1 Cont ent Synapse Release Event s & Short New s The Synapse - Life Science 03 Short and Sw eet Connect magazine This edition of Synapse Re- Life science news served short and sweet lease is centered around the Nordic Life Science Cluster and 04 Event Announcem ent s highlights some of the exciting life science initiatives currently A list of events to attend under way in this area. Issue 14 - Fall 2020 Synapse Wit hin The magazine is published four times a year. 05 Synapse Rew ind A look back at our past events Edit or in Chief: 07 Synapse Insider Emilie Dalbram An interview with Anthony Roumeliotis , a The Synapse Release Team : current Synapse Team member Adrian Ramon Santonja 09 Synapse Case Com pet it ion Emilie Dalbram Hear the participants thoughts Frederik Neergaard 12 Synapse is m oving t o t he St at ion Jonas Arnold Jürgensen Leonora Sperling Explore the Station - A Student Innovation House together with Synapse Søren Juhl 14 Synapse Career Aid Kit Phot os: Five tips to improve your online self Jonas Krøner / [email protected] 16 You can change t he w orld Expert opinion by Søren Bregenholt, Chairman of the Board at MVA 19 Aim ing at novel ant ibiot ics An intereview with Christian Grøndahl, CEO and co-founder of SNIPR Biome 23 Why is science alw ays so serious? An interview with the team behind the podcast Spækbrættet Part ner Insight 26 The Novo Nordisk Graduat e Program Your springboard into industry and a life-changing career Synapse - Life Science Connect 29 Insight s from IDA - Ingeniørforeningen Nørre Allé 41, 2200 København N From Uni to Job [email protected] 30 Part ners & Collaborat ors 2 Short and Sw eet The latest life science news served short and sweet The Nobel prize in Chem ist ry 2020 goes t o t he Life science ? at t he heart of t he Danish econom y genet ic scissors - CRISPR/ Cas9 The life science industry becomes more and more On the 7th of October 2020, it was announced by the important for the Danish society. Danks Erhverv has Royal Swedish Academy of Science that this year?s analyzed the impact of the life science industry on Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Emmanuelle Danish economy, which has shown its strength Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for the during the corona crisis. In 2020 Q1, the medical development of a method for genome editing. It have export was increased with 32% compared to the shown to be a technology that has revolutionized same period last year, and contributes with jobs gene editing. They identified the ancient immune which over a 10 year period (2007-2016) have grown system in Streptococcus pyogenes CRISPR/Cas. Showing with 20%. It has attracted international companies that it can be isolated and used in other settings such as Roche that establish and invest in Denmark. gives enormous power to the genetic tool box. It can The latest step is Bioinnovation Institute, an revolutionise the basic science, and lead the way for incubator supported by the Novo Nordisk ground-breaking, new medical treatments. (Source: Foundation, which can show off the Danish life nobelprize.org) science field on the startup level and attract more international investors to increase the growth of the Novo Nodisk leading t he green t ransform at ion life science industry in Medicon Valley. (Source: Dansk Erhverv & Indblikplus) Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, has recently presented the ambitious goal of Synklino - an ant iviral KU spin-out transitioning to 100% green energy in 2030. This sets an ultimatum for Novo Nordisk?s 60.000 suppliers, The small spinout, Synklino, from KU and DTU raised who will have to switch to green energy - otherwise it 13 Mio DKK in September from Vækstfonden and the will have consequences. By doing so, the overarching new fund Eir Ventures. The company was started by goal is to reduce 300.000 tons CO2 from the the three researchers Thomas Kledal, Mette suppliers and kickstart the green transformation to Rosenkilde, and Mads G. Jeppesen back in the green energy. It is a 10-year plan that requires summer of 2017. With the first small investment here innovative ideas since some of the solutions do not in September, they have attracted Tolga Hassan to currently exist. Hopefully the clear goal of 100% help raise between 186-223 Mio DKK in the spring green energy can inspire other sectors and and the experienced doctor Josefin-Beate Holz to companies to follow and go eco-friendly. (Source: Finans) initiate the phase 1 trial. Synklino develops a drug against cytomegalovirus (CMV), which is a virus most people carry passively, and symptoms mostly show Danish Life Science w it h pot ent ial upside in China in cases where the immune system is already suppressed such as in people who have had organ In 2016, Xi Jinping was elected President of People?s transplantation. The drug does not only stops the Republic of China (PRC) and initiated the public infection but also kills the virus, giving the drug huge health plan Healthy China 2030. The Danish potential for transplantation patients. (Source: Medwatch) Ambassador in China, Thomas Østrup Møller, sees a great potential for Danish life science companies to join and be part of this development. Last year in 2019, the Danish life science exported for 10.7 billion DKK to China, and the Dansih companies are highly Written by Frederik Nergaard respected for their professional competency and Core Team Member integrity. With a growing middle class and elder population China is a super interesting market, which has previously been relatively closed to their own pharma/medico companies. However, the new public health plan, Healthy China 2030, opens up for more import from the West - an opportunity that the Danish life science companies should seize. (Source: Medwatch) 23 3 Event Announcem ent s New events from Synapse and our partners Novem ber 12t h Synapse w ebinar: Corona vs. Life Science (Arranged by Synapse Aalborg) Novem ber 18t h Novo Nordisk x Synapse: Bringing Life-changing Medicine t o Pat ient s Novem ber 25t h Copenhagen Life Science Sum m it 2020: Vaccine Developm ent Novem ber 26t h BCG x Synapse: From Science t o Consult ing Decem ber 2nd Synapse w ebinar: Sust ainabilit y in Life Science (Arranged by Synapse Aalborg) Decem ber 3rd Synapse w ebinar: Consult ing in Life Science (Arranged by Synapse Lund) Decem ber 10t h Synapse w ebinar: Your first job in Life Science - and w here it can t ake your career 4 4 Synapse Rew ind We reflect on our most recent activities, events, and programs Synapse has like everyone else had t o facilitated by Boston Consulting Group and ret hink and change t he form at of our BioInnovation Institute. The participants learned how act ivit ies because of t he current COVID-19 to apply critical thinking and collaborative skills to solve a real-life case and obtain results. Furthermore, rest rict ions. Nonet heless, t he Synapse t eam the Biobusiness Summer School offered participants has w orked hard and dedicat ed t o st ill live the chance to actively engage in discussions, and up t o our m ission t o connect as m any network with the speakers as well as other students. st udent s, young graduat es, and indust ry Thanks to all the participating students and professionals as possible, even during t hese companies. The Synapse team is already looking difficult t im es. We are proud t hat w e have forward to the biobusiness summer school of 2021. adapt ed fast and successfully t ransit ioned t he m ajorit y of our planned event s t o being Leading t om orrow 's R&D (18t h of Sept em ber): held online and in sm all set t ings. Let ?s rew ind and t ake a look back on our recent On September 18, we hosted the Synapse Case event s, w orkshops and ot her act ivit ies in Competition Finals. The goal of the Synapse Case Synapse. Competition was to expose life science students to the unique challenges faced by today?s Chief Scientific Officers (CSOs) and equip students with the Synapse Biobusiness Sum m er School 2020, skill set needed to overcome these challenges. A BBSS'20 (10-14t h of August ): winning team for each case was found, and they can now look forward to spending an entire day at the The Biobusiness Summer School was a 5-day respective company, meeting company seminar, where participants were introduced to a representatives and sharing their thoughts on wide range of topics within the field of leading tomorrow's R&D. Thanks to all participating bio-entrepreneurship. Through inspirational lectures companies and event partners: Novo Nordisk, Chr. and interactive workshops, the participants gained Hansen, LEO Pharma, McKinsey & Company, Heidrick insight into the general terms of biobusiness and & Struggles. acquired knowledge of the business aspects of life science. This included insights into the areas of research and development, clinical development, Synapse Life Science Career Fair 2020 (24t h of regulatory affairs, marketing, pricing, and project Sept em ber): management as well as getting an understanding of terms such as Initial Public Offering (IPO), Mergers HOW DO YOU PLAN A CAREER FAIR IN THE MIDST OF and Acquisitions (M&A), Intellectual Property Rights A WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC? The Synapse team (IPR), and shares. worked hard and tirelessly to solve this challenge.