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Nordic Life Science Days 2016
14-15 september 2016
Waterfront, Stockholm, Sweden
© 2022 Bionordic. All Rights Reserved
Nordic Life Science Days 2016
14-15 september 2016
Waterfront, Stockholm, Sweden
© 2022 Bionordic. All Rights Reserved
Photo by Andreas Nordström
Hosted by:
Invest in Skåne
Medicon Valley Alliance
Copenhagen Capacity
Greater Copenhagen
Interreg-Oresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak
Medicon Valley Microbiome Pitch Day is a unique event to showcase research projects and startups in the microbiome field looking for collaboration or investment — with regional, national or international partners. It will be in-person at the Malmömässan event centre in Malmö and feature a number of exciting presentations across five hours with plenty of time for breaks and networking.
Medicon Valley Microbiome Pitch Day is a prime opportunity to attract capital or funding, meet potential partners, and tap into early-stage startups.
Whether you are big or small, an investor or a life science company, a service provider, a manufacturer or a research intensive company, the power of your partnerships will determine your success. For decades now, we have seen a trend of growing openness in our industry, along with an increasing interdependence and specialization. The most successful life science hot spots globally are characterized by this openness, the will to partner up and the ability to do it in a clever way, each actor focusing on what they do best.
In the Nordics, we believe this is one of the keys to our success. Big companies accessing new, disruptive ideas from interacting with entrepreneurial minds of the innovative SMEs. SMEs sharing competence and resources with each other in ground breaking new ways. And the big pharmas, biotechs, medtechs (or any type of tech actually) partnering up with each other to push the frontiers of innovation together, as sector convergence make it futile to even try to stick traditional labels to the companies. Same goes for investors, being able to syndicate with those complementary to your own resources, be it capital or intelligence, is what creates true Intelligent Capital, the life nerve of successful life science ecosystems everywhere.
In the Grand Opening of Nordic Life Science Days 2022, we will explore the various ways to successfully power up through partnerships together with Karin Conde-Knape, Senior Vice President – Global Drug Discovery at Novo Nordisk and five companies who cracked the code to successful partnerships, one from each Nordic country. Thus illustrating the impressive power up this region is experiencing from coming together as one.
Moderator(s): Ms. Helena Strigård - CEO, SwedenBIO
Speaker(s):
Mr. Olivier Duchamp - Managing Director, NLSDays - VP International BD & Promotion, SwedenBIO
Ms. Helena Strigård - CEO, SwedenBIO
Dr. Karin Conde-Knape - Senior Vice President Global Drug Discovery, Novo Nordisk
Ms. Sana Alajmovic - Co-Founder & CEO, Sigrid Therapeutics
Ms. Maria Bech - CEO, EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals
Mr. Michael Engsig - CEO, Nykode Therapeutics
Dr. Christian Grøndahl - Co-founder & CEO, SNIPR BIOME
Mr. Prateek Singh - CEO, Finnadvance
LINK Medical, Viedoc and AlzeCure present the benefits, challenges, and possibilities of decentralized trials today. AlzeCure’s pilot study has used Viedoc’s newest technologies to enable a decentralized approach while LINK Medical brings the experts together to conduct the study and talk about the regulatory, clinical data and medical expert perspectives. Decentralized trials are the future, and there is no better time to hear about what is happening now, and how this will only develop further.
Recent years have proven that the life sciences are a great use-case for advanced technologies, from bioelectronics, bioinformatics, biomarker tools, improved diagnostics, and digitalization across the entire value-chain – to name a few. The coalescence of life science and technology has also created a host of vocabulary terms that, 10 years ago, didn’t exist, words like artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing, and blockchain. However, as we move beyond the confusion of buzzwords, we can already see concrete examples of how these concepts are driving our industry forward.
Enter today’s term: Deep Tech. The phrase itself may be new, but what it refers to is not. Deep tech is technology that is based on the combined breakthroughs of both scientists and engineers who are tackling society’s biggest problems together. As one would expect, health, life sciences, and environmental issues are the key areas of impact for Deep tech. And the term itself functions as the umbrella under which all the previously listed buzzwords fall.
The Nordics, as we know, are leaders in both technology and life sciences, so it comes as no surprise that we are a growing hub for Deep tech as well. Finland is already considered one of Europe’s most deep tech-focused ecosystems, launching the Nordics’ first Deep tech-dedicated fund in 2019 with Voima Ventures. In fact, between Finland and Norway, 40% of venture capital is going into deep tech start-ups.
In this session, we will look at the investors who are driving forward Deep tech sectors, the start-ups who are grabbing the attention (and money) of investors, and the larger companies who have integrated Deep tech solutions to optimize both their science & business.
Speaker(s):
Mr. Pontus Stråhlman - Partner, Voima Ventures
Dr. David Sonnek - CEO, Navigare Ventures
Dr. Matthias Degroote - Applied Quantum Computing Scientist, Boehringer Ingelheim
Dr. Armend G. Håti - CEO & Co-founder, ClexBio
Ms. Kaisa Helminen - Chief Operating Officer, Aiforia Technologies
The further science and technology advance across different sectors, the closer those sectors come to one another – a strange paradox. In drug development, the abundant need to measure detailed biological data in patients receiving drug candidates has led to the development of the fields we now call precision medicine and diagnostics. In other technology explorations, the automotive industry is exploring the ability to measure the vital signs of drivers in order to avoid accidents. The need to push the frontiers of diagnostics is all-encompassing, and suddenly, industries never-before-aligned are merging and looking at the same problems. And they can help each other to solve it.
Sector convergence can be a strategic choice, as is the case with our speakers from AstraZeneca and Volvo Cars, two giants in their respective fields looking to innovate together. Sector convergence can also arise from individuals, often those with cross-disciplinary backgrounds, as they stumble across real world challenges that simply cannot be overcome without making use of the experience, tools, and techniques of different sectors. The story of the health tech / gaming company, Mindforce Game Lab,and the journey of their CEO, professor Emma Lundberg, is an exquisite example of how dedication to solve a problem for patients brought gaming and health care together.
During this session, we will also hear from pioneers within bio-convergence, showing how recent breakthroughs in combining fields has led to nothing less than a revolution in genomics, enabling DNA-sequencing to be done at a much lower cost and much higher pace than before, along with the mind-blowing possibilities opening up when connecting AI and Big Data to how we pursue diagnostics, develop new therapies etc.
Moderator(s): Dr. João Ribas - Senior Associate, Novo Holdings
Speaker(s):
Dr. João Ribas - Senior Associate, Novo Holdings
Dr. Anders Persson - Executive Director Ecosystem Strategy & Innovation, AstraZeneca
Prof. Emma Lundberg - Founder & Chairman, MindForce GameLab
Ms. Anya Eldan - CEO, Nury Ventures
Mr. Michael Schön - Volvo Cars R&D Innovation (Open Innovation Arena), Volvo Cars
Life science development and investment require a long-term and consistent strategy. Prioritization, indication backup, regulatory strategies, in parallel or together, investment and indication diversification, and building organically and inorganically all contribute to a company’s sustainability and insulation from the vicissitudes of markets and the inevitable pitfalls in technology development.
This session, a conversation among colleagues who have weathered financial and development storms together and separately, will share anecdotes, insights, and concrete approaches to building for the long term.
Hosted by:
Norway
Oslo Cancer Cluster
The Life Science Cluster
Sponsored by:
Eversana
Pharma Intelligence
Immune links between cancer and infectious diseases have long been evident, and have created the foundation for preventive, treatment-based, and tumor-specific cancer vaccines using technology originally positioned for infectious diseases. Likewise, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies globally have pivoted and reassigned their R&D and, as a result, we now have numerous breakthroughs, technology applications, and success stories of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines originating from the oncology space.
The ability for our industry to rapidly come together during a pandemic, across sectors, indications, and stages has shown that, big or small, the mutual need for one another exists. How do we continue to build a future of mutually stimulating approaches to infectious disease, immunology, oncology, and technology? We do this by connecting experts, by working to jointly to increase overall understanding of immune modulation and response, and by using technology such as ML / AI to identify and prioritize the selection antigenic determinants. We do this through collaboration.
Norway has proven to be leader in oncology, immunology – and in both answering today’s pandemic needs, as well as working towards the possible pandemics of tomorrow. In this session, our Norwegian partners will lead the discussion on where this road is headed: what can we expect, what do we need, and how can we collaborate for the best possible outcomes?
Moderator(s): Ms. Eleanor Malone - Editor in Chief, Pharma intelligence
Speaker(s):
Ms. Eleanor Malone - Editor in Chief, Pharma intelligence
Dr. Richard Stratford - CEO & Co-founder, OncoImmunity
Mr. Michael Engsig - CEO, Nykode Therapeutics
Dr. Holger Kissel - Vice President Business Alliances, BioNTech SE
Dr. Carl Kilander - Partner, HealthCap
Mr. Mike Ryan - Executive Vice President Europe, Eversana
Dr. Gunnveig Grødeland - Senior Scientist and Research Group Leader, University of Oslo
Many are aware that “-omics” is derived from -ome, meaning “whole,” giving us one of our favorite focuses in life science: genomics. However, genomics is a single variable and is somewhat of a static snapshot of our biological status.
Multi-omics is a dynamic and pivotal step in delivering modern, personalised, precision medicine, and encompasses many foci: proteomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, microbiomics, and, of course, genomics. Each –omic provides valuable information about and differences associated with an individual or disease state. However, the analysis of only one data type has its limitations. Multi-omics is the layered measurement and integration of these various foci of information to better understand mechanisms of disease, discover new druggable targets, and create more targeted medical interventions.
As life sciences gravitate towards personalised treatments and precision medicines, the “one size fits all” approaches of classic drug development no longer apply. The –omics field has been driven largely by technological advances that allow for cost-efficient, high-throughput analysis of biologic molecules at grand scale, thus enabling the discovery of new biomarkers and biological pathways, as well as better understanding of disease progression and drug resistance. However, big challenges exist in –omics with regards to large-scale data analytics requiring not only skilled manpower, but also substantial and difficult-to-find investments.
This session will be led by Iceland, a country with deep roots in –omics, from science to commercialization. In it, we will investigate the current explorations of Multi-omics in academic and business settings across the Nordics, and we will discuss the ways in which –omics plays a role in life sciences today vs. what the future holds in both funding and success.
Moderator(s): Dr. Lisa Melton - Senior News Editor, Nature Biotechnology
Speaker(s):
Dr. Lisa Melton - Senior News Editor, Nature Biotechnology
Prof. Kári Stefánsson - Founder & CEO, deCODE genetics
Dr. Victor Neduva - Senior Director Discovery Research, MSD
Prof. Margrét Þorsteinsdóttir - Professor Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Iceland
Dr. Ida Grundberg - Chief Scientific Officer, Olink Proteomics
Women make up 49.6% of the global population, yet biological sex is unequally represented across the life science ecosystem, from inception to market. Though numerous genetic and biological differences are well-known between the sexes for a multitude of chronic conditions and diseases, disparities exist: in basic research, with the use of predominantly male animal testing; in clinical research, where trials don’t always include equal representation; and in fewer investments made in female-led and female-oriented companies, despite the fact that the femtech / women’s health market holds massive potential with an expected growth to $60B by 2027.
In addition, terminologies like femtech (coined by Denmark’s own women’s health start-up founder, Ida Tin) and women’s health are niched, seen as representing only reproductive science and technologies. In actuality, these terms represent all conditions that are unique to, disproportionately impact, or impact the female sex differently and include drugs, devices, consumer products, softwares, and apps.
This session is the challenge to our industry, innovators, and investors: let’s treat women’s health as more than a niche category and put equal time, resources, and money where half our population exists. It’s time we reproduce our efforts for the other 50%, for the benefit of all 100.
Moderator(s): Ms. Chelsea Ranger - Chair of NLSInvest Committee & Senior Advisor, SwedenBIO
Speaker(s):
Ms. Chelsea Ranger - Chair of NLSInvest Committee & Senior Advisor, SwedenBIO
Dr. Christina Östberg Lloyd - Lead Reproductive Medicine and Maternal Health, Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Ms. Masha Strømme - Co-Chair, PAACS Invest
Dr. Kelle Moley - Deputy Director of Reproductive Health Technologies, Global Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Dr. Antonella Chadha Santuccione - Chief Medical Officer, Altoida - CEO and Co-Founder Women's Brain Project
All sectors need to deal with sustainability and the life science industry is no exception. As regulations are tightening in many countries, working on your sustainability profile has moved from a ’nice to do’ to a ’must do’ for companies within biotech, pharma and medtech, regardless of size. But there is also a pure business case for stepping up your game in the sustainability arena, as we will hear in this session. Not least since investors are increasingly evaluating life science companies on this parameter when they make their pick. If you want the money, and the strategic partnerships, you better work on that sustainability plan. But what exactly is that and what are investors looking for?
With our moderator, Ann Margrethe Platou, Analyst at DNB, and speakers from leading actors from the investors’ scene, this session will give some concrete answers to life science companies on how to integrate sustainability into their business model.
Moderator(s): Ms. Anne Margrethe M. Platou - ESG Analyst, DNB Markets
Speaker(s):
Ms. Anne Margrethe M. Platou - ESG Analyst, DNB Markets
Ms. Alice Mattsson - Founder, Pharmista Technologies
