What has been the biggest insight so far in this new role?
– It has become even clearer to me that there is so much potential in our sector! Great opportunities both for the companies and Sweden AB, based on the ongoing development, and for the patients who can benefit from the innovative treatments. But another clear insight is the fierce international competition. A number of factors must be right for companies to find it attractive to locate R&D and manufacturing in Sweden. But the Swedish government is clear that it prioritizes the competitiveness of Sweden and the EU and wants to work to ensure that life science companies want to operate and grow here.
What is the objective of the life science strategy update?
– The aim is to review the strategy so that it is as relevant as possible. Since December 2019, we have had a pandemic and a lot has happened and is happening in our geopolitical environment, which affects the objectives of the strategy. We can also note that some of the objectives in the strategy can be checked off, which is gratifying. But above all, we have a new government that needs to influence the objectives of our strategy, even if the aim is for the framework, i.e. the strategy itself, to remain in place.
“We often emphasize our good ability to collaborate and there are a number of strategic issues that are particularly important for the sector to focus on..”
Jeanette Edblad
What are Swedish areas of strength in life science and how do you think these can be supported?
– As we are in the process of updating the national strategy, I don’t want to anticipate that work, but I do want to state that we need to build on our country’s proven ability to deliver both scientific and technical excellence and innovations that contribute to global health. Given the nature of development and global competition, we need to safeguard this ability and become even better at, for example, cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaborations. We also need to continue building strategic partnerships and collaborations within the country and with other countries. The Government Offices are currently working on a research and innovation policy bill that will be presented during the year, which in previous years has had great significance for a research-heavy area such as life science. We often emphasize our good ability to collaborate and there are a number of strategic issues that are particularly important for the sector to focus on, such as the implementation of clinical trials where we need to be more successful. Another important area to exemplify is the implementation of precision medicine or precision health, where not least the conditions for sharing health data and digital infrastructure are central if Swedish healthcare and Swedish life science are to be at the forefront. The government has taken several important initiatives concerning the construction of a national digital infrastructure and important work is ongoing.
The interview was first published in SwedenBIOs annual report for 2023.
