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Denmark has the best pharma and biotech industry in Europe

Are you looking for a world-leading centre to strengthen your biotechnology and pharmaceutical research and development? Denmark is on the cutting edge.
There’s a reason why Denmark is the home of major international pharmaceutical companies such as Novo Nordisk, Lundbeck, LEO Pharma and ALK. It all started back in the early 1900s, when the first Danish pharma companies built the foundations for our thriving life science sector. Their progressive innovation has created one of the world’s strongest biotech and pharma clusters.

Today, there is a strong tradition for collaboration between industry, universities and the public health sector, which makes Denmark a hotspot for pioneering R&D – offering excellent opportunities for your business.

Our biotech and pharma cluster has a global reputation for cutting-edge research, particularly in cancer, the central nervous system (CNS), diabetes care and within inflammatory and infectious diseases.

When you need to test a new medical treatment, you’ll experience easy access to the clinical infrastructure in our hospitals, short processing times and high approval rates for trial applications. This is also why Denmark is a world leader in drug development with a very strong commercial pipeline of drugs in clinical development.

Place your Biotech and Pharma activities in Denmark and benefit from:

  • Easy recruitment of highly-qualified people with the right medical expertise.

  • A single point of entry, facilitating the preparation and planning of clinical trials.

  • Online access to combined data from biobanks at hospitals, universities and other research institutions and national databases such as the National Patient Register, Birth Register and National Health Insurance Register.

  • Easy and effective recruitment of study participants.

  • A country at the forefront of pharmaceutical R&D, production and exports.

The Bare facts:

  • Denmark was ranked the best country in Europe for biotech research and development in 2019 (Nordic Life Science News).
  • Denmark is in 2021 one of the most R&D-intensive countries in the world, and continuously one of the best in Europe regarding researcher concentration (Bloomberg Innovation Index). 
  • Denmark is among the countries that host the most clinical trials per capita in the world (clinicaltrials.gov).

A pioneer in cancer research

Denmark is one of the top regions in Europe for academic and industrial cancer research, covering all stages and areas.

Advantages of locating your business in Denmark:

  • Strong research expertise within breast, prostate, colorectal and lung cancer.
  • The Danish Cancer Registry is among the world’s best and oldest cancer registries.
  • Long-standing cooperation between academic and industrial cancer research groups.

Global expertise in CNS and neuroscience

Denmark’s CNS research is led by the world-leading life science clusters Medicon Valley and NeuroCampus Aarhus

Advantages of locating your business in Denmark:

  • Strong research expertise within Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, pain and depression.
  • Well-established ties between academic and industrial research groups.
  • Close proximity to Lundbeck – one of the world’s leading CNS companies.

Excellent research conditions for inflammatory and infectious diseases

Denmark has a strong base for basic research in inflammatory and infectious diseases, both within academic research environments and private research institutes.

Advantages of locating your business in Denmark:

  • Outstanding basic research in asthma, allergy and viruses.
  • Strong basic and applied research in HIV and AIDS.
  • Access to an impressive commercial pipeline of drug candidates, targeting inflammatory and infectious diseases.

Proud tradition for handling metabolic diseases

Denmark leads the way in metabolic disorders research and is a pioneer in the prevention of obesity and treatment of related illnesses.

Advantages of locating your business in Denmark:

  • More than a century of insulin research and production of insulin products.
  • Denmark is home to Novo Nordisk, which holds a 50% share of the global insulin market.
  • Danish diabetes research ranges from understanding the disease at molecular level to developing drug candidates for clinical trials.

Bristol-Myers Squibb in Denmark Anders Thelborg, General Manager Denmark

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Denmark offers attractive business solutions for foreign pharma and biotech companies including R&D collaborations. Download our fact sheet to get an overview of the Danish pharma & biotech cluster.

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Denmark offers an excellent research environment for the biotech and pharma sector, offering world-class expertise and easy access to scientists and professional research collaborations. Our biotech and pharma advisors are ready to answer your questions.
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