Fika with Dr Frank - 2017 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry

photo credit: Yasmine Dahlberg

Swecare Foundation and the Columbia Alumni Association of Sweden had the extraordinary privilege of organizing an intimate event with Columbia University professor and this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner - Dr. Joachim Frank.

As per his wishes, we organized a traditional Swedish fika Saturday afternoon and extended the invitation to colleagues sitting with us in our Life Science Cluster on Sveavägen, along with Columbia University alumni. Given this extremely personal setting and the cozy ambiance created by City Life Konferens & Möte, we were in a position to have in-depth discussions about his work in cryo-electron microscopy - its journey from the 70s and its implications in medicine. Dr. Frank also wanted to hear about our work here in Sweden.

Dr. Frank's passion for his subject was clear when he described how the technology he developed enables us to capture the 'dance' which takes place within molecules. Instead of seeing molecules in their passive, 2D state, we can now map them at the atomic level which, along with other benefits, allows scientist to develop targeted pharmaceutical products to more effectively fight disease. Dr. Frank spoke of how moved he was when a mother once thanked him for his contribution in developing improved treatment for cystic fibrosis which benefitted her son immensely. To him, his research often feels far removed from the actual people it touches. Alzheimer's is another such condition in which cryo-electron microscopy could provide breakthrough treatment.

Another aspect Dr. Frank stressed was the importance of collaboration. Certain camera functions were developed by industry leaders for their specific use. Similarly, new computer technology has lead to discoveries the three Nobel Prize winners could never have imagined back in the 1970s. With all the doom-and-gloom in the news these days, this was a truly inspiring event which left us all with a feeling that everything is possible.

Thank you Dr. Frank for this incredible honor.

[Read Medtech4Health's Swedish blog on https://medtech4health.se/s63-platsen-dar-alla-fran-nobelpristagare-till-medtech4health-fikar/]

Svettigt när Finland firade 100 år av självständighet

Det var en munter skara på dussinet som samlades i Finlandshusets konferenslokal för att fira jubileumsåret. Efter ett kortare välkomsttal för att högtidlighålla märkesåret, hölls presentationer av verksamheten och de projekt som organisatörerna (Swecare, Ecca Nordic, Jokilaakso & Co) är engagerade i. Deltagarna som representerade personer från näringsliv och akademi åtnjöt bastukorv som tillagats på aggregatet med en välkomst öl.

Sedan var det dags för dopp i den "iskalla" poolen och hårt bastubadande för fortsatta starka relationer mellan Sverige och Finland inom företagande och kultur. Sista gänget att checka ut passade på att gratulera Dr.Johan Seijsing (t.v i bilden) för att ha vunnint Skolar Award på Slush17 och vinsten på 100 000 € för presentationen av sin forskning på använda enzymer funna i naturen för att tackla problemet med antibiotika resistens.

Tillsammans önskar vi ytterligare minst 100 år utav vänskap och handel mellan Sverige och Finland!

Joint Swedish-German workshop for bilateral cooperation in eHealth

It was a happy crowd that gathered at the German Embassy in Stockholm, as the forth meeting this year to move further in the spirit of the innovation partnership that exists.

The experts, trade organizations and government representatives were welcomed by Dr. Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth, German Ambassador to Sweden, after which Andreas Hartl, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, and Nino Mangiapane, Federal Ministry of Health presented how eHealth is important for the continuation of growth of the German economy. The German healthcare sector is the single most backwards industry when it comes to digitalization which is of course a setback for an otherwise world leading manufacturer and provider of healthcare products and services. There are many challenges such as regulations, decentralization, integrity concerns from the citizens but also the lack of perception of the urgency to adapt and digitalize. Which was heavily debated by the participants.

After which MiH reps from both countries, Henrik Moberg and Niklas Kramer presented current plans for digitalization in healthcare. Followed up by a knowledgeable and empathic presentation on political backing of these initiatives by Anders Lönnberg, National Coordinator for the life sciences leading to heavy table-knocking from all participants.

To move from the regulations, integrity and policy heavy topic to a lighter subject, Julia Hagen from Bitkom presented the challenges for startups in Germany and here both parties could argue that there is a risk of brain drain if policy-makers and the public healthcare providers are too slow to act on these challenges. That entrepreneurs are increasingly looking for offshores markets to sell and even relocate to. While investments were lifted as a challenge the major challenge is rather revenue and unclarity on the regulatory requirements such as CE-marking and GDPR.

This lead to the area of data usage, which lead to a warm and intense debate, where both the role of standards, updated regulations, and creation of roadmaps and guidelines was lifted. Here the German Electronic Health Card was discussed as well as the Swedish unlaunched initiatives such as HälsaförMig™, and the underlying software, where the usage of bitcoin could be a solution. All parties agreed that a huge problem in the legislature is that technology advances faster and it is hard to judge past solutions with todays or tomorrows technical capacity. Further the need of making legislative bodies and governments more Tech-savvy to understand that the technology is seldom black-or-white but very adaptive to different sorts of needs such as those regarding dynamic consent, opt-in and opt-out and other things that is fully technically possible. Estonia was lifted as an example of a forwards’ nation in how to understand the potential and dynamics of the technology in a realistic and pragmatic way for government needs. Finally, parties agreed that while Sweden and Germany has a lot to learn from each other, we should also include best practice learnings from the outside in particular in the set-up of consensus creation such as the Seqouia project for sharing health data.

The concrete next steps wanted are a formalized innovation platform to continue these discussions to reduce barriers of entry to the markets, and retain and grow our homegrown eHealth companies, AND on a more concrete tone the trade delegation 7-8 February to Berlin that SWECARE and the German-Swedish Chamber of Commerce organize.

Zusammen!

Kenya & Tanzania: Exploring East Africa - Part I

Samarbete - Collaboration. A concept which sounds deceptively simple. The objective of this delegation trip was to take a limited number of Swedish companies (and in this case one institution) to Kenya and Tanzania in order to meet potential local collaborators with whom they can forge longlasting partnerships in order to expand, and/or establish, their presence in East Africa.

The delegation trip itself would not have come about without the close collaboration between Swecare Foundation and Business Sweden. After the phenomenal initial interest which surprised even us, it seemed that the trip might not even take place. We were obliged to wait for the political situation in Kenya to stabilize before we could confirm the program and bookings with our delegates. By this time, the uncertainty had caused a few of the interested actors to back out. Although we had always wanted a small delegation, one or two companies would not be enough to capture the interest of local partners, nor would it have been financially viable. It had to be lagom. But as is often the case, things have a way of working out at the last minute and we ended up with 15 people from seven Swedish companies participating. And the 19-23 November trip was quite the success.

Program Overview

Anna Jardfelt welcoming the delegation

The trip started with a short but extremely productive cocktail at the Swedish Residence in Nairobi on Monday, presided over by the Swedish Ambassador to Kenya, Anna Jardfelt, and the United Nations' Resident Coordinator, Siddarth Chatterjee. Networking had already started and meetings were arranged even before the program had properly begun. 

Representatives from the Kenyan Ministry of Health, the country manager of PharmAccess, and our own Hans Winberg from Leading Health Care spoke to a targeted Kenyan audience and the delegation during the morning seminar on Tuesday. The Swedish companies also got a chance to present themselves in order to clarify their vision and the types of partnerships they seek. The theme, loosely defined, was increasing efficiency through regional partnership and collaboration, with a focus on the most immediate healthcare challenges in East Africa.

As inspiring as talks were, what our delegation appreciated the most were the B2B meetings arranged in the afternoon. Keeping the group small meant that instead of the quick 10 minute chats one usually has during these sessions, our participants could spend up to 30 minutes on each meeting if it was going well. The value of such meetings cannot be overestimated. The key to successful collaborations often hinges on the unlikeliest of factors - do you actually get along? Do you enjoy the time you spend together? We all know that in our personal lives respect and affinity are the basis of all good partnerships, but we often dismiss this while making professional choices. Don't. Spend the time necessary to get to know each other. We hope and suspect that many left the day's events not only with business cards, but with potential friends.

Part of the delegation during the Coptic Hospital visit in Nairobi

Site visits in Nairobi took place on Wednesday before the evening flight to Dar es Salaam. The delegation received a warm welcome at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Kenyatta National Hospital, and Coptic Hospital. Most common requests:

• Longterm financing solutions for equipment
• capacity building & skill transfer
• local market presence

Our day in Dar es Salaam took the shape of a Road Show which started with a meeting with representatives from the Tanzanian Ministry of Health at the Swedish Embassy. This was a good lead for a number of companies in the delegation who felt that success in Tanzania would very much depend on the goodwill of the government as they crack down on corruption. This meeting was followed by site visits to Medical Stores Department, Muhimbili National Hospital, and Ocean Road Cancer Institute and ended with a reception hosted by the Ambassador of Sweden to Tanzania, Katarina Rangnitt, at her Residence.

Participating Companies

Much of the reason for the success of this delegation trip rests with the participants - a dedicated set of highly intelligent, passionate, and fun individuals. Thank you for coming!

• AstraZeneca - Health Heart Africa
• East Africa Technologies, Medtech, Pharmaceuticals, and Medical Supplies (EATMPS)
• Elekta
• HemoCue
• Karolinska Universitetssjukhus
• MedCardApps (MCA)
• Pansanté
• Systemair

Interested in learning more about our leads in East Africa? Email us and plan to join us in Rwanda and Uganda for Part II of this delegation, 19-22 March, 2018.

”De Tio Förbudsorden” om Pharma och eHälsobolagen får prioritera

Eftermiddagen 13 November fylldes konferenslokalen i City Life av forskande läkemedelsbolag och eHälsobolag med syftet att nätverka och sinsemellan diskutera kring vilka utmaningar i vårdens digitalisering som påverkar bolagen mest.

Initiativet för träffen togs utav Swecare och LIF, som en del av den samverkan som blivit enklare i och med att vi numera är goda grannar i det Life science kluster som bildats på Sveavägen 63, i Stockholm. Båda medlemsorganisationer har egna fokusgrupper (sk. Task Force) för just Digitalisering och eHälsa, där man både bedriver kunskapsutbyte och diskuterar initiativ inom området.

Eftersom deltagarna alla har stor kompetens inom området och utbytet sinsemellan är viktigt blev formatet rundabordssamtal, kring temat digitalisering av vården. För att ha en gemensam bas att diskutera från och att inte uppfinna hjulet så bjöds Hans Winberg, från Leading Healthcare in som öppningstalare för att presentera ”De Tio Förbudsorden”. Saker man INTE ska göra för att underlätta digitaliseringen! Mycket spännande tyckte deltagarna som efter en livlig diskussion vid kaffepausen tog vid med uppgiften att i rundabordssamtal prioritera bland dessa förbudsord.

Det framkom vid presentationerna att båda typer av bolag numera hade en samstämmig syn kring vilka utmaningarna var och vad man INTE ska göra för att underlätta digitalisering. Det handlade om att Ersättningssystemen inte ska hindra innovation, Data ska inte behöva skrivas in flera gånger manuellt om det kan automatiseras eller göras tillgängligt mha bättre interoperabilitet, och Patienter ska inte hindras från att möta vården och delta i sin egen vård med de digitala verktyg som existerar.

När de tuffa frågorna avhandlats och deltagarna passade på att mingla och utbyta visitkort, antecknade projektledarna från Swecare och LIF flitigt så att detta fångas upp och återkopplas till fokusgrupperna.

Förändringsagenter vilar aldrig!

The Largest Audience Ever - when Swedish Companies tour USA

Five companies from Sweden attended a business mission to USA in October-November 2017 to meet with healthcare insurance companies, legal and market entry experts, science parks and incubators and a lobbyist or two. The business visit was organized in cooperation with Swedish Medtech, Embassy of Sweden in Washington DC, The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce (SACC-USA and SACC –DC), with support from AHP International and The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The business visit was performed under the framework of CB Health Access, a joint program between Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Latvia, which supports health technology companies entering distant markets.  

 

During the business mission to USA, the companies visited several sites in the Greater Philadelphia to Greater DC corridor.  The business mission started in Philadelphia where the companies met healthcare insurance companies, legal and market entry experts, science parks and incubators. The first day of meetings were held at the Morgan Lewis office, where meetings with Independence Blue Cross, and Ben Frankling Technology Partners, and the president for Sectra Inc. Which was concluded with socializing with the amazing local investors and Ulf Åkerblom the Swedish honorary consul to US.

The following day the companies visited Dreamit Ventures and other inhabitants at the Science Center, after which a meeting was held at the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia with representatives of the regional eco-system such as City of Philadelphia, Select Greater Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The latter has a collaboration with AHP International on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and thus had helped out with the Philadelphia program, thus the companies met AHP before traveling to Washington DC for a meeting on regulations with Advamed, located with a view of The Capitolium, what the companies managed to get a guided tour before closure.

The following day, the companies had a full day program at The House of Sweden, with experts on thrilling topics such as Macroeconomics & Political Outlook, Healthcare Laws & Regulations, e-Health interoperability initiatives, US.market entry from an academic and Swedish company experience outlook and finally what the essence of lobbying is. The program was done in cooperation with the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce that was helpful in arranging meetings, speakers and logistics. In the evening the companies and speaker had a rendezvous at welcome reception hosted at the Swedish ambassador’s residence.

The final day, the companies had tours to Medtronic,where the companies learned about how the global leader in medical devices is reinventing its role in the healthcare chain, setting up it´s own clinics in Europe. After which the tour continued to the Inova Center for Personalized Health in Virginia, where the companies got to learn how ICPH uses the latest science and technology to focus on the integration of genomics into personalized medicine and individualized wellness, as well as having individual meetings with experts. So after dropping half of the people at the airport the brave few continued to Maryland for a meeting with Get Real Health, created the personal health account commissioned by the Swedish eHealth Agency, called Hälsa för Mig.

CB Health Access program was initiated in 2016 between Estonian, Finnish, Latvian and Swedish technology organizations to support entrepreneurship in health technologies. The program facilitates the entry of Estonian, Latvian, Swedish and Finnish health tech companies to distant markets – South Korea, USA, India and Uganda. CB Health Access provides 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 identifying and contacting potential partners, and business missions. The program has a strong focus for the companies to achieve sales in the chosen market. The program is financed by Central Baltic Interreg Program.

For more information on the CB Health Access program see https://www.cbhealthaccess.eu/, or contact: Maarika.Merirand@tehnopol.ee, Malin.Hollmark@swedishmedtech.se or Anna.Riby@swecare.se

9th Session for the Indo-Swedish Joint Working Group on Health

Often referred to as the most successful MoU in our joint arsenal, the healthcare cooperation has done much to bring India and Sweden closer. Though vastly different demographically, our countries share similar challenges due to a very decentralized governance structure and a large percentage of our populations living far from health care centers. As such, many of the common challenges we face can only be overcome through collaboration and cooperation. In the coming year, ahead of the MoU's 10th anniversary, it was decided during the actual Joint Working Group meeting to take stock on what has been accomplished and explore new areas of collaboration.

For the private sector, this means we need more clarity on the recent bevy of policy changes. Although these changes for the large part have improved the business climate, they are quite confusing not only for the Swedes but Indian themselves. The Indian delegation, which included a senior representative from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), very generously shared their business cards with the Swedish companies present for the roundtable and assured each and every one of them to personally call in case of any issues.

The delegation also got a chance to see some of the Swedish products in use at Akademiska in Uppsala and was much impressed by the extremely close collaboration between professors, researchers, medical professionals, investors, and industry. While the Indian government representatives understood that these are the ingredients making Sweden such fertile ground for innovation, they had never truly appreciated how tightly, both physically and intellectually, these actors work together. This was further emphasized during their visit to EMPE Diagnostics at the Karolinska Science Park with which they ended the trip.

Going forward, Swecare, at the behest of some of our members, will focus on:

1. the inclusion of quality criteria in public healthcare tenders - looking in not just the lowest, but the total cost, and
2. exemptions based on global health threats (such as AMR which features prominently in the new Indian National Health Policy) for the price caps being introduced for certain Medtech products by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority.

We are also working to ensure more continuity in our activities with India. Part of this will be through regularly planned trips to India and the cultivation of relationships with potential partners on the ground. If you have any suggestions or requests, do get in touch. India is a vast, and often overwhelming, country but the rewards for successful partnership could eventually affect the national and global health threats facing both Sweden and India - not to mention improve the lives of people.