In the centre of an innovation ecosystem

Lund – City of Innovation

Medicon Village is located in the very middle of the innovation ecosystem of Lund, about 20 km away from Malmö and the shoreline facing Denmark.

Lund has been a prominent innovation cluster for more than a thousand years. It all started in Uppåkra, the Nordic region’s largest Iron Age settlement located in the south of Lund that was active between 100 BC-1000 AD. There, archaeological excavations uncovered a number of surgical instruments used by doctors in that time period. After the city centre moved from Uppåkra to its present location in Lund in the late 10th century, Lund’s cathedral was raised at the heart of the city centre in the early 12th century, during the Middle Ages, serving as both a religious and scientific centre that was a strong contributor to higher education at that time.

In 1666, the second oldest university in present-day Sweden, Lund University, was founded, and in 1768, a university hospital was established nearby. Today, Lund University is one of the largest universities in the Nordics and is ranked among the top 100 universities in the world. It has a distinct international profile, with partner universities in approximately 70 countries. Annually, over SEK 5 billion goes to research across nine faculties. The University has the broadest ranges of programmes and courses in Scandinavia, based on cross-disciplinary and cutting-edge research, for example in climate and environmental science, nano science, diseases such as cancer and diabetes, and IT and mobile communications.

Lund University and Skåne University Hospital form a geographical entity just north of the Lund Cathedral. They are closely connected to two prominent science parks – Ideon Science Park, founded in 1983 and today among the largest science and business parks in Northern Europe with 10,000 employees in 400 businesses, and Medicon Village, founded in 2012 and today the largest science park focusing on life science in Scandinavia with 2,800 employees in 180 businesses. These multi-faceted pillars make Lund a unique innovation district combining culture, city life and research within a radius of only 2 kilometres.

And the future looks bright, with the Swedish national synchrotron laboratory MAX IV located a couple of kilometres north of Ideon, in operation since 2016 as a successor to MAX-lab, which was in operation between 1987 and 2015. A kilometre north of MAX IV lies the European Spallation Source (ESS), which is under construction and expected to be in operation from 2027. ESS is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), a multi-disciplinary research facility based on the world’s most powerful neutron source. In between Max IV and ESS sits Science Village, which is being developed as a new geographic area focusing on materials research and housing Lund Nano Lab and other research facilities.

Lund innovation ecosystem builds on a prominent history. With research and entrepreneurship going hand in hand, Lund is the birthplace of innovation game changers such as the wireless communication standard Bluetooth, the artificial kidney, the modern ventilator and the “invisible” bicycle helmet with airbag.

What makes Lund stand out from other innovation districts is not only the major science pillars co-existing in an innovative ecosystem within a narrow radius from the city centre – this lends itself to a vibrant innovative spirit that is not easily replicable elsewhere. It is also about how this area attracts brilliant researchers, students and entrepreneurs with a drive to change the world for the better by turning bold ideas into reality.

Medicon Valley and the Greater Copenhagen area

Medicon Village is an important part of Medicon Valley, one of the strongest life science clusters in Europe. It is home to a vibrant ecosystem and deep talent pool underpinned by world-class life science universities and research infrastructure. Benefitting from a competitive business environment and combined with the renowned Nordic high quality of life, Medicon Valley offers an attractive location for both businesses and people.

Medicon Valley is conveniently situated in the Greater Copenhagen metropolitan area, which spans across eastern Denmark and the southernmost part of Sweden, easily accessible by flight from Copenhagen Airport with close to 30.3 million passengers (in 2019) and serving 177 direct international destinations.

With 44,000 employees in the life science industry and 14,600 university life science researchers spread across nine universities in the Greater Copenhagen metropolitan area, Medicon Valley is the very heart of Nordic life science.

Nordic innovation is globally recognised and our life science ecosystem reflects this. At Medicon Valley, we take pride in our rich life science heritage which spans over a century. Our pioneering spirit continues to attract many successful companies, e.g. Atos Medical, BioGaia, Cellavision, Chr. Hansen, Ferring, Genmab, Hemocue, LEO Pharma, Lundbeck, McNeil, Novo Nordisk, Polypeptide and Probi. We are also proud to host a number of smaller innovative start-ups that continue to develop the region, such as Abliva, Clinical Microbiomics, Follicum, Guard Therapeutics, Idogen, and SNIPR Biome.

Medicon Valley in numbers

• 350+ biotech, medtech and pharma companies with local R&D
• 5 Global R&D pharmaceutical companies; Ferring, McNeil, Novo Nordisk, Lundbeck and LEO Pharma
• 44,000 employees in the private life science sector
• 9 life science universities with 24,000 life science students
• 14,600 life science researchers
• 6,000 life science and health related PhD students
• 7 science parks with a major focus on life science, (with a total of 1500 companies)
• 10 incubators
• 9 university hospitals (28 hospitals in total)
• New world class research facilities ESS (European Spallation Source) & MAX IV

More information on Medicon Valley at https://mediconvalley.greatercphregion.com/about-medicon-valley.