Skåne has world-class research, strong life science companies and a growing innovation ecosystem. But what does it take to move from strong to stronger?

That was the question when Vectura brought together Linn Antberg of Camurus, Renée Aguiar-Lucander of Hansa Biopharma, Erik Renström of Lund University and Ulrika Ringdahl of SMILE Venture Hub at The Loop in Science Village.

Each speaker brought a different perspective to the same challenge.

For Camurus, the focus was on what companies need around them to grow – from talent and infrastructure to strong networks and collaboration. Universities remain an important source of talent, while the region also needs to be attractive enough for people to move to and build their lives here.

Hansa Biopharma brought the global perspective. Renée Aguiar-Lucander highlighted the need for international talent, capital and networks, and argued that companies in Sweden need to look beyond their local market early on. Building a stronger sense of urgency across the ecosystem is also key.

From the academic perspective, Erik Renström pointed to a major opportunity in getting research further into the market. Strong research is not automatically commercially viable, and the path from research to innovation needs to become faster and more seamless. Stronger links between universities, incubators and business can help close that gap.

At SMILE, Ulrika Ringdahl sees many of these challenges at the earliest stage. Skåne is strong on research, but promising ideas need to be validated from a business perspective earlier. She highlighted gaps between early-stage funding and venture capital, and the need for closer collaboration between universities, incubators and experienced entrepreneurs.

Across the different perspectives, one theme emerged: Skåne has many of the ingredients for a strong innovation ecosystem. The challenge is connecting them – and moving faster.

That makes the development of places such as Science Village increasingly relevant. When research, companies, talent, infrastructure and innovation support are located close to one another, new connections can happen more naturally.

For Vectura, developing the physical environment is part of that equation – creating spaces and platforms where people and organisations can meet, exchange knowledge and build what comes next.