Göteborg, Scandinavia’s most expansive pharma cluster, offers space for institutions, organisations and businesses with ties to biomedical research and development.
Göteborg has a long history with pharmaceutical and medical research. In 1900, the Sahlgrenska hospital moved into newly built facilities at Medicinareberget in central Göteborg. From then on, R&D has been a constant element in the area, and it is now one of the largest R&D centres in Northern Europe in the fields of medical products and methods. The facility was expanded widely in the late twentieth century.
Much of the growth of the Swedish pharmaceutical and medical industries has depended on Sahlgrenska, and many of these companies have established themselves nearby for access to its advanced clinical testing facilities and the base of expertise and innovation represented by the medical, odontological and life science institutes of Göteborg University and Chalmers University of Technology. The central location of this biomedical cluster and its unique compact geography have also been key to its growth. Two of the city’s largest parks, the Botanical Gardens and the Slottskogen woods, are nearby.
The next expansion
The next phase of the expansion is about to take place, with the aim of developing and tying together all the parts in the area into a single biomedical cluster. Akademiska Hus, in collaboration with the City of Göteborg, the Västra Götaland region, Göteborg University and other stakeholders, is planning to expand five areas in the cluster to a total of about 140,000m2 to offer research, educational, business and service facilities, housing and improved infrastructure. All institutions, organisations and businesses related to biomedical R&D are invited to participate in developing one of Europe’s foremost medical and biomedical clusters.
Sahlgrenska and Chalmers
Three of the biggest names in the world of R&D form the basis of Campus Medicinareberget, represented by the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Chalmers University of Technology and the Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University.
As Northern Europe’s largest hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital has many years of collaboration with the Swedish and international pharmaceutical industries, and offers, among other things, facilities for advanced clinical trials. The medical, odontological and life science faculties of Göteborg University, under the Sahlgrenska Academy, conduct both education and research here, as does the Chalmers University of Technology under its Chalmers Biocenter, which aims to enhance bio-related research with ties between biology, medicine and technology.
Sahlgrenska Science Park
For the past four years, the Sahlgrenska Science Park (SSP) has operated in the area with a focus on developing collaboration between research, education and business. The SSP aims to promote the commercialisation of bio-scientific innovations, as well as the establishment and growth of business projects and companies focused on medical applications.
The SSP is sponsored by Business Region Göteborg, the Västra Götaland region and Göteborg University. The park is an integrated part of the region’s biomedical innovation system, which also includes the multidisciplinary Göteborg International Bioscience Business School – the only one of its kind in Europe.
Biomedical business
The 300 businesses in the region that work in the medical sector employ approximately 6500 people. This field is expanding dramatically, and some of the major players with their own product development include AstraZeneca, Astra Tech, Nobel Biocare and Mölnlycke Health Care. Many of the large and smaller niche-oriented companies, such as Cellartis and Carlsson Research AB, are located in the area to make full use of the base of expertise and innovation offered by the cluster, as well as its facilities for clinical trials.
Stem cell research, biomaterials and cell therapy, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are just some of the fields where the medical businesses and the university have long been at the leading edge, with the ambition of doubling their activities by 2015.