MVA Members Meet the First Life Science Ambassador

In as little as two months, the first Medicon Valley Ambassador, Dr. Takashi Asada from Kobe-Kansai in Japan, will take up residence at Medicon Valley Alliance's office in Orestad. During the MVA Jubilee, Dr. Asada met MVA members for the first time, and Peter Høngaard Andersen, Vice President of Research at Lundbeck, speaks warmly about future cooperation with Dr. Asada.

In January 2008, the first Ambassador to Medicon Valley, Dr. Takashi Asada, will take up residence in Medicon Valley. As the first representative from a leading international life science cluster he will call Medicon Valley ‘home' for a period of two to three years. MVA's International Relations Manager, Andrew Munk, is looking forward to working together with Dr. Asada at MVA's office in January.

- Slowly but surely the Ambassador Programme is being established. We are very excited to have Dr. Takashi take up residence here in the region for the next few years and to begin our strategic collaboration with Kobe-Kansai. This is only the first step in an exciting process which will see a succession of life science ambassadors arriving in Medicon Valley to create a place where the world meets for life science, says Andrew Munk.

The right man for the job

Dr. Asada represents the Kobe-Kansai Cluster in Japan, and will work on strengthening networking and partnerships between the two regions. During the MVA Jubilee he met with several MVA members. Peter Høngaard Andersen, Vice President of Research at Lundbeck, believes that Dr. Asada has the proper background and experience to fulfil the goals of the programme:

- I have met with Dr. Takashi Asada and I am convinced that his experience in industry and research has provided him with the useful contacts we need. We can begin to use his experience and contacts immediately, he says.

Kobe-Kansai delegation visiting Medicon Valley

In 1995 the Kobe-Kansai region was hit by a major earthquake, but with aid and development from the government, the region has since developed into a new business centre with more than 100 companies and several research universities. The region is particularly known for the Kobe Molecular Imaging R&D Center (link), useful for developing new drugs.

In connection with MVA's Jubilee, Dr. Asada and a Japanese delegation of nine people visited Medicon Valley over a three-day period. Among others, the delegation met with the Permanent Secretary of the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Clinical Research Center and Biomedical Centre at Lund University, Novo Nordisk, Zealand Pharma and Biotech Research and Innovation Center (BRIC). The Medicon Valley region made a big impression on Dr. Asada.

- It is a great opportunity for our country and for Medicon Valley to get together, and I am confident that this partnership will prove to be a win-win situation. I am impressed by the high technology in Medicon Valley, and the Kobe-Kansai cluster will definitely benefit from your region's high standard in life science business and science, says Dr. Takashi Asada.

Strengthening mutual confidence

The strategic partnership with the Kobe-Kansai region is part of the Medicon Valley Ambassador Programme which strives to build a strategic network of contacts and active collaborations with the leading life science clusters in the world.

- Very close relationships are of particular significance in Asia. You must build trust for years before serious businesses and partnerships can be discussed. I believe that the Ambassador Programme will accelerate this process for the partners involved, says Peter Høngaard Andersen.

The Medicon Valley Ambassador Programme aims to increase business-to-business interactions as well as academic research collaborations and take advantage of cross-exploitation of accumulated knowledge between the regional organisations of the bioclusters.

- As far as I know the programme is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and is thus unique. When we succeed with this programme, Medicon Valley will truly be a hub for where the world meets for life science, asserts Stig Jørgensen, Managing Director of MVA.

By MVA, 15.11.2007