Medicon Village at ATMP Sweden 2025: Sweden’s momentum in advanced therapies is accelerating

Medicon Village joined a strong Skåne delegation in Gothenburg for ATMP Sweden 2025, the country’s leading meeting for cell and gene therapies. The conference confirmed what has recently been seen taking shape across the region: Sweden has the scientific excellence and collaborative structures to become a key global node for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products, but strategic action is needed to secure that position.

As an insight, Business Sweden is currently preparing its Executive Global Insight report on ATMP, interviewing global key opinion leaders to map international movements. Their early signals echo what was discussed in Gothenburg. Europe remains competitive in ATMP development, yet markets such as China, South Korea and Japan are advancing rapidly and could soon overtake Europe’s position as the second-strongest ATMP region after the United States. At the same time, the latest Vinnova analysis shows that venture capital investments into unlisted Swedish life science companies amounted to just 600 million SEK in 2024, representing only 0.7 percent of all venture capital invested that year. This underscores a structural gap between Sweden’s scientific strength in advanced therapies and the level of risk capital required to maintain international competitiveness.

Several talks during ATMP Sweden underscored that the opportunity to lead the ATMP field is real but not guaranteed. Global competition is intensifying, and Sweden must act with focus to retain its position. The Nordic region holds significant untapped potential, and a more coordinated approach, like for example building on Norway’s immunotherapy expertise, Finland’s regulatory strengths and Sweden’s talent-development programmes such as RAMP UP and SCALE, could create a powerful engine for ATMP innovation. Focusing on Skåne and Lund, at the Lund Stem Cell Center alone, there are currently 27 ATMP projects, supported by initiatives such as the EU-funded Path2Patient and new infrastructures, including the Lund Pre-GMP facility and the Skåne University Hospital ATMP Center. Together, they form an emerging end-to-end environment for development, manufacturing and early clinical trials – a growing asset designed to support both the local and international ATMP ecosystem.

For Medicon Village, the ATMP field aligns closely with the mission to connect research, industry and healthcare in an environment where innovation can scale. As highlighted in this year’s ATMP Pipeline Report, coordination between actors, from early discovery teams to GMP manufacturing, investors and clinicians, is essential if Sweden is to compete globally. The coming years will determine whether the country can transform its strong academic base into industrial and clinical leadership.