fredag 21 september 2018

Inkommande delegation från Ryssland

Det var med stor entusiasm som delegationen ledd av Sergey Aleshchenko, Vice ordförande i Social Security Fund of the Russian Federation besökte Swecare och lärde sig mer om hur det svenska vårdsystemet fungerar.

En stor del av frågorna gällde såklart rehabilitering, och vilken roll publika och privata aktörer har för att erbjuda bra lösningar för befolkningen. Man berätta även om det system de arbetat med att få en kontinuitet i vårdkedjan och samarbetet mellan vårdgivare och deras motsvarighet till försäkringskassan. Detta är ett område där det finns möjlighet för kunskapsutbyte.

Vidare fanns stort intresse för Vision eHälsa2025 och vikten av att ha bra interoperabilitet och modern lagstiftning för att kunna ta vara på digitaliseringens möjligheter, och skapa bra grund för innovativa företag inom området.

Dmitry Selivanov, Head of the IT Department berättade att man tittar noga på utvecklingen i Estland och Finland  som man ser som föregångare inom området patientjournaler med tonvikt på integritets- och cybersäkerhetsfrågor. Ett området man var överraskad att Sverige inte kommit längre i med tanke på den ledande positionen Sverige har inom e-recept. 



Den kommande Life Science Strategin och arbetet med Vision eHälsa2025 bör kunna flytta fram Sveriges position även inom patientjournaler och andra plattformar som möjliggör en mer kontinuerlig vård för patienten och anhöriga. Det finns en god grund för fortsatt erfarenhetsutbyte.

på återseende! до свиданья! 


torsdag 20 september 2018

Nätverkslunch för internationalisering med Stockholm Digital Care

I måndags bjöd Stockholm Digital Care in till en nätverkslunch om "Välfärdsteknik goes global" i samarbete Swecare. Stockholm Digital Care är ett EU-projekt med mål att skapa tillväxt för SMEs i Stockholmsregionen som arbetar med välfärdsteknik. Ett större utbud av välfärdsteknik för äldre ska samtidigt bidra till ett självständigt liv och välbefinnande för äldre som bor kvar hemma.

Swecare fick äran att hålla första presentationen efter en introduktion av Ann-Sofie Mårtensson på Stockholm Digital Care. Det var bra uppslutning av främst lite mindre företag som fick höra mer om olika aspekter på internationalisering.

Ann-Sofie Mårtensson från Stockholm Digital Care
Vi berättade förstås om hur Swecare jobbar för att öka kontakter och samverkan mellan svenska företag och relevanta aktörer på andra marknader. Därefter kom Adam Edström på RISE med matnyttig information om av Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) kan erbjuda för stöd för ambitiösa SMEs som vill växa internationellt. I detta ingår stöd till partnersök och nätverkande, råd om bla lagar och standards, marknadsinformation samt stöd för att hitta finansiering - och mycket mer. Titta på https://enterpriseeurope.se/ för mer information!

Adam Edström, RISE om EEN

Andra delen av seminariet bestod av två utmärkta presentationer från Camanio Care och Zenicor. Camanio Care AB utvecklar innovativa lösningar för omsorg i hemmet med individen i cdntrum och fokus på aktivering, måltid och digital omsorg. Zenicor Medical Systems AB har utvecklat ett system för tidig diagnos av arytmier och strokeprevention.

Dessa två Swecare medlemmar har gett sig ut på en internationell resa med något olika strategier. Camanio arbetar främst via väl valda distributörer i Asien, Mellanöstern och ett 10-tal europeiska länder. USA är undantaget, där man valt att etablera ett dotterbolag. Zenicor har istället satsat på att bygga upp en egen internationell försäljningsorganisation och finns idag i 10 länder i Europa. I övrigt fanns det flera gemensamma nämnare i presentationerna, såsom fokus på personliga relationer, gör läxan: samla marknadsinformation, ta reda på vem som betalar och vem som är kunden. Pioritera sedan marknaderna baserat på detta men även vilken kunskap och kompetens som företaget har tillgång till (eller kan skaffa sig), var beredd att anpassa affärsmodellen utifrån marknaden, och sist men inte minst: ha uthållighet.

Jasmine Dahlberg från Camanio Care och Caroline Mellstig Theimer från Zenicor samtalar med Ann-Sofie

Alltihop avslutades med ett livfullt nätverkande, där visitkort utbyttes, frågor bollades och kaffe dracks.

onsdag 19 september 2018

Collaboration across borders to new markets - CBHA Final Seminar

The Central Baltic Health Access program has been part of our work at Swecare for a couple of years now. This interesting collaboration with Swedish Medtech and similar organizations in Finland, Estonia and Latvia to facilitate entry to new markets for our companies, has now come to an end. More information about the program can be found below, or check the label CBHA for all blog entries relating to the program.

The program has involved 65 companies and included home market coaching, target market coaching, tailor-made market information and business missions to all four target markets: India, USA, South Korea, and Uganda. There have even been some sales - not bad considering the long lead times in life science and health care - and several partnership agreements, in addition to the MoUs between the Baltic partners and coaches and organizations in the target markets.


The seminar began with a welcome by Malin Hollmark from Swedish Medtech and Piret Hirv, our program partner from Estonia who was also the moderator of the event. The seminar consisted of presentations from a coach for each market, as well as the sharing of experiences by one or two participating companies per market.

Sachin Gaur from InnovatioCuris, Target Market Coach for India, led the discussions. He presented his recommendations under the title: ´The good, the bad and the ugly´ which was appreciated by the audience. With a population of 1.3 billion and a 90% out-of-pocket expenditure on health care, there is great need for products and services at low prices.

Pavan Asalapuram presented EMPE Diagnostics' story and how their test kits can provide rapid information about drug-susceptibility in TB patients, which simplifies and assists doctors in providing the right treatment. The product has been received with great interest in the market and he will continue to work with Sachin to enter the Indian market. Pavan listed some of the advantages of the program, such as getting exposure and valuable contacts, proper guidance and access to local authorities.

The next market discussed was USA and Nima Jokilaakso, the Swedish local coach from Swecare, presented lessons learned and recommendations for entering the market. Some conclusions were that companies must realize that competition is really fierce in the US market and that in order to succeed you need to do business the "American Way" (don't be shy), to partner with local associations in order to use their network and in-house competence, and make sure you have legal coverage "for when you get sued".


Priit Kruus from the Estonian company Dermtest, that empowers general practitioners in fighting melanoma, expressed his struggle with being a small but growing company and the difficulties in prioritizing. Rasmus Hautala from Finnish Labrotex also shared his experience from the program. Their clearly defined goal of targeting the right key opinion leaders has enabled the company to reach their desired position.

This was followed by an inspirational speech from Birgit Linnamäe, both based on her experience from assisting and preparing companies to enter the South Korean market, as well as her reflections on cultural differences. Interactions between two people can be interpreted in many ways. How people perceive things such as time, space, temperature, family, truth etc are some examples she lifted.

Thomas Lööw from Swedish company Lifeclean presented their CBHA journey which has led to the shipping of one 40 feet container full of Lifeclean disinfectants to South Korea. Thomas mentioned that the program gave Lifeclean the opportunity to be part of a group, and he now realizes how important regular contact and relationships are for the process, both between company and coach, and with partners in the target market. The South Korea part of the seminar was concluded by Julie Yi, target market coach who gave her view of the program.

The last market was Uganda, where Anna Riby from Swecare presented some defining characteristics of the Ugandan market which has a heterogeneous and less regulated structure, with stark differences between city / country, private / public, and high out-of-pocket spending. Important things to consider for market entry are to offer the relevant product for the patient segment and an adapted business model. She also urges companies to use WhatsApp as a means of communication rather than emails and to persevere - it will take time!
Nina Nilsson from Bactiguard began her presentation by discussing September 13 - World Sepsis Day. Every day, every 3rd second someone dies of sepsis. With that said, she gave her input on how Bactiguard is looking at the Ugandan market potential. She described Bactiguard's process for market assessment and distributor selection. They focus on private hospitals since their buying power is much stronger. She confirmed that the process is slow, but they have not given up hope on landing a deal in the future, as demand for high-quality health care is increasing. 
Continuous training for medical staff in infection control and use of the products will be necessary when there is a sale.

The participants were divided into smaller groups for lunch in order to discuss and agree on recommendations for the CBHA team with regards to the program structure, coaching, and common challenges.

After lunch, the group discussions were summarized and the common-thread for all four markets seem to be the advice that a company wanting to access the market has to be willing to spend time onsite – with potential partners – sending occasional emails is not enough. Companies should consider their own resources, collaboration is key, and the local coaches invaluable. Also, it is important to spend time to “teach the coach” – the target market coach needs to understand your needs, your products, and your offer. Plan regular meetings with the both target market coaches and local coaches.


Before bidding farewell, Memoranda of Understanding with partners in the US market were signed by the partners on this side of the Atlantic. The American partners, the Commonwealths of Maryland and Pennsylvania and target market coach Bob Anthony, will sign during a ceremony which is part of the follow-up business mission to the US in a couple of weeks.

The last activity of the program will be a follow-up mission to India, organized by Swecare with the support of InnovatioCuris, after which this segment of the program will be wrapped-up. However, we will continue developing the contacts and networks that the project has resulted in and the Baltic partners have agreed to apply for a second phase, covering new markets, for which the input from the final seminar will be invaluable. So even if this was the Final Seminar, we hope that it will only be one step in the ongoing collaboration with partners in the Baltics and in target markets, so that we can support companies in reaching those distant markets!


CB Health Access program was initiated in 2016 between Estonian, Finnish, Latvian and Swedish organizations to support entrepreneurship in health technologies. The program has facilitated the entry of Estonian, Latvian, Swedish and Finnish health, med and bio- tech companies to distant markets – South Korea, USA, India and Uganda. CB Health Access provided the companies with an introduction of the target market, individual coaching both from the home country and from target market experts, market information, business missions, and support in identifying and contacting potential partners. The program has had a strong focus for the companies to achieve sales in the chosen market. The program is financed by the Central Baltic Interreg Program.

fredag 7 september 2018

Lärorik småföretagslunch - en matnyttig avslutning på arbetsveckan

Till trevlig lunch i Renapharmas trevliga lokaler på Östermalm i Stockholm samlades idag en skara med representanter för Swecares småföretagsnätverk. Till livs fick vi en mycket god och nyttig lunch och en lika matnyttig presentation av Nina Nilsson, VP Sales & Marketing på Bactiguard. Vi fick höra om hur Bactiguard över tid systematiserat och kvalitetssäkrat sin process för val av marknad och av distributörer på olika marknader.


Nina gav många tips på vad som är viktigt att tänka på och gav både lyckade och lite mindre lyckade exempel. Ni som inte var med missade en massa goda råd, t ex att inte blir smickrad och falla för distributörer som tar kontakt på mässor med fantastiska förslag, utan snarare lägga ned tid och göra en ordentlig analys av marknadspotentialen och förbereda etableringen väl. Då får man också ett bättre förhandlingsläge gentemot potentiella distributörer.

Om ditt företag är redo för internationell expansion och gärna vill ha stöd från andra företag i samma situation - hör av dig till oss, så bjuder vi in dig till nästa tillfälle lite längre fram i höst. Detsamma gäller om du har tips på ämnen eller talare för kommande luncher! 

Stort tack till Caroline på Renapharma och Nina på Bactiguard för en trevlig och lärorik lunch!



onsdag 5 september 2018

This is your chance to make it in India



A Focus on Health in 2019:

Celebrating 10 years of close cooperation between Sweden and India


Late August brought with it a visit from the Secretary Health of the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Planning, Ms Preeti Sudan. Her presence provided the opportunity to informally inaugurate the celebrations which are to take place in 2019, marking 10 years since the signing of the MoU on Health between Sweden and India. Swecare was honored and grateful to be able to invite some of its members to a warm reception hosted by the Indian Ambassador at her Stockholm residence Thursday night.

During the speeches by Ms Sudan, Ambassador Monika Kapil Mohta, Swedish Ambassador to India Klas Molin, and Swecare CEO Maria Helling, all four emphasized the need for more deliverables from the MoU during 2019. To this end, it was suggested that we focus on one major health challenge and one geographical area. While we are eager to hear your inputs on which city in India to focus our efforts, it was pretty clear that non-communicable diseases (NCD) needs our immediate attention.

Our ongoing collaborations within anti-microbial resistance will continue of course, but more resources would be channeled into NCDs in 2019. This would encompass the fields of geriatrics, med tech, health tech, and pharmaceuticals as well as capacity building and skill training.

In order to lay the groundwork for planned activities in 2019, which will include incoming and outgoing ministerial visits, Swecare has invited a small group of Swedish life science companies to participate in a visit to Delhi in October, prior to the annual Indo-Swedish Joint Working Group in Health meeting between Socialdepartementet and the Indian Ministry of Health on October 12. From this, we plan to convene a steering committee from a select group of companies, which will be responsible for drawing up the program for the private sector activities in 2019, both in Sweden and in India.

Do get in touch with us if you want regular updates on this exciting year ahead.

If you want to seize this opportunity and come to India straightaway rather than wait for 2019, please join us at these two events: