BIO-Europe – A Conference for Future Medical Innovations

BIO-Europe is Europe’s largest partnering conference for the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and life science industries. The conference serves as a meeting place where companies, researchers, investors, and other stakeholders in the industry can network, establish collaborations, and discuss business opportunities. The event is held annually in various European cities. This year, BIO-Europe took place in Stockholm from November 4th to 6th, where discussions included advanced cell and gene therapies as the medicine of the future.

ATMP Flemingsberg in Focus
During this year’s BIO-Europe conference, the Flemingsberg Science Foundation participated as part of the Swedish pavilion, with the mission to showcase ATMP Flemingsberg. ATMP (Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products) includes groundbreaking treatment methods such as gene therapy, cell therapy, and tissue engineering—innovations with the potential to revolutionize healthcare. During the conference, the Flemingsberg Science Foundation launched the first campaign for the ATMP Flemingsberg platform, highlighting nine “ATMP heroes”. The campaign focuses on the individuals behind the region’s pioneering work in cell and gene therapies.

Johnny Högberg, CEO of Flemingsberg Science, explains the idea behind the campaign:

“It’s about trying to create greater value in the message than just saying something about the location and all the companies. Instead, we want to highlight these heroes who are actually here but never seen. Something is happening here, but no one knows who is doing what. So the idea was to make it more real, human, and warm.”

Flemingsberg is home to a prominent research environment, colleges and universities, a university hospital, and a cluster of pioneering companies, all within a vibrant campus setting. To showcase the expertise in the area, the Flemingsberg Science Foundation aimed to draw attention to the people behind the advances in cell and gene therapies through their campaign.

“Stockholm is a central hub for Life Science in the Nordic Countries, with Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital joining forces and acting as magnets for the industry in Solna and Flemingsberg.” – Matti Sällberg, Dean of KI South and Professor of Biomedical Analysis

The Flemingsberg Science Foundation Plays a Unique Role in Advancing ATMP
When asked about the role Flemingsberg Science can play in driving the development of ATMP forward, Johnny Högberg responds:

“We are very important in the sense that we are the ones taking a holistic approach—no one else does that because no one else has that assignment. We try to connect and create what no one else does. However, we are completely dependent on those who actually do and know the things, for us to have meaningful content.”