Chalmers part of Nordic collaboration for future pharmaceuticals

The consortium NordicPharmaTrain (Nordic Pharmaceutical Translation and Innovation) is a collaboration between ten universities in the Nordic region focusing on the process of pharmaceutical research, from basic research to innovation and application in society. In late 2023, the consortium received a grant of a total of 20 million NOK from NordForsk and the project spans over four years.

NordicPharmaTrain aims to showcase the life science sector in the Nordic region through collaborations between academia and parties within other EU-based consortia. The project consists of three work packages directed towards novel delivery systems for drugs and biological substances, contemporary pharmaceutical manufacturing, and clinical translation and implementation – and is also supported by different themes.

Innovation – Chalmers' strength

Chalmers, through Alexandra Stubelius, Associate Professor in the Division of Chemical Biology, is responsible for the theme “translation and innovation”, which covers all research topics in the work packages.

"Chalmers' strength is our expertise in innovation. We have a large number of startup companies, excellent collaborations with hospitals, and cutting-edge research that can offer visiting researchers substantial knowledge exchange in collaborations," says Alexandra Stubelius.

Focus on collaboration and future leadership

One of NordicPharmaTrain's goals is to stimulate and increase researchers' opportunities for further development and knowledge exchange. Therefore, they offer mobility grants to researchers who identify and wish to develop collaborations within industry and academia outside their home university – within the universities and industries in the consortium.

The project also works towards research in close collaboration with relevant life science partners in the region, such as industrial and clinical partners, and aims to equip young researchers for future leadership.

Learn from collaboration partners

Alexandra Stubelius encourages scientists in the research field to contact her for potential exchanges within the consortium.

"We can provide grants to attend various conferences, workshops, and courses. There are many exciting collaboration partners, including a work package related to the synchrotron in Lund. But, of course, there are many other highly competent groups and cutting-edge research areas that Chalmers researchers can learn more from," she says.

About NordicPharmaTrain

• The project is based on the cooperation networks built up in the university consortium Nordic POP (patient oriented products).
• NordicPharmaTrain consists of ten universities from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland: Uppsala University, University of Copenhagen, University of Southern Denmark, University of Oslo, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, University of Eastern Finland, University of Helsinki, Åbo Akademi University, Chalmers University of Technology and University of Iceland.
• In the workpackage directed towards translation also involves a number of companies and hospitals, e.g., AstraZeneca in Mölndal, Bayer in Finland and Norway, Akademiska sjukhuset Uppsala University Hospital and The National University Hospital of Iceland.
• The project runs from 2024 to 2028.