Successful Microbiome Project reaches all KPIs

The Microbiome Signature Project exceeds all targets and the extensive mapping shows that Medicon Valley is one of the world’s main strongholds for microbiome research.

The Microbiome Signature Project, jointly led by Invest in Skåne, Copenhagen Capacity and Medicon Valley Alliance and financed by Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak, has inspired industry, academics and clinical researchers to work together. The project ends on 30 September 2022.

The strong result from the three-year project period 2019-2022 is impressive, especially seen in the light that the project team was working under constant uncertainty during the most part of the project due to the corona pandemic. All of the project’s key performance indicators have been reached and exceeded, see table 1.

"We are really proud that we have met and exceeded all our objectives and KPIs,” says Sarah Lidé, Senior Strategy and Project Manager at Medicon Valley Alliance.

Five companies established

When it comes to boosting private investments and founding international research facilities, five (5) microbiome companies have established themselves in the region. Prior to their contact with Invest in Skåne and Copenhagen Capacity, most of the investors had not considered investments in Medicon Valley. “Our proactive approach with foreign companies has been a fruitful concept and critical to convince organisations to establish themselves in Medicon Valley,” says Camilla Münter, Investment Promotion Manager at Copenhagen Capacity.

Another important part of the project has been to attract international talents to the region.

“The unemployment rate within the life-science sector in Denmark and Sweden is very low so every new talent coming from another country is a win for the region and its companies, clinics and universities,” says Dan Rosenberg, Senior Talent Acqusition Manager at Copenhagen Capacity.

The microbiome talent campaign ran over three periods. It resulted in 102 international talents being hired by organisations in the region. The word about the attractive Greater Copenhagen region has been spread more than 23 million times and 33,632 unique visitors have been registered at the talent campaign site.

Competition is strong when it comes to recruitment. Interviews show that all companies recruit from the same global talent pool and also recruit from each other. Large rotation of employees between the companies is not seen as a problem, but rather as a strength as it shows that there is a wealth of career opportunities in Medicon Valley.

Extensive mapping

The microbiome cluster in Medicon Valley had not been mapped before the project. Thus, one of the first key activities that the project set out to do was to interview more than 40 key regional stakeholders to get a better understanding of the region’s microbiome activities and capabilities.

“The mapping and interviews were very important to create a foundation for the project to build on,” says Sarah. The findings show that Medicon Valley has a vibrant ecosystem of more than 80 companies, organisations and institutions working actively with the microbiome.

The mapping also showed a contact gap.

“We discovered that there was not much communication between the region’s stakeholders and organisations. There is an overall demand for more interaction,” says Micael Györei, Senior Investment Advisor at Invest in Skåne.

The project team’s response to that was to arrange cross-border activities including a virtual summit (virtual due to the pandemic), a concluding event and a pitch day. They were all well-received, well-attended and served as important platforms for networking and for increasing the visibility of Medicon Valley as a leading microbiome hub. These project-led activities have helped connect companies across the Greater Copenhagen area, despite the competition between many of them.

“We conclude that the microbiome cluster in Medicon Valley is very attractive, and people want to be part of it,” says Sarah.

Table 1

For more information about the Microbiome Signature Project, please visit mediconvalley.greatercph.com/microbiome-project or contact:

Sarah Lidé
Senior Strategy and Project Manager, Medicon Valley Alliance
sl@mva.org
 +45 22 96 21 70

Micael Györei
Senior Investment Manager, Invest in Skåne
Micael.Gyorei@skane.se
+46 72 467 28 72

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