Global Business Innovation Programme in Sweden - Advanced Therapies

A GBIP has three stages:

Prepare for the market

Preparing for the market includes the cohort being briefed by sector and market experts on, for example, cultural aspects of conducting business in that country. Delegates receive help to find business partners and arrange meetings and are advised on best practice including the management and protection of their intellectual property.

Visiting the market

Visiting the market provides opportunities to attend pre-arranged meetings and activities in order to better understand and maximise the opportunities that the visit presents.

Exploiting the opportunity

Exploiting the opportunity is arguably the most important aspect of the programme. To maximise the opportunity, participating companies are given bespoke one-to-one support from an Innovate UK EDGE innovation and growth specialist to help develop and implement an action plan.

The Global Business Innovation Programme operates on a competitive basis and businesses selected are required to participate in all three stages (some or all of which may be online).

To apply, you must:

• Be a UK-based innovation-led company with ambitions to grow and expand overseas.
• Be a company with fewer than 500 employees.
• Be able to attend and complete all activities.

Sweden is one of the most innovative countries in the world and a global leader in the health and life sciences sector.  With ambitions to be a world leader in ATMP development by 2030, the country benefits from a thriving biotechnology network and national initiatives coordinated by ATMP Sweden. In May 2023 the Swedish government, through Vinnova, the Swedish Innovation Agency, announced a 160 million SEK budget to establish several national clusters for the commercialisation of advanced therapies, such as the Centre for Commercialisation of Regenerative Medicine, CCRM Nordic, which will be located in “GoCo”, Gothenburg’s Health Innovation City. In 2022, the UK and Sweden signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding on health and life sciences, highlighting ATMP as a priority.  The UK and Swedish governments are due to sign a Strategic Partnership Agreement by the end of this year, which also highlights this important sector.  Opportunities for UK-Swedish ATMP collaboration and partnerships are therefore timely and significant.

This programme is particularly relevant to companies working on innovative and sustainable biomanufacturing processes and process technologies that enable the development of ATMP and delivery systems, including but not limited to:

• Manufacturing of cell therapies such as stem cell, natural killer (NK) cells, Tcell, and other engineered cell therapies
• Manufacturing of gene therapies using viral, and non-viral vectors
• mRNA and viral vector-based vaccine manufacturing
• Manufacturing of regenerative medicine
• Development of personalised medicines

Innovate UK and Innovate UK EDGE will fund and organise flights, accommodation, and any conference fees for successful applicants. Innovate UK will also pay for any reasonable adjustments throughout the initiative. Only one representative from each company will be funded.

On acceptance, a commitment fee of £500 will be obtained from each delegate, which will be refunded on completion of the full activities and agreed action plan. Non-completion after formal acceptance may result in forfeiting some or all the commitment fees.

Register for the applicant briefing event on 30th August from 9am-10am

Closing date for application: 22nd September 2023 at 5pm
Two-day pre-visit workshop: 19th – 20th October 2023
Innovation visit: 21st – 26th January 2024
Exploitation workshop: 12th March 2024

For more information, assistance with your application or to discuss accessibility needs, please email sarah.hildersley@innovateukedge.ukri.org or call 07435 008825.