The Texas Medical Center and The Kingdom of Denmark Celebrate Five Years of Its Global Biobridge with Program Extension and New Industry Collaborations
Areas of focus include innovation and market access, research and education and industry collaborations
Houston, TX – (September 3, 2024) The Texas Medical Center and the Danish Ministry of Health, on behalf of the Kingdom of Denmark, are announcing the renewal of their five-year partnership with a new focus on creating strategic alliances with key industry members in the US and Denmark to advance life sciences, specifically in cancer, brain health, women’s health, and medical devices. The initial Biobridge with Denmark was signed in 2019 with two areas of focus: innovation and collaboration and research and education.
“Denmark has been a leader in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries by fostering collaborative environments between its academic institutions, industry, and government leaders, a key strategy that we implement in Houston as well. We look forward to the next five years of our partnership as the Texas Medical Center continues to achieve historic milestones in discoveries and innovation,” said William McKeon, president and CEO of Texas Medical Center. “Together with our collaborators, we will continue to explore ways to transform the patient experience and create new opportunities by bringing together the brightest minds in the world.”
For international companies looking to grow their presence in the US, Biobridge can provide first-hand insights into how to turn ideas and innovations into practical solutions. Additionally, companies like Genmab are looking to Biobridge to further expand their collaborative reach across the cancer community to accelerate innovative research. At the same time, Novo Nordisk Foundation is among the Biobridge collaborations that serve to help strengthen and amplify innovators’ capabilities through funding and comprehensive support to ensure therapies can be developed, approved and delivered to patients effectively and efficiently.
Since its inception, the Denmark-TMC Biobridge has hosted two accelerators focused on fostering innovation in digital and telehealth solutions, medical devices, and operations. Aiomic, one of seven Danish companies that participated in the initial two cohorts, made significant strides by completing the first part of the Aiomic360 platform: the medical data abstraction tool named Insight, which significantly increases the efficiency of medical data abstraction with the aim of reducing postoperative complications. “Participating in the TMC Accelerator was invaluable in helping us understand the US healthcare system, providing crucial insights that shaped the design of our first product to ensure optimal market fit in the US,” said Torsten Jepsen, Co-founder & CEO of Aiomic. Additionally, Metsystem, a participating company from this year’s cohort, is developing a metastasis-targeting drug screen platform that is capable of predicting the most effective drug for each patient.
“We have seen the significant impact that the accelerator program has had in companies such as Aiomic and we are excited to continue to build on these successes. The next five years present an exciting opportunity to build industry partnerships in both Denmark and the US, advancing life sciences through joint efforts as our technologies evolve and opportunities for clinical research, collaboration, and innovation expand,” said Sophie Løhde, Denmark’s Minister for the Interior and Health.
Through accelerator programs, the TMC Innovation Factory offers startups and entrepreneurs training, access, and support to explore and expand within the US market. Similarly, the BioInnovation Institute provides life science startups with knowledge, connections, infrastructure, and financial support to bring interdisciplinary ideas to life and research to market.
“We are thrilled about our collaboration with Texas Medical Center, one of the world’s largest life science ecosystems. The collaboration allows BII start-ups to gain exposure to the US market and ready themselves for US market entry, thereby improving their chances of successfully bringing their products and solutions to the market both in Denmark and the US,” said Trine Bartholdy, Chief Business Officer for BII. The renewed partnership is formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on September 2, 2024, where The Texas Medical Center and the Danish Ministry of Health agreed to support innovation, market access, research and education to drive the next generation of diagnosis, treatment and healthcare improvements through collaborative efforts between academic institutions, industry, and government entities in both countries.
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About Texas Medical Center (TMC): TMC is the world’s most comprehensive life science ecosystem at the forefront of advancing life sciences. TMC is on a mission to further accelerate the pace of healing by harnessing our collective expertise in innovation, research, development, production, and patient care within a single, centralized medical ecosystem. With over 70+ million square feet and 120,000+ employees, TMC is leveraging the collective power by pioneering a revolutionary life sciences initiative to house the entire treatment of life cycle from discovery to delivery, within a single, world-class medical complex, on a scale never before seen.
About the Kingdom of Denmark as a Life Science Nation: Denmark has emerged as a world leader in life sciences and health. The country is at the top of industries such as drug development, biotechnology and medical technology. Denmark has a strong life science cluster of high quality throughout the value chain. Measured by market size per capita, the medical device industry in Denmark is the second largest in Europe and measured in drugs per capita, Denmark has the largest commercial drug development pipeline in Europe.
About the BioInnovation Institute (BII): The BioInnovation Institute was established in 2018 with support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to commercialize life science research. In total, BII has supported 130 startups and translational projects with almost DKK 750 million. Start-ups have raised almost DKK 4.5 billion so far. BII supports startups and translational research projects in areas such as the development of new drugs, health technologies, women’s health, bioindustrial production and quantum technology. BII is centrally located in Innovation District Copenhagen and serves as a natural hub for the nearby research institutions and hospitals.