SweDeliver is all set for pole position

As SweDeliver was inaugurated in the summer of 2020, the vision was clear: The research center would become a world leader in the field of drug delivery. Less than five years later, numerous external evaluators present an unanimous picture: With “excellent leadership”, “highly motivated industrial partners”, “fruitful research” and “impressive progress”, the goal is within reach, recently prompting Vinnova to grant funding for five more years.

“Vinnova’s announcement is an acknowledgment of the extraordinary work provided by everyone engaged in SweDeliver, sending an important message to researchers and patients worldwide who already benefit from our scientific progress. It also allows us to take our operations to yet another level, and this year we are implementing several strategic initiatives,” says Center Director Christel Bergström.

SweDeliver's prioritized tasks include attracting, training and keeping the leading researchers of the future. As part of this work, master's students from all across Europe are currently given the opportunity to do a summer internship within the center's partner network. A longer industrial secondment for SweDeliver PhD students is also on the agenda. At the other end, the center will extend its Training and Career Development Work Package to include professional development for senior partners.

“Five years into our engagement in SweDeliver, it is still becoming increasingly apparent how extremely important it is for us as a small enterprise to have access to the knowledge exchange and infrastructures offered within the center. We consistently prioritize SweDeliver's meetings, which always provide a lot to take home and have also greeted an exam worker who added much value,” says Anna Franzén, Clinical & Regulatory BDO at Emplicure.

This year's news also includes the launch of three interdisciplinary technology platforms designed to – with a focus on Computational development, Clinical Translation and Emerging technologies & Particle engineering – generate added value by bridging the competencies SweDeliver gather within parenteral, oral and aerosol drug delivery.

“In limited time, we have created an organization whose strengths and continuity arouse interest far beyond Sweden, something confirmed by industry giants Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Chiesi joining our network. We are currently in talks with a number of international companies and consortia about potential collaboration, and that we recently introduced Calliditas as partner number 14 means that we are now also advancing our position within rare diseases”, concludes Christel Bergström.

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt