The Medicon Valley has the second highest number of manufacturing facilities in Europe and the highest number of CDMO facilities. CDMO services offered vary from end-to-end provision to support with particular modalities/value chain elements.
CDMOs play a crucial role in providing flexible third-party support to pharmaceutical and biotech companies at all stages of development.
They are increasingly acting, not only as manufacturing partners, but also as technology leaders, and the importance of driving innovation is widely recognized.
The rise of novel modalities is requiring CDMOs to invest in ever more complex manufacturing capabilities.
Common product modalities developed by CDMOs in Medicon Valley
Small molecule
Fusion protein
Monoclonal antibody
Enzyme
Recombinant protein
mRNA
Peptide
Viral vector
Vaccine
64% of CDMOs with facilities in the Medicon Valley are headquartered in either Sweden or Denmark reflecting a high degree of local investment. Malmö in particular is a hot spot for local investment with facilities owned by Apotek Produktion & Laboratorier, Bioglan and Sever Pharma Solutions based there.
There has also been significant investment from companies headquartered outside Denmark or Sweden. FujiFilm Diosynth Biotechnologies is undertaking a $2.5B expansion of its Danish facility and AGC Biologics has recently completed a $239M expansion.
CDMOs with facilities in the Medicon Valley range in size from 2-50 employees to over 5,000 employees globally.
The relatively high proportion of small to mid-size local companies reflects the successful start-up ecosystem within the region.
The Medicon Valley is also attracting considerable external investment. Cytiva, Recipharm and Eurofins all boast facilities in the region and have more than 5,000 employees globally.
Two further externally headquartered companies, FujiFilm Diosynth Biotechnologies and AGC Biologics are key employers in the region, with close to 1,800 employees and over 1,000 employees in Denmark, respectively.
Increased investment has driven an expansion in headcount and the number of manufacturing buildings
2010
112 employees, 5 manufacturing buildings, regional investment of €2-3M
2015
142 employees, 6 manufacturing buildings, regional investment of €3-5M
2020
256 employees, 7 manufacturing buildings, regional investment of €5M
2023
Swedish Health authorities approved state-of-the-art aseptic filling line, allowing for integration with assembly solutions for auto-injectors
2025 outlook
300 employees expected
The Swedish site in Malmö is a ~10,000 sq. meters facility equipped with state-of-the-art large scale GMP manufacturing capabilities for both SPPS and LPPS projects. A recent investment project has been construction of large-scale downstream capacity in Malmö.
Polypetide was established in Malmö in 1952, but is now headquartered in Switzerland.
Significant growth in peptide market driven by GLP-1 based therapies for obesity and diabetes has fueled growth in the outsourcing business
250 employees
2021
272 employees
2022
300 employees
2024
~350 employees
Rapid expansion at Hillerød facility since its acquisition
2019
Fujifilm acquired the Hillerød, Denmark facility from Biogen for $890M
To meet growing demand Fujifilm reported it would invest a further $928M to double the current drug substance manufacturing capability creating 300 new jobs
Fujifilm broke ground on an additional $1.6B expansion to strengthen cell culture manufacturing services creating 450 new jobs
2026
By 2026 Fujifilm aims to make its Hillerød facility the largest end-to-end cell culture CDMO in Europe. The Denmark facility will be enhanced with sustainability measures to support Fujifilm’s new "Green Value Climate Strategy"
Capacity of Copenhagen site has continued to expand to meet global need
2017
CMC Biologics (founded in Denmark) was acquired by Asahi Glass (which ultimately became AGC Biologics). There was immediate investment in the Danish site with the introduction of 5x 2,000L single-use bioreactors
2018
It was announced a further 6x 2,000L single-use bioreactors would be added
A purification line (part of an $18M global investment) was installed to increase production efficiency at the site
Further investment was announced to construct a new facility adjacent to the current site
AGC Biologics completed its new manufacturing building adding 19,000 square meters in space and doubling the site’s single-use bioreactor capacity for mammalian services, allowing it to produce 150 more batches of drug product each year. The $239M investment created an estimated 250 to 300 new jobs.
The global CDMO FujiFilm Diosynth Biotechnologies works in collaboration with biopharmaceutical and biotech companies to develop and manufacture the latest in biologics, advanced therapies and vaccines.
Fujifilm acquired the Danish facility in August 2019, and there were less than 700 people at the site at that time. Today we are approaching 1,800 employees and we have 20 bioreactors, some of which have 20,000 L capacity. This shows the size of the investment in Denmark with a $2.5B expansion and an $890M acquisition.
When current expansions are complete in 2026, Hillerød will be home to the largest end-to-end cell culture CDMO in Europe. The site will offer a total of 20 X 20,000L bioreactors for drug substance production complemented by comprehensive drug product and finished goods services.
At Fujifilm we have more than 64 different nationalities and about 25% are non-Danish speakers. Denmark is an attractive region to invest in. Most Danes have reasonable English, Denmark has international insight, there is a high level of education, and a good infrastructure. Denmark is also safe and relatively easy for foreigners to enter.
Sever acquired US-based Foster Delivery Science in 2021 which gave the company access to a new R&D facility, unique expansion opportunities and access to a new therapy area. Through the acquisition, Sever gained expertise in injectable biodegradable ocular implants, an area in which there is strong unmet demand. Server is innovating new ways to produce these implants.
Sever Pharma Solutions, headquartered in Malmö, is a CDMO specializing in controlled release systems for highly potent drugs and offers end-to-end services. Focusing on polymer-based delivery systems, Sever develops new products across all development stages, manufactures commercial products, and can enhance complex pharmaceutical products.
It’s a tremendous advantage to be located so close to the Technical University of Lund. We also collaborate with the Technical University of Denmark. The universities are interested in running collaborative projects and graduate programs which fosters innovation for the industry.
The graduate programs help connect us with qualified people who are potential employees.
AGC Biologics is a global CDMO that provides pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services for protein-based biologics and cell and gene therapies. From development to clinical trials, to full-scale commercialization, AGC helps clients reach goals at any stage in the drug development and manufacturing process, specializing in mammalian and microbial-based therapeutic proteins, plasmid DNA, messenger RNA, viral vectors, and genetically engineered cells.
AGC Biologics’ Copenhagen site is one of the largest and most active facilities in its global network
A recent expansion has doubled its single-use bioreactor capacity
The core teams of scientists have 30+ years of expertise in development and manufacturing, including bringing seven commercial products to market
The site operates multiple cGMP lines at a variety of scales
The facility also offers a great depth of innovation, and uses the latest single-use and stainless steel technology and systems
A key strength of the Medicon Valley is the proximity to universities. Just last year we engaged in a more formal partnership with DTU (Technical University of Denmark), so we do collaborate a lot and being so close is very nice.
The density of biotech companies that are here in this region is also a big strength because of the networking opportunities. I have seen that we network across businesses and industries in the Medicon Valley.
There is also great value in getting inspiration from how others solve problems. We ask, how did they solve the problem? How are they handling a new regulatory implementation? For issues like this there is significant benefit in having that network next door.
It is a constant battle to find qualified team members, but the high-density of biotechs provides plenty of opportunities and attracts employees from outside the region. For example, we have a lot of employees from Italy, Portugal, South America, Spain, all over the world. These people are interested in relocating to the Medicon Valley, not just because of the job, but also because of other opportunities the region offers. They know there are many other companies and there also might be opportunities for their spouse.
Since 1952, when PolyPeptide started the production of commercial peptides in Malmö, the company has accumulated deep technical and regulatory experience by manufacturing over 1,000 peptides in GMP quality. Today it is a focused manufacturer of peptide- and oligonucleotide-based active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for biotech and pharma customers, operating through a multi-site network located in Europe, the US, and India.
PolyPeptide develops and manufactures active ingredients for therapies that treat diseases ranging from widespread metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity to cancer, cardiovascular, and neurological disorders.
Mohamad comments that the peptide market has been growing significantly driven by GLP-1 based therapies for obesity and diabetes, and this has fueled growth in the outsourcing business.
The Swedish site in Malmö is a ~10,000 sq. meters facility, equipped with state-of-the-art large scale GMP manufacturing capabilities for both SPPS and LPPS projects. The site has been inspected and approved by the Swedish MPA, Japanese PMDA and US FDA.
Approximately 350 employees are based in Malmö which accounts for roughly one quarter of the workforce. This is an increase from 250 in 2020.
Our clients are not only in the Medicon Valley, but also across the Nordics and across the globe.
Porton Pharma Solutions is a CDMO enabling global clients to optimize drug development and manufacturing. The company provides custom development and manufacturing services for small molecules, peptides and oligonucleotides, biologics, and antibody drug conjugates. Porton has a proven record of delivering more than 2,700 projects and established cooperation with more than 800 global clients.
Having a location in Denmark and being a member of the Medicon Valley Alliance is a big quality stamp for us. Some of the companies that we are in dialogue with today have not heard of Porton before. I can put them in contact with some of our other customers who are also Medicon Alliance members and that really helps to build trust, it acts almost like a quality validation.
Having people with their feet on the ground in the Medicon Valley is extremely valuable for customers. We have customers both in Sweden and Denmark and they know that they can call me anytime and if they want to meet me, Im only around half an hour away. Proximity is very important when youre working with these companies and building relationships.
