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Denmark has the best pharma and biotech industry in Europe

Are you looking for a world-leading place to strengthen your biotechnology and pharmaceutical research and development? Denmark is the place - 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 around 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 sectors.

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), metabolic disorders, 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, high approval rates of trial applications, and that the Danish health authorities are very open for relevant dialogues, as seen in below case example, which is a testament to 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 is among the countries that host the most clinical trials per capita in the world. (clinicaltrials.gov) 
  • Denmark is the new top innovator with the best performance in the EU. (European innovation scoreboard 2023) 
  • One of the most R&D-intensive countries in the world, and the best in EU regarding science output. (Nature Index data 2023)
  • Denmark has among the fastest-growing European nations for biotech investment. (dealroom.co 2023) 
     

A pioneer in cancer research

Denmark is a pioneer regarding academic and commercial cancer research by integrate knowledge from basic, epidemiological, translational and clinical research, to reach an understanding, preventing and treating cancer.

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

Neuroscience is a traditional stronghold in Danish research, utilising an interdisciplinary approach within basic, molecular, and clinical neuroscience, which makes Denmark among the world leading countries in the field of CNS and neuroscience.
 
Advantages of locating your business in Denmark:
  • Strong research expertise within Parkinson and Alzheimer diseases, and depression.
  • Well-established ties between academic and industrial research groups.
  • A high number of start-ups, and academic spin-outs.

Excellent research conditions for inflammatory and infectious diseases

The field is a strength within Danish research and is undergoing rapid development, seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, and includes a strong national and industrial focus on e.g. vaccine development.

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 disorders

The field is a strength within Danish research and is undergoing rapid development, seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, and includes a strong national and industrial focus on e.g. vaccine development.
Advantages of locating your business in Denmark:
  • More than a century of insulin research and production of metabolic disorder products.
  • Denmark is home to Novo Nordisk, which holds a more than 50% share of the global insulin market.
  • Danish metabolic disorder research ranges all the way from understanding the disease at molecular level to developing drug candidates for clinical trials, and manufacturing and export.
     

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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