be accomplished through the Ambassador Programme. The more our members contribute and participate in this global network, the more we can achieve as a world-class life science region, Andrew Munk comments.

Read Andrew Munk's viewpoint on the Ambassador Programme

Full house for the Medicon Valley Life Science Career Day 2007
The Medicon Valley Life Science Career Day 2007 was an overwhelming success with more than 300 registrations for the 260 seats. The huge interest means that the Career Day is likely to grow in size for next year.
The 260 candidates who participated in the Career Day all had a life science education and/or research experience ranging from Master to Post doc level. The companies participating were very satisfied with the candidates they met and found the event rewarding.

- We have definitely found some qualified candidates, Anders Tsirk from Poly Peptide Laboratories remarked.

- The career day gave us the opportunity to meet both students and people from the industry who are of great interest to our company, Mattias Brogård of Camurus AB further commented.

For the upcoming Career Day in November 2007, plans are to collaborate with the Swedish ARKAD and Danish DSE career fairs and make a life science section for the MVA members. If you would like to know more about this event, please contact Project Manager Martin Andersson at ma@mva.org or +46 46 222 1680. Read more

Bladder Academy in the making
30% of Medicon Valley players are involved in urology. That was one key point in the analysis carried out by the consultancy company New Insight on the urological competences in Medicon Valley. The findings support Bladder Academy, which is an MVA project.

- The analysis highlights the need for Bladder Academy and underlines that urology can become a Medicon Valley stronghold, comments Tove Østergaard and stresses that Bladder Academy is no longer just a thought.

- To let the bladder universe take form we need to get things structured and find a cohesive energy amongst the participants.

Plans for the Bladder Academy include a large kick-off meeting in the autumn, and MVA is currently seeking funding for six PhD projects within urology research that will be carried out in collaboration with the regions, universities and industry. For more information about the Bladder Academy, please contact Tove Østergaard at to@mva.org or read more (in Danish).

VinnVinn project created employment
In November 2005 MVA launched the VinnVinn project to assist with the recruitment of experienced and qualified job seekers within life science in Skåne. The project now completed, Project Manager Martin Anderson reports that VinnVinn was highly successful. 22 career opportunities were created, 14 candidates were project assigned and of these 9 were offered employment after the project’s 6-month duration. The companies involved were pleased with the project and they have all pledged to participate again if the project is repeated. According to Martin Anderson the project is currently being reviewed by Region Skånes development board, and they will decide whether or not the project will recur. Read more


CASE STORIES

Law gives Danish government control of university research
The Danish government has proposed a law that, if passed, would shift control over university research from the universities to the government. Danish universities are highly unsatisfied with the law proposal and faculty heads have accused the government of meddling with the freedom of science. On a hearing meeting about the law, Ralf Hemmingsen, head of the University of Copenhagen, commented:

- The basic research is the first lead in the food chain of a knowledge society and the precondition for education of candidates, presentation and employment of research. The basic science should not be scaled down in comparison to the sector research. Read more

How to beat US and China
Medicon Valley is fighting to become one of the worlds top life science clusters. The latest impressive deals of Genmab-GSK and Bioinvent International-Genentech show that the region is well on its way. However, competition is fierce and with both the US and China on the move sustaining a leading role is very challenging. Florian Schönharting, Partner of Nordic Biotech, emphasizes that success must not be taken for granted. He stresses the necessity to monitor progress and draw attention to the Danish Law of Jante, the tax system and a tight capital market, which according to him impedes success.
Deputy Manager of MVA, Stina Gestrelius concurs with Florian Schönharting and argues in favour of the Medicon Valley’s efforts to reach out and both collaborate and network with other regions. However, she also highlights the regional differences between life science in Denmark and Sweden.

If you wish to comment to the articles, please contact MVA Communication Manager Anne Katrine Nørgaard at akn@mva.org


MEMBER NEWS

New AnaMar strategy
While previously AnaMar Medical has carried out an out licensing strategy for their clinical trials, AnaMar has now decided to change strategy and prepare for phase 1 clinical trials while license negotiations are ongoing. The CEO of AnaMar Medical, Owe Gårlin says that the new decision means that it is now the objective to bring the inflammatory compound AMAP102 to proof of concept. Read more (in Danish)

Research breakthrough in cancer
Researchers from BRIC have detected a protein family, which potentially causes the uncontrolled dividing of cancer cells. Research Manager Kristian Helin hopes that it is possible to derive high efficiency cancer drugs from this new knowledge. Together with the biotech firm Topotarget, BRIC has now initiated an effort to develop inhibitors of the protein family. Read more (in Danish)

New research in hereditary diseases
A recent research finding from Center for Biological Sequence Analysis at DTU shows that genes significant for the progression of Alzheimer disease work similarly to genes involved in very different diseases. This finding will strengthen the knowledge of hereditary diseases and form the foundation for improved treatment methods. Read more (in Danish)

Symphogen enter clinical trials
Symphogen and their co-developer Biovitrum have announced the initiation of a phase 1 clinical trial to test the safety of Sym001 in healthy volunteers. The CEO of Symphogen Kirsten Drejer denotes it as an important milestone that Symphogen are able to generate products which can progress into clinical evaluation. Read more

New foundation coordinating the incubators of Lund
The new Lund Bioincubator offers well-equipped laboratory space to selected biomedical innovators and entrepreneurs for a maximum of 3 years, in contrast to Ideon Innovation, a "dry" incubator where companies can stay for 2 years. Both incubators provide commercialisation support in addition to rental subsidies. MVA's chairman Per Belfrage is the driving force behind the Lund Bioincubator and the foundation. Read more (in Swedish)

Symposium: Emerging cross border regional innovation systems
A new innovation guide for the Øresund Region called Øresund Innovation Guide was launched in late March during a meeting at Turning Torso in Malmö. The guide is intended as an inspiration to achieve success in the cross border innovation activities. Read more


NEW MEMBERS

Imagnia AB
Imagnia AB is a CRO that offers contract research for evaluation of disease models and development of diagnostic and therapeutic (N)MR tools. The main focus is on creating tools for the measurement of metabolism in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo. Imagnia AB uses a new technique for dramatic signal enhancement in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Commitum AB
Commitum AB is an independent Swedish CRO with extensive experience of running and staffing phase I to phase IV clinical trials across a broad therapeutic range. Commitum's clients can be found in all sectors of the life science industry, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and healthcare. Commitum was established 2006 and now has 8 employees, all with a minimum of ten years of experience within clinical trials.

BoneSupport
BONESUPPORT is a Swedish medical technology company dedicated to the development of injectable bone-like materials for the treatment of various defects, including fragility fractures caused by osteoporosis. BONESUPPORT entered the North American market in early 2007 and expects to launch its core products CERAMENT SPINE SUPPORT and CERAMENT BONE VOID FILLER in selected markets in Europe in the second half of 2007.

DB Lab A/S
DB Lab A/S is a GMP-authorised contract organisation established more than 20 years ago. The laboratory is located in Odense and has 19 employees. The company has two core areas: 1) GMP analyses primarily for the pharmaceutical and herbal medicinal industries and 2) fermentation and downstream processing in pilot and laboratory scales as a business partner in R&D projects.


MEDICON VALLEY ACTIVITIES

UK-Medicon Valley Bioscience Alliance Diabetes Workshop
23 April 2007 / Clinical Research Centre / Malmö / Sweden
The Diabetes Workshop gives the participants the possibility of obtaining the latest knowledge on diabetes and meet leading researchers, clinicians and companies from the UK, Denmark & Sweden. The workshop will encourage new multi-disciplinary R&D partnerships and facilitate knowledge-sharing and dialogue between the two regions. Read more

Seminar: Lab-on-a-Chip Devices
25 April 2007 / Arne Jacobsens Allé 17 / Ørestad City / Denmark
The seminar is intended to provide engineers and other persons interested in nanotechnology with an update on the latest developments in this particular area. The seminar will introduce the basics of microfluidics and various microfabrication methods (silicon and glass) and discuss the different stages of lab-on-a-chip development, such as materials (silicon, plastic), microfabrication, microliquid handling components, back-end processing, functional integration, and applications in chemistry and biochemistry. These subjects will be illustrated with examples from research projects at the Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology at the Technical University of Denmark. Read more

Driving Medico- and Biotech Innovation with Micro- and Nanotechnology
April 26 / Technical University of Denmark (DTU) / Denmark
DANCHIP and Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology (MIC), DTU, are hosting a seminar showcasing how micro- and nanotechnology have been used to address medico- and biotech markets. The outlook is global and the goal is to develop an in-depth understanding of the technology and its benefits, as well as the possible impacts of its roll-out in the international market place. Read more

The Festival of Research 2007
27-28 April 2007 / Copenhagen / Denmark
Join the Danish Festival of Research and learn more about the research in your region. At the festival you have the opportunity to interact with businesses, research institutions, museums, municipalities and many others. These institutions will open their doors and talk about current events in research as well as the impact of research on our everyday lives. If you have an idea for a research related event that you would like to carry out yourself, please participate. It can involve business visits, guided tours, debates, lectures and much more. The only requirement is that research is the issue. Read more

CIP FORUM 2007: Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship
20-23 May 2007 / Göteborg / Sweden
Join the knowledge-based business community at CIP FORUM 2007: Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship. CIP FORUM 2007 will gather more than 100 world-class speakers and have 60 presentations in plenary and parallel sessions. CIP FORUM 2007 also offers over 20 workshops/seminars, 15 executive roundtables and the first ever European ICM gathering.
MVA members will receive 25 % discount on the conference by using the discount code 7015-6884. Read more

Information Day on FP7 calls related to Health and Biotech
29 May 2007 / Arne Jacobsens Allé 17 / Ørestad / Denmark
This information day on FP7 calls related to health and biotech will provide information on the available support systems for SMEs and give details about the most relevant calls published in May 2007. By participating you will have the opportunity for private consultations and partnering with other participants. Read more


INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Swedish-American Entrepreneurial Days
16-18 April 2007 / Chicago / USA
Medicon Valley companies have the opportunity to present and participate in the Swedish/Scandinavian-American Entrepreneurial Days in Chicago 18 April 2007. The event is an important network between the United States and Sweden/Scandinavia. Seminars and presentations by trade and industry leaders will provide a view of the future of life sciences as well as insight into recent developments, research, and commercialization opportunities. For more information, please contact Vice Deputy Manager Stina Gestrelius at sg@mva.org. Read more

BIO International Convention
6-9 May 2007 / Boston Convention & Exhibition Center Boston / MA / USA
The BIO International Convention consists of four information-packed days to present new ideas, form bold ventures and create global benefits for the biotech industry.
The BIO International Convention offers attendees an opportunity to meet face-to-face with every key player in the biotechnology industry. Programme participants include researchers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and others scientific luminaries. Read more 

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