22.05.2025.
Denmark has quietly built one of Europe’s most vibrant life-science clusters, anchored by global pharmaceutical giants (Novo Nordisk, Lundbeck, LEO Pharma, ALK etc.) and facilitated by a culture of collaboration. As Invest in Denmark notes, life science is now “a dominant industry in Denmark and one of the cornerstones of the Danish economy”.
National strategy
In late 2024 the government unveiled a new Life Science Strategy for 2030, setting an ambitious vision: “Denmark must be a leading life science nation in Europe”.
This national strategy aligns economic and health goals, aiming to translate scientific strength into better patient outcomes and a sustainable, future-proof healthcare system.
Morten Bødskov, Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs
“International competition is fierce. That’s why it’s crucial that we give the life science industry the best conditions to realise its huge billion-dollar potential. The Danish life science industry is world-class and contributes to better health worldwide. That’s why we are now setting aside DKK 400 million to future-proof Danish life science. We must also ensure that more ideas from the research world are transformed into companies, growth and jobs. And we must strengthen collaboration between research environments, companies and the healthcare system. The vision is clear: Danish life science must be lifted to a new level and add a new chapter to this Danish export adventure.”
From AI innovation to faster access for patients
Among priorities, the strategy includes fostering new life-science companies, harnessing Denmark’s rich health data for research and AI-driven innovation, and expanding access to new medicines to improve citizen health.
It also commits to attracting production and foreign investment (e.g. by raising the R&D tax credit cap from DKK 25m to 35m) and playing an active international role (boosting exports and moulding EU regulations).
Crucially, these goals were developed with extensive stakeholder input – the National Life Science Council (representing industry, academia, patient groups, etc.) helped shape recommendations for the strategy.
Life science drives exports, jobs, and tax revenue
Denmark’s life science industry already delivers impressive results. Over the past decade, Danish pharma and biotech exports have surged: they rose from DKK 65 billion in 2010 to DKK 174 billion in 2023.
In 2023 life-science goods made up almost 20% of Denmark’s total goods exports. Domestic job creation has mirrored this boom: life science employment grew 43% from 2010 to 2021, reaching about 63,000 full-time equivalent jobs in 2021.
The sector’s fiscal contribution is also large – in 2021 life-science companies paid roughly DKK 36.5 billion in taxes (corporate and personal). In short, life science is a major engine of Danish growth and prosperity.
A next-generation R&D hub
Denmark’s success is no accident but the product of targeted public policies and partnerships. For example, the Innovation District Copenhagen initiative – a joint effort of the Danish government, the City of Copenhagen and the University of Copenhagen – is creating a new R&D campus in the city’s North.
Grounded in the old “Copenhagen Science City”, this district will host thousands of researchers, students, entrepreneurs and investors working side-by-side. As one press report explains, the goal is “an international epicentre for life sciences and quantum technology – a district where thousands of students, researchers, entrepreneurs, accelerators and investors will be able to meet every day and work together to develop tomorrow’s solutions”.
This collaborative hub builds on existing strengths (major research hospitals, the BioInnovation Institute, translational labs, etc.) to make Denmark even more attractive to science-driven firms.
Pairing researchers with entrepreneurs to launch deep-tech firms
The government and universities are also reforming technology commercialization. A signature program is “Open Entrepreneurship”, a nationwide project that pairs seasoned business leaders with university researchers to launch startups.
In its 2017–2021 pilot phase, it created 26 new companies by teaming academic ideas with entrepreneurial know-how.
The project won an EU entrepreneurship award, and the government agreed to continue funding it through 2023 (DKK 3.5 million per year) to help convert Danish research into viable growth firms.
New approaches to sharing IP and accelerating research
In parallel, some universities are experimenting with open-innovation platforms. For instance, Aarhus University and the Novo Nordisk Foundation have developed a “patent-free” research platform which intentionally shares intellectual property to spur collaboration between academic and industry scientists.
These reforms recognize that traditional tech-transfer mechanisms need fresh ideas to compete globally.
Fiscal tools
Fiscal policy has also been strengthened. From 2027, Denmark will raise the cap on its R&D tax credit from DKK 25 million to 35 million per year. This change means companies can claim tax relief on a much larger portion of their innovation spending – roughly DKK 7.7 million more than under the old rules – improving cash flow for R&D-heavy firms.
Other parts of the recent “Entrepreneurship Package 2024” include eased rules for employee share options and research worker taxation, all designed to make Denmark more appealing to science entrepreneurs. Importantly, the national IP Action Plan (2021) offers direct support to innovators: it provides patent vouchers that subsidize patent filing costs for SMEs, and a fast-track patent system which can grant patents in 6–10 months (about twice as fast as the previous norm). By lowering legal and financial barriers to protecting inventions, these measures help startups and university spinouts move quickly and confidently toward commercialization.
Digital health infrastructure
Underpinning all this is Denmark’s famously advanced digital health infrastructure. With roots in the 1968 Civil Registration System (CPR) – a unique national ID for every citizen – Denmark has virtually all health records and prescriptions digitized and linked.
Today roughly 5.5 million healthcare messages flow between 150 different IT systems every month.
This interoperability is the result of decades of public-private collaboration: government, regions, municipalities and industry all share responsibility for the e‑health backbone. For citizens, it means platforms like Sundhed.dk (the national health portal) give instant access to personal records, test results, and medication lists.
For researchers and companies, it means they can apply (with approval) for access to linked biobanks and registries. In fact, Invest in Denmark notes that firms benefit from “online access to combined data from biobanks at hospitals, universities and other research institutions and national databases such as the National Patient Register, Birth Register and National Health Insurance Register”.
In short, Denmark’s integrated data environment is world-leading, allowing safe but powerful use of patient data for R&D and AI.
Health tech implementation
Together, these policies and infrastructures are already bringing tangible benefits for patients. The new strategy explicitly urges that “Denmark must be among the countries in Europe that quickly provides patients with access to new, effective healthcare solutions (pharmaceuticals and medical devices) where there is documented and cost-effective added value”.
In practice, this means health authorities are streamlining clinical trial approvals and reimbursement pathways for breakthrough therapies.
Faster innovation cycles are further enabled by the emphasis on AI and real‑world data: one strategy benchmark is to incorporate intelligence from patient data into routine innovation, effectively improving treatments tailored to Danish patients. At the same time, the strategy aims to relieve workforce pressure by promoting “labour-saving” health tech.
Its first ambition is to diffuse proven digital solutions so widely that 10,000 healthcare jobs worth of time are saved by 2030 – freeing doctors and nurses to focus on care and improving patient outcomes through more efficient, timely treatment.
In short, every element of policy – from tax incentives to tech hubs to data sharing – is calibrated so that “the sector’s solutions contribute even more to creating a coherent, robust and future-proof healthcare system”.
Denmark’s model of smart, coordinated life science policy
Denmark’s model may be small-scale, but its reach is big. By tightly coupling public goals (healthy citizens, sustainable care) with private activity (R&D, exports) and cutting-edge digital infrastructure, it has created a self-reinforcing innovation ecosystem.
The government’s strategy even notes that Denmark must be “a strong player in the EU to support Europe as an attractive life science region”.
While other European countries rethink how to grow their life sciences sectors, Denmark shows how practical coordination between government, industry, and researchers can lead to real progress in both innovation and patient care.
If other European countries can replicate its approach – unified health data, supportive tax and IP regimes, and active public‑private innovation districts – the continent as a whole could see faster drug development, broader patient access and healthier economies.
SOURCES
https://investindk.com/insights/new-danish-life-science-strategy https://www.eng.em.dk/Media/638809934299361599/Strategy%20for%20life%20science_ENG_2025.04.10_opt-a.pdf#:~:text=Life%20science%20is%20also%20one,from%20the%20life%20science%20industry
Copenhagen Science City becomes Innovation District Copenhagenhttps://www.dkpto.org/Media/638098030092803483/IP%20Commercialization%20in%20an%20interconnected%20world%20report_May%202022-Digital.pdf#:~:text=▪%20Patent%20Vouchers%3A%20Monetary%20assistance,10%20months%2C%20which%20is https://www.bdo.global/en-gb/insights/tax/world-wide-tax/denmark-new-tax-legislation-introduced-for-growth-and-innovation#:~:text=4,7%20million
Foto: Erhvervsministeriet
