Strategic life science alliance meets at Medicon Village to strengthen innovation and collaboration
How can we accelerate the adoption of healthcare innovations while strengthening Sweden’s competitiveness in life science? These are key questions driving the strategic alliance between Medicon Village, AstraZeneca, Skåne University Hospital and Lund University School of Economics and Management. On 22–23 October, the partners gathered at Medicon Village to review ongoing initiatives and explore new opportunities for collaboration.
Established in January 2025, the alliance aims to strengthen collaboration between industry, academia, healthcare and innovative growth companies, creating better conditions for translating research and new technologies into tangible benefits for patients and society.
Since its launch, the partnership has initiated around ten projects covering areas such as health economics, AI implementation in healthcare, sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing and talent development within life science.
New initiatives to support talent and business growth
During the two-day meeting, discussions focused on both ongoing projects and future opportunities, including new university programmes tailored to industry needs, joint career activities and initiatives to support growing life science companies.
One example is the opportunity to involve expertise from internationally leading companies such as AstraZeneca in 10xHealth, the scale-up programme established by Medicon Village and SmiLe Venture Hub to support innovative life science companies.
The partners also explored opportunities linked to emerging centres of excellence and the development of internationally competitive research and innovation environments.
“It is truly inspiring to see how the collaboration has evolved since its launch and the strong commitment demonstrated by all the organisations involved. The challenge is not a lack of opportunities or important issues to address. Rather, it is about setting priorities and focusing on where we can make the greatest difference together,” says Petter Hartman, CEO of Medicon Village Innovation.
Joining forces to strengthen Swedish competitiveness
Beyond its development projects, the alliance serves as a joint platform for dialogue and advocacy on challenges facing Sweden’s life science sector.
Over the past year, the partners have organised joint seminars during Almedalen Week and engaged with regional and national policymakers on topics such as accelerating healthcare innovation, strengthening competitiveness and improving public-private collaboration.
Coordinated by Medicon Village and AstraZeneca, the alliance is built on a long-term commitment to collaboration. The meeting therefore also provided an opportunity to identify shared priorities and initiatives for the coming years.
“Our strength lies in bringing together organisations with different expertise, perspectives and resources to address shared challenges. By combining our experience and networks, we can contribute to tangible improvements while helping shape the long-term conditions for innovation, growth and better patient outcomes,” says Pelle Axelsson, Healthcare Alliance Lead and R&I Policy på AstraZeneca.