Medicon Valley

Medicon Valley
Life-science research and business region
Aerial view of bi-national Medicon Valley, straddling the Øresund strait, between Sweden and Denmark.
Country	Denmark and Sweden
Region	Øresund Region
City	Copenhagen, Malmö, Lund
Landmark	Øresund Strait
Population	3.5 million
Founded	1997
Medicon Valley Medicon Valley in Denmark and Sweden
Website: Medicon Valley and Medicon Valley Alliance

Medicon Valley is a leading bi-national life-sciences cluster in Europe, spanning the Øresund Region of eastern Denmark and southern Sweden. It is one of Europe's strongest life science clusters, with a large number of life science companies and research institutions located within a relatively small geographical area. The name has officially been in use since 1997.

Major life science sectors of the Medicon Valley cluster includes pharmacology, biotechnology and medical technology. It is specifically known for its research strengths in the areas of neurological disorders, inflammatory diseases, cancer and diabetes.

The cross-border region of Medicon Valley has a population of approximately 3.5 million inhabitants. In 2008, 60% of Scandinavian pharmaceutical companies were located in the region. The area includes 12 universities, 32 hospitals, and more than 300 life science companies. 20 are large pharmaceutical or medical technology firms and 170 are dedicated biotechnology firms. Between 1998 and 2008, 100 new biotechnology and medical technology companies were created here. The biotechnology industry alone employs around 40,000 people in the region, 4,000 of whom are academic researchers. International companies with major research centres in the region include Novo Nordisk, Lundbeck, LEO Pharma, and Ferring Pharmaceuticals. There are seven science parks in the region, all with a significant focus on life science, including the Medicon Village in Lund, established in 2010. Medicon Valley accounts for more than 20% of the total GDP of Denmark and Sweden combined.

The research and business of Medicon Valley is officially represented by the organisations Medicon Valley and Medicon Valley Alliance (MVA), connecting academia, hospitals and companies in the Øresund Region, comprising the Capital Region and Region Zealand in Denmark and Skåne in Sweden. The organisations were initiated by local industry in 1997, which already formed a strong knowledge base with five big pharmaceutical companies, the brewery Carlsberg and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Lund University in Sweden. Medicon Valley is promoted by Region Skåne and Copenhagen Capacity. Many of the region's universities has a strong heritage in biological and medical research and have produced several Nobel Prize winners. The almost century-long presence of a number of research-intensive and fully integrated pharmaceutical companies, such as Novo Nordisk, H. Lundbeck, AstraZeneca and LEO Pharma, has also contributed significantly to the medical research and business development of the region by strengthening abilities within applied research, attracting suppliers and producing spin-offs. The Øresund bridge that opened in 2000, makes commuting and transport across the Øresund strait easy, and it has been a major reason for the succes of the cluster.