Life science in Stockholm

Sweden has the fourth-largest biotech market in Europe. More than half of its biotechnology enterprise, some 460 companies, is located in the Stockholm region.

By Totta Kasemo

November 17, 2009 12:00 AM

This is where world-leading products such as Fragmin (Pfizer), Healon (AMO), Sephadex (Amersham Biosciences), Xylocaine (AstraZeneca) and ReFacto (Wyeth/Biovitrum) originated, all examples of leading biomedical and biotech research performed in an entrepreneurial collaboration between academia and industry.

The Stockholm region Life Science cluster, which is ranked third in Europe, includes companies like AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Biovitrum. AstraZeneca for instance has its largest facility in Södertälje with 8,000 employees. In fact, 12 out of 13 pharmaceutical companies listed in the Fortune 500 have their main Scandinavian sales offices in Stockholm.

Stem cell research

The cluster also includes six medical universities, including Karolinska Institutet, one of the largest medical universities in Europe with 164 professorial chairs and world leading research in stem cell and other areas. The Karolinska Institute is ranked fourth worldwide among medical universities after Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford.

Sweden is one of the most advanced nations in Information and Communications Technology, ICT, in the world. The convergence of ICT and medicine creates unique possibilities. Highly competitive business costs, an excellent CRO environment and extensive cooperation between hospitals, universities and companies, are other reasons why the Stockholm region attracts such a large share of Europe’s biomedical investment.

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