As part of the Danish-Swedish Medicon Valley region, the leading life science cluster of the Nordic countries, Copenhagen is proud to host BIO-Europe® 2018.
This is the first time that Europe’s biggest biotech conference will visit Scandinavia, and as a life science professional, I am certain EBD Group has chosen the right location.
Bella Center, the conference venue, is located just a few kilometers from the Øresund bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden and close to Copenhagen Airport connecting the thriving life science region to the rest of the world. At BIO-Europe 2018 you will find yourself in the center of the Medicon Valley life science cluster covering eastern Denmark and southern Sweden. As such is can be your gateway not only to the vibrant Danish, but also to the Swedish and Nordic life science ecosystems.
Medicon Valley offers a unique life science environment with global pharmaceutical companies like Ferring, LEO Pharma, Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk, as well as several large biotech companies like Genmab, ALK-Abello and Alligator Bioscience and a substantial number of successful medical technology companies like Coloplast and Ambu. The region has strong academic traditions with no less than nine universities with life science research including University of Copenhagen, Lund University, Technical University of Denmark and Malmö University and several university hospitals, also actively pursuing life science research.
In addition to the more established life science industry, the region is home to a steadily growing number of biotech and medtech startups often located in the handful of expanding regional science parks and incubators. The growth of the startup ecosystems is well supported by the local industrial foundations and venture capital investors like Novo Holdings, Lundbeck Ventures, Sunstone and for instance, Vinnova, Sweden's government agency for innovation, which all play a key role in supporting and advancing the regional life science ecosystem.
With world-leading Lund-based research facilities such as The European Spallation Source (ESS) currently under construction and the Swedish national MAX IV Laboratory, inaugurated in 2016, the potential for academia-industry partnerships, Danish-Swedish collaboration AND—finally—world-class international science collaboration is now stronger than ever.
So, whether you are looking for a new startup to invest in, a collaboration partner or new exciting science at BIO-Europe 2018, I am sure you will find Copenhagen, and Medicon Valley, an exciting and rewarding place to visit, explore and do business.
SØREN BREGENHOLT Chairman of the MVA board of Directors. From 2002-2018, Søren held a number of management positions in Novo Nordisk and the Danish biotech company Symphogen respectively, including Corporate Vice President and Head of External Innovation and Stakeholder Relations in Novo Nordisk.
Søren is the author/co-author of more than 50 scientific papers. He has represented Novo Nordisk in various organizations including EFPIA and PhRMA
