National and regional cluster profiles 2008

In December 2006, Vinnova was assigned by the Swedish Government to carry out an international study to shed light on the competitiveness of the Swedish sectorial innovation systems of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and medical technology in international comparison.

The study includes analyses of three main focus areas from an innovation system perspective:

• Key players in the Swedish innovation system, who they are and their position in an international comparison
• Trends, initiatives and commitments in other countries/regions
• Comparative case studies to investigate the competitiveness of the Swedish innovation system

The main question is what structure, growth and development capacity does the Swedish pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and medical technology industry have compared to other countries/regions excelling in this field?

The present report is one of the studies carried out as part of the project. The aim is to analyse the structure and dynamics of the life science industry in Denmark with the same methodology as previously applied to Sweden, "National and regional cluster profiles 2007" (Vinnova Report/Analysis VA 2007:16). In the study, a comparison has also been made with an earlier survey of the Medicon Valley region's companies and employees using data from 2003. The present report makes a limited analysis of the implications of the results identified. A more in-depth discussion on this can be found in "Why is Danish Life Science thriving?" (Vinnova Report/Analysis VA 2008:09) study of the benchmarking project.