Latest report shows Stockholm-Uppsala life science hub in good health

Submitted by Klara on
Press release
 
Start-ups continue to thrive, boosting region’s Top 10 position
 
Stockholm - Uppsala, September 9, 2014: A new report published today in conjunction with Nordic Life Science Days by Stockholm-Uppsala Life Science, Stockholm Science City and Uppsala BIO shows that growth in start-ups and SME’s in particular are helping the region maintain its position as one of the leading European and international life science clusters*

The report shows that 611 companies employ 20,852 people, still dominated by a big three of AstraZeneca with 3,943 employees, GE Healthcare (1,232) and Fresenius Kabi (1,008). However, although total work force has decreased from 2009 to 2012, to a large extent due to AstraZeneca’s downsizing, there are signs that the situation has stabilized. Signs of consistent growth are reported in a number of life science companies across all subsections, including Fresenius Kabi, Oasmia Pharmaceuticals, Atlas Antibodies, Bactiguard, Cepheid and Olink. Furthermore, the 350 start-up and SME companies with less than 50 employees show a steady increase year on year, amounting to 32% from 2007 to 2012. In addition to the strong science innovation base, a reasons for this could be the major public-private investments in research funding, research and physical infrastructure totaling over 60 billion SEK (9 billion US dollars) designed to both support existing companies and stimulate a new generation of companies.

Eugen Steiner, from Healthcap, a leading global healthcare investment fund based in Stockholm welcomed the report: “Whilst we invest around the world, we continue to see a pipeline of excellent opportunities here in the region. The strong science base and industrial tradition, now backed by some aggressive government support and a new generation of entrepreneurs creates an excellent “eco-system” for life science business growth. The downsizing of AZ has to be seen in the global context and the important thing is that the sector seems to have adapted and is moving forward in a positive manner.”

Erik Forsberg, CEO of Uppsala Bio, commented: “There is a long tradition here of industry and academia working cohesively and productively together which continues to both stimulate start-ups and to attract international collaborations. New initiatives are also helping such as our own increasingly successful BIO-X programme which sees targeted calls for innovation directly to our research centres.”

The report will be presented on the Stockholm-Uppsala stand at the Nordic Life Science Days at 13.30 on Tuesday September 9.

The report is available as pdf to download at www.suls.se (under Press/downloads). Direct web-link here

* Genetic Engineering News, March 24, 2014, Top Ten European Biopharma Clusters

 
CONTACTS
 
For more information please contact:
 
Ola Björkman, Senior Advisor, Stockholm-Uppsala Life Science +46 70 245 74 97 or
 
Erik Forsberg, Managing Director, Uppsala BIO +46 70-350 4143
 
Stockholm-Uppsala is the region where business and research thrive! Our region is a hot-bed of creative cross-disciplinary collaboration and, together, we are building international businesses and delivering real research breakthroughs that will help solve the world’s health problems. We’re open-minded and productive. Our state-of-the-art infrastructure and talented scientists provide all the services and support you’ll need. www.suls.se

 

Stockholm-Uppsala Life Science was founded in 2007 by biotechvalley.nu, Uppsala BIO and the City of Stockholm to market our life science region globally.