– Several of the proposals that SwedenBIO, and many with us, have dragged on for a while have now been realized. Of course, we are very pleased with this, says SwedenBIO’s Vice President Frida Lawenius.
For example on increased funding for investment promotion, extending the time limit for the expert tax from three to five years, increasing the R&D tax credit from SEK 450k to SEK 600k per year and investing in research infrastructure.
SwedenBIO particularly emphasizes the importance of the government not giving with one hand and taking with the other. Last spring we saw the R&D tax credit increase from SEK 230 to 450, which we and our members welcomed. At the same time, it was funded with cuts to, among other things. Vinnova in 2020, which meant that strategically important activities such as the national incubator platform for life sciences ended, mid-step.
Now SwedenBIO’s vice president hopes that the restoration to Vinnova will provide opportunities to act long-term again and establish a program in life science for collaborative research. I.e. a platform for researchers in small and large life science companies to gain critical interfaces with each other and conduct research together with e.g. academy. Member company Biotage’s President and CEO Tomas Blomquist shares this hope.
– Collaboration between commercial and academic actors is extremely important and we commend the initiatives highlighted here. At the same time, we see that more can be done to make it easier for life science actors in Sweden. “The government needs to ensure that Sweden has continued access to development projects that can eventually lead to new treatments, vaccines and diagnostics,” says Tomas Blomquist.
The extended expert tax as well as the R&D tax credit are applauded by several members. Sprint Biosciences COO Jessica Martinsson highlights the incentives for increased research in industry as effective.
– In our research business, there is no more important investment than the one the company makes in its researchers. Any initiative that strengthens the ability to invest in researchers strengthens innovation,” says Jessica Martinsson.
The research company Pelago Bioscience also highlights the impact of the proposals, as staff are the company’s most important resource.
– The extension of the expert tax has immediate implications for us, as it lowers the threshold for recruiting key skills,” says CEO Michael Dabrowski.
We now look forward to the forthcoming research policy proposal. In addition to long-term and predictable conditions for economic initiatives, structures and regulations are also needed to enable companies to take advantage of them. In particular, all actors in the ecosystem need to take action to ensure the full benefit of the initiatives.
– “An investment in research infrastructure, such as the one currently being made at ESS, will not come to fruition unless processes and regulations enable researchers in different sectors to take part in the investment,” concludes Frida Lawenius, who is leading SwedenBIO’s continued work on the research policy bill.
For further information, please contact Frida Lawenius, Vice President on 0735-157560 or frida.lawenius@swedenbio.se.
Some of SwedenBIO’s input on the initiatives:
https://www.altinget.se/artikel/laat-de-trosklar-som-filats-ned-under-covid-19-forbli-sankta
https://www.dn.se/ekonomi/strategin-som-ska-gora-sverige-varldsledande-inom-life-science/
https://swedenbio.se/sju-forslag-till-forsknings-och-innovationspropositionen/
https://swedenbio.se/wp-content/uploads2/2019/02/Sveriges-Internationella-attraktionskraft-och-lyskraft.pdf
The industry organization SwedenBIO’s more than 270 member companies have a total of 20,000 employees who contribute in various ways to the development of new treatments to prevent and alleviate ill health. Members include companies that are active in drug development, biotechnology, medical devices and diagnostics or are experts in areas such as business development, financing, intellectual property and law.
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