Denmark,

December 2021

Despite its diminutive size, Denmark boasts a world-renowned healthcare and life science industry containing both household pharma giants as well as a robust network of academia, a host of niche service providers, and a growing throng of biotech start-ups.

With life science exports topping EUR 20 billion and growing, Denmark looks set to retain its position as one of the European industry’s most prominent players. Indeed, Denmark is already Europe’s leading country in terms of clinical trials per capita, has long valued innovative public-private collaboration models, and sits proudly in first position in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index.

Through interviews with a host of stakeholders throughout the Danish healthcare value chain, this exclusive new report examines the fundamentals behind the country’s strong global positioning as well as the roadblocks ahead if the Nordic nation is to maintain it.

Topics covered include health technology assessment trends, the potential impact of a new national Life Science Strategy, how the country’s digital excellence has helped it navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, the benefits of the foundational model within which Denmark’s ‘Big Four’ pharma companies work, clinical trial collaboration with neighbouring Sweden, the Danish market’s potential as a testbed for innovative management strategies, and much more.

Articles

5 Key Trends in Danish Medtech

The DKK 56bn (EUR 7.5bn) Danish medtech industry employs 15,200 workers, accounts for 7.4 percent of Danish business and industry’s total research investments, contributes to 1.4 percent of national GDP, and exports DKK 18.2bn (EUR 2.4bn) worth of products annually. Here are five key trends affecting this important sector. Remote Patient Monitoring For Tisha…

New CEO for ALK as Carsten Hellmann Steps Down

Danish allergy specialist ALK will have a new CEO in 2024, with current incumbent Carsten Hellmann set to step down after a seven-year spell in the hot seat. Hellmann, 59, will be replaced by the comparatively youthful 45-year-old Peter Halling at the end of the year, which ALK Board Chairman Anders Hedegaard says will help…

Danish-Swedish Clinical Trial Collaboration: Better Together?

Denmark boasts plenty of strong fundamentals as a clinical trials hub, but is perhaps constrained by a population of just 5.8 million and a correspondingly small patient pool. However, international collaboration, not least with neighbouring Sweden (population 10.4 million), has the potential to greatly increase the pool from which trial participants can be drawn and…

CEO Deborah Dunsire on Lundbeck’s “Refreshed” Pipeline & The Importance of Biomarkers

Since joining Danish neuroscience specialist Lundbeck as its global CEO in 2018, South African Deborah Dunsire has focused on “revitalising and refreshing” the firm’s pipeline, which had seen several failures in the preceding years. In an exclusive recent conversation with PharmaBoardroom, Dunsire explains the strategy she has put in place to ensure fruitful research programs…

The Danish Foundation Model: Benefits Abound

Denmark’s four largest pharma companies – Novo Nordisk, Lundbeck, LEO Pharma, and ALK – are all at least partly owned by independent foundations, which means that their profits are divided between their shareholders and the foundations themselves, with funds then channelled into academia and biotech start-ups. Here, a variety of stakeholders weigh in on the…

Pharma Faces: Zealand’s Emmanuel Dulac Targeting 5 Commercialised Products by 2025

Although Zealand Pharma has been around for 23 years, it has made rapid progress since French national Emmanuel Dulac took the helm as president and CEO in April 2019, with a first new drug application (NDA) and approval, a first in-licensing, and two acquisitions. Dulac – a veteran of Novartis, Shire and Alnylam –…

Denmark: Digital Weapons in the Battle Against COVID

Denmark has long been at the vanguard of digitalisation, most notably in the form of comprehensive national health registries. This well-established footprint gave the Nordic nation a headstart in battling the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and beyond and can be accredited with Denmark’s relatively successful identification, testing, and vaccination processes. Lisbeth Nielsen, director general…