Medicon Valley
Encyclopedia
Life sciences
The life sciences comprise the fields of science that involve the scientific study of living organisms, like plants, animals, and human beings. While biology remains the centerpiece of the life sciences, technological advances in molecular biology and biotechnology have led to a burgeoning of...
cluster in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, spanning the Øresund Region of eastern Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and southern Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. It is one of Europe's strongest life science clusters with a large number of life science companies and research institutions located within a very small geographical area.
History
The idea of Medicon Valley slowly emerged during the early 1990s and was formalised and financially supported through the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Interreg
Interreg
Interreg is an initiative that aims to stimulate cooperation between regions in the European Union. It started in 1989, and is financed under the European Regional Development Fund...
II programme. Medicon Valley connects academia, hospitals and companies in the Oresund Region
Oresund Region
The Øresund or Öresund Region is a transnational region in northern Europe, centred on the cities of Copenhagen and Malmö. Located by the shores of the Øresund strait and connected by the Oresund Bridge, the Capital Region of Denmark and Region Zealand constitute the Danish side, while Skåne...
, which includes the regions of Greater Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and Sealand in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Skåne in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Medicon Valley has a population of approximately 3.2 million inhabitants. This cross-border cluster was initiated by local industry, which already formed a strong knowledge base with five big pharmaceutical companies, the brewery Carlsberg and the University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
in Denmark and Lund University
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
in Sweden.
Many of the region's universities have a strong heritage in biological and medical research and have produced several Nobel Prize winners. The almost century-long presence of a number of research-intensive and fully integrated pharmaceutical companies, such as Novo Nordisk, H. Lundbeck, AstraZeneca and LEO Pharma, has also contributed significantly to the development of the region by strengthening abilities within applied research, attracting suppliers and producing spin-offs.
Since the mid-1990s a fast-paced development has been taking place, and today Medicon Valley comprises a dense cluster of universities, hospitals and companies within life science, biotech, medtech and pharma, many of which are R&D based.
The main objective for the formation of the Medicon Valley cluster was to foster greater research cooperation between companies and academia
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
involved in the life science sectors, including pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
, biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
, and medical technology on both sides of the Oresund Strait. This includes 12 universities, 32 hospitals, more than 300 life science companies and the cluster organisation Medicon Valley Alliance
Medicon Valley Alliance
Medicon Valley Alliance is the Danish-Swedish cluster organisation representing human life sciences in Medicon Valley. As a non-profit member organisation, Medicon Valley Alliance carries out initiatives on behalf of the local life science community in order to create new research and business...
. The biotechnology industry employs around 40,000 people in the region, 4,000 of whom are academic researchers. International companies with major research centres in the region include Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and services. Created in 1989 through a merger of two Danish companies dating back to the 1920s, it has become one of the world's leading companies in diabetes care, where Novo Nordisk pursues research into pulmonary delivery systems;...
, Lundbeck
Lundbeck
H. Lundbeck A/S is a Danish international pharmaceutical company engaged in the research and development, production, marketing, and sale of drugs for the treatment of disorders in the central nervous system , including depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease,...
, LEO Pharma, Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company that specializes in the development and marketing of drugs for use in human medicine.It was founded by Frederik Paulsen Sr in Malmö, Sweden, in 1950, initially as the Nordiska Hormon Laboratoriet, renamed Ferring in 1954. A ferring in Frisian is a...
, and AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca plc is a global pharmaceutical and biologics company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's seventh-largest pharmaceutical company measured by revenues and has operations in over 100 countries...
. Medicon Valley accounts for more than 20% of the total GDP of Denmark and Sweden combinedhttp://www.cbs.dk/uddannelser/executive_masters/executive_masters/mba_uddannelser/full_time_mba/menu/living_in_denmark/menu/business_opportunities/business_opportunities__1.
The Medicon Valley region is known for its research strengths in the areas of neurological disorders, inflammatory diseases, cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and diabetes.