Continued effort at BioVentureHub - a unique innovation hub in life science

- I am impressed with how AstraZeneca BioVentureHub has developed into a unique, creative and competitive innovation environment. I look forward to our joint continued effort to enable BioVentureHub to develop and contribute in the long term to Sweden continuing to be a leading Life Science-nation, ”says Darja Isaksson, director general Vinnova.

- We are grateful for the continued efforts from Vinnova and the Västra Götaland region. We are proud of what we have achieved together over the first five years. Now we look to the future to see how BioVentureHub can facilitate cutting-edge digital health solutions that benefit patients, says Magnus Björsne, CEO of AstraZeneca BioVentureHub.

- For us, it is important to create environments in which small businesses can develop and grow in collaboration with each other and larger companies. The I AstraZeneca BioVenture Hub is given access to research resources that they could never build up themselves and a change of skills is possible through close collaboration that benefits both Western Sweden, Sweden and the industry as a whole. Life science is one of our most important export industries and as a region we want to contribute to positive industry development and to a strong collaboration between our innovation- actors, says Kristina Jonäng, chairman of the regional development committee in the Västra Götaland region.

With continued financial support from VGR and Vinnova as well as co-financing from AstraZeneca, BioVentureHub will continue to serve as a nursery for research companies broadly in life science. Public and private actors began collaborating with AstraZeneca as early as 2015, which then opened up both laboratory space and offices and other research resources for smaller companies, without obtaining rights to the research results or ownership of the companies. In the new national strategy for life science, BioVenturehub is mentioned as an example of how the government sees collaboration with industry to develop innovation hubs.

Om AstraZeneca Bioventurehub
AstraZeneca started BioVentureHub in 2014 and has been funding Vinnova and VGR since 2015. BioVentureHub is an open ecosystem for innovation and for strengthening the competitiveness and dynamics of the life science industry. Based on an innovative public-private partnership model, BioVentureHub offers small and medium-sized companies and academic groups from Sweden and abroad a unique opportunity to co-locate with and utilize the power of AstraZeneca's world-class researchers and facilities, and to work closely with each other. There are currently 29 small and medium-sized companies, as well as 1 academic group in BioVentureHub.

Contact
Vinnova, Daniel Holmberg, daniel.holmberg@vinnova.se, 08- 473 31 00
VGR, Kristina Jonäng, 070-867 16 21
AstraZeneca BioVentureHub, Jamie Smith, 0723-757507