Biotech Perspectives | Nordic Biotech Has the Science. Can It Build an Industry to Match?

The Nordic countries have established a strong foundation for life sciences innovation, with world-class universities, accomplished researchers and close ties between academia and industry. The region has also nurtured a growing community of biotech entrepreneurs and specialized investors. Yet turning promising discoveries into successful companies remains a challenge. As the ecosystem evolves, attention is shifting toward helping young companies grow and ensuring that their achievements create opportunities for future innovation.

At the WuXi AppTec Science Forum in Stockholm, investors and biotech leaders discussed what the next stage of Nordic biotech development might require. Their perspectives highlighted three priorities: the role of established companies in sustaining an innovation ecosystem, the need to help emerging biotechs progress beyond their earliest stages, and the importance of global connections in supporting local industry growth.

Great Science Alone Does Not Build a Sustainable Biotech Ecosystem

Great universities provide the starting point for many biotech companies. A thriving industry also needs established businesses that can cultivate talent, share knowledge, create opportunities for new ventures and maintain a strong pool of experienced scientists and managers who can build companies.  

The Nordic region has a strong scientific foundation, with institutions such as Karolinska Institutet and the University of Copenhagen. Research hubs and innovation initiatives have also helped turn academic discoveries into new businesses. Yet one Stockholm panelist challenged the familiar assumption that universities are the primary drivers of biotech clusters. Commercially successful companies, the investor argued, are equally important in building an enduring industry, and that downsizing at larger biotech and pharma companies can also create opportunities for the ecosystem.

Established pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies contribute leadership talent, technical know-how and infrastructure that can support future ventures. They also create opportunities for knowledge, people and capital to circulate through the ecosystem.

The experiences of Sweden and Denmark illustrate this dynamic. Novo Nordisk's growth has strengthened Denmark's position as a major life sciences hub, while Sweden continues to benefit from its own pharmaceutical heritage. One biotech founder described how capabilities developed over decades, together with research environments such as SciLifeLab, have helped emerging Swedish companies advance despite limited resources.

The benefits extend well beyond individual businesses. Former industry executives may become founders or mentors, while scientists who have guided programs through development can apply their knowledge to new ventures. Established companies can also support specialized suppliers and attract further investment.

These connections allow one generation of biotech companies to help nurture the next.

For the Nordic region, the opportunity is to build on its scientific strengths by helping more emerging companies develop into enduring businesses that contribute to the region's future.

The Hard Part Comes After the Spinout

The Nordic countries have made considerable progress in supporting scientific entrepreneurship. Universities, incubators and investment initiatives have opened more pathways for researchers to bring discoveries into commercial development. Yet the transition from startup formation to sustained growth remains difficult.

One panelist observed that while the region has numerous initiatives to support entrepreneurs, young companies often struggle to secure the resources they need after leaving those early environments.

As biotechs mature, they must assemble capable leadership teams, establish development strategies and gain access to specialized scientific and operational skills. Even companies with promising science can encounter obstacles when these elements are missing.

Investors play an essential role in helping companies navigate this transition. Panelists discussed the importance of investment syndicates, continued backing for portfolio companies and bringing seasoned entrepreneurs together with innovative scientific projects.

They also highlighted the Nordic region's culture of capital efficiency. One investor noted that local biotechs can often reach development milestones with far less funding than companies in more expensive markets. An audience participant, however, cautioned that financial pressure can sometimes lead companies to conduct smaller studies that fail to generate the conclusive evidence needed to move forward.

Effective use of capital can be measured by whether the investment produces meaningful progress. A less expensive study offers little advantage if it leaves critical development questions unanswered.

The discussion also pointed to opportunities for closer collaboration. One biotech founder suggested that venture funds could encourage their portfolio companies to share infrastructure, technical capabilities and lessons learned.

For emerging biotechs, such cooperation can make a practical difference. Access to specialized facilities, including shared infrastructure, and teams with relevant development expertise can help companies overcome challenges they would struggle to address independently.

For a relatively compact region like the Nordics, making better use of the talent and infrastructure already available across companies, institutions and national borders could help more startups mature into established businesses.

Local Innovation Can Grow Through Global Connections

Global collaboration gives Nordic biotechs access to capabilities beyond their home markets. It also raises an important question for the region: how can companies expand internationally while continuing to contribute to the communities where they began?

An exchange at the Stockholm forum brought this question into focus.

An investor cited a Nordic molecular diagnostics company acquired by a pharma company after attracting international expertise and capital. The transaction showed how promising local science could achieve global commercial success.

A biotech founder offered another perspective. If companies move substantial activities abroad, how much does their success strengthen the ecosystem that helped create them?

Both perspectives reflect important aspects of biotech development and the balance between strengthening the local ecosystem and pursuing global ambitions. International expansion and successful exits can validate innovation and generate returns. For the local ecosystem, lasting benefits also arise from skilled teams, accumulated industry knowledge and new business opportunities.

Global expansion can support these objectives without requiring companies to move all their operations away from home.

Drug development is an international undertaking. As programs advance, emerging biotechs often need specialized capabilities in discovery, preclinical development, CMC, regulatory strategy and manufacturing. Building these functions internally requires substantial investment in people, facilities and time.

A globally connected development model gives smaller companies another option. They can maintain their scientific teams and entrepreneurial foundations locally while drawing on specialized services and infrastructure through international partners. Integrated development networks can provide the capabilities required at different stages, allowing companies to advance without establishing every function themselves.

This approach also has implications for the wider ecosystem. When locally founded companies continue to grow while maintaining a meaningful presence in their home regions, they can develop new talent, strengthen professional networks, create opportunities for future entrepreneurs, and draw additional investment into the area.

International partnerships alone cannot guarantee these outcomes. Access to capital, strong leadership and supportive policies will continue to shape regional industry growth. Global development networks can, however, help smaller biotech ecosystems participate more fully in international drug development.

For the Nordics, this creates an opportunity to combine local scientific strengths and entrepreneurship with capabilities available worldwide, giving more of the region’s promising companies a path forward while maintaining their roots in the region.

The Real Test: What Does Success Leave Behind?

Near the end of the Stockholm discussion, a participant raised a question that captured the region's challenge: the Nordics have demonstrated their ability to take scientific ideas from "zero to one." How can they become better at moving those innovations from "one to 100"?

The answer reaches beyond the achievements of individual companies. Scientific discoveries, new startups and successful exits all represent progress. Their longer-term contribution depends on what they leave behind: entrepreneurs equipped to launch new ventures, deeper industry capabilities, stronger professional networks and resources that help the next generation succeed.

These foundations allow an ecosystem to keep developing, even as individual companies evolve, expand internationally or change ownership.

For Nordic biotech, the next chapter will be defined by how effectively today's achievements create opportunities for the next generation. An enduring industry takes shape as scientific excellence, thriving companies and global connections continue to reinforce one another.