Stockholm and Uppsala jointly form a life science cluster
Av Last week the Stockholm Uppsala Life Science Conference was held at the Karolinska Institutet in Solna. The two regions have collaborated closely in the past, but this summer they signed a letter of intent for deeper collaboration. According to a media release, sent to journalists before the conference, the day marked the starting point for a joint Stockholm-Uppsala life science cluster, the Stockholm-Uppsala Life Science Cluster.
”A strong and competitive life science sector is about economic growth and development, and of course also about developing the healthcare sector. But ultimately, it is about saving lives”, said Aida Hadžialić, financial regional councilor in Stockholm, when she opened the conference.
As Life Science Sweden previously reported, Stockholm has the ambition to grow within life science. That goal remains and now the hope is that with joint efforts with Uppsala, it will become one of the strongest clusters in Europe. Pontus Holm, program coordinator for life science in the Stockholm Region, showed a slide that indicated that Stockholm-Uppsala is very close to today's top-ranked European life science nodes, i.e. Oxford, Cambridge, London, Medicon Valley and Paris.
”It will be very interesting to see if, with the initiatives we are now taking, we can move Stockholm Uppsala up to the top five”, he said.
Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health Jakob Forssmed also attended the conference and highlighted the government's ambitions in life science. He mentioned that last month the government decided to implement investigator Peter Asplund's proposal to establish a national partnership for clinical trials called Swetrial. He also mentioned that the government is making a record-breaking investment in the research and innovation bill, as reported previously in Life Science Sweden, which drew applause from the audience.
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