Two of the country's leading researchers in dementia and Alzheimer's disease have been critical about the two announcements from Novo Nordisk about a possible breakthrough within Alzheimer's. It is a premature announcement, and Novo Nordisk hasn't presented concete data, they say. "I wouldn't give it too much weight," says consultant and professor Steen Gregers Hasselbach.
30-year old Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi, who is behind diagnostics company Prediagnose, is this years winner of a life science grant of DKK 10,000 (USD 1,491) to promote female role models within the pharmaceutical, biotech and medtech industry.
Novo Nordisk has gained a clear competitive edge, after the FDA approved the addition of new cardiovascular data to the enclosed information sheet for its diabetes drug Ozempic, believes Novo Nordisk's research director Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen.
With a plan to get 7 drugs approved in 8 years, Daiichi Sankyo is very busy. Success requires a big shake up in Europe, including the Nordics, says development director Giles Galllant.
Lundbeck is just one of many companies who have invested in the US-based Lieber Institute's brain bank. The industry hopes that the research done there can help to find new ways to tackle psychiatric disorders.
Italian comany Chiesi has formed tight bonds with Scandinavia through a number of strategic decisions. The company started its Nordic department in 2014 and is hiring its 80th employee this year.
Biotech company Cytovac will try to raise DKK 15 million (USD 2.2 million) to keep the company going, after the firm's key asset Alecsat has failed a phase II study as a treatment for brain cancer.
Funen-based RSP Systems has been unable to attract a new CEO, despite a thorough search. This has been going on since last summer, and now the scientific director has stepped up instead. "Not the ideal solution," the man himself says, as he will now have to lead the launch of a blood sugar monitor and a capital raise.
After puchasing Lasal in 2019, Kastrup-based Cobi Rehab is ready to grow internationally. This year, the company will lay the foundations to launch its products on the German market.
The number of hearing aids sold in the US has never been higher than in 2019, when over 4 million units were sold. This is happening before a new law about buying hearing aids over the counter comes into force in August at the latest.
There are huge differences in wages within the life science industry, the figures from Pharmadanmark's yearly wage statistics show. One pharmaceutical company in particular stands out for having more lucrative wages than average.
Novo Ventures is one of the group of investors who are investing DKK 235 million (USD 34.9 million) in the newly-founded spinout company Vectivbio, which will develop a drug for short bowel syndrome. The person behind the investment is Zealand co-founder Jørgen Søborg Petersen.
Scandion Oncology will meet with several representatives from large and medium-sized businesses at this year's JP Morgan conference. The hope is that the business will meet a future partner.
The world's third-largest manufacturer of hearing aids, WS Audiology, has now confirmed that chair of the board Thomas Eberling has been replaced by someone from within their own ranks.
Medtech company Balancair has raised DKK 19 million (USD 2.8 million) from investors, primarily to finance a clinical trial with over 150 migraine patients from several countries. It hopes that this will eliminate cricitism of the results from the firm's earlier pilot study.
This year, and over the next few years, new EU rules will come into force involving stricter requirements for case processing, among other things. To accomodate these, the Danish Medicines Agency will optimize its working processes so that businesses' contact with the agency becomes as smooth as possible.
A CEO change at Saniona has been in the works for a while, says chair of the board Don deBethizy, as the company needs more commercial experience than the research-heavy leadership team could offer.
A large national call for tenders for the production of equipment for diabetics across Denmark has just been announced. 7-8 different manufacturers are expected to bid on the job, which is worth at least half a billion kroner.
The opportunity for Veloxis to profit from a lack of medicine in the US seems to have vanished, as two competitors have announced new supplies of medicines with tacrolimus as the active ingredient.
Orphazyme is asking its shareholders for permission to issue new shares worth billions of kroner, after the company presented study data on Friday which, according to financial director Anders Vadsholt, increases the chance of approval.
Lundbeck has woked intensively with biomarkers and more segmentation in the company's clinical studies. The goal is to identify more mistakes in the early phases, to avoid costly slip-ups during phase III trials.
In many ways it has become easier to be a brand new life science company in Denmark than it was ten years ago, but how easy it is to get financing for companies depends on what they are focusing on, say two experienced people in the industry.
Orphazyme now expects its drug arimoclomol to be approced in 2021, having previously announced that this was expected in the second half of 2020. The reason for this delay can be characterized as better safe than sorry.
All phthalates will be removed from Ambu's products in 2020, while carbon dioxide emissions will be halved over the coming years, and plastic will be phased out. It is the right thing to do and good for the bottom line, according to CEO Juan Jose Gonzalez.
