LIFE SCIENCES & HEALTH-REGION NORTHERN NETHERLANDS FRONTRUNNER WITH WORLDWIDE IMPACT

FAST GROWTH

Growing and promising. Those are the characteristics that fit the Life Science & Health sector perfectly in the northern Netherlands. Separate initiatives perform well, the progressing collaboration is the key to even more success.
Medication that does not come far from here but is produced close to home. Even in a green, sustainable way. That isn’t northern daydreaming, it’s a pursuit that is hard at work to become reality thanks to big efforts nation-wide, initiated in the northern Netherlands. That isn’t illogical: The North keeps on developing faster as Life Science & Health-region.

How is this possible? First of all, this has to do with the presence of the UMCG, The University Medical Center Groningen. The UMCG offers the perfect environment to learn about the health sector while exploring the possibilities to start a company. But the UMCG is not the only source: The Medical Center in Leeuwarden seems to be a springboard when looking at the valorisation. Both centers contribute to the introduction of new medical businesses to the market and the numbers don’t lie: The life sciences and health sector in the North of the Netherlands rose faster compared to the national average in 2020.

The findings of startups and brilliant researchers contribute to this growth, but the so-called ‘big guys’ are important as well. The collaboration between the bigger incumbents, starting entrepreneurs, educational institutions, hospitals and investors is the key to the success story. Together, all parties form an ecosystem, effectively growing their businesses.

LIFE COOPERATIVE

The LIFE Cooperative is the poster boy of this ecosystem, bringing together multiple companies in the life sciences and health sector in the North of the Netherlands. The cooperative started six years ago, by the alias ‘Healthy Ageing Business Cooperation’. The name changed in less than a year because it immediately became clear that our entire life sciences and health industry in the North was more than just healthy ageing. Today, the LIFE Cooperative consists of more than 40 companies, accounting for more than 4000 FTE and over 400 million euros in turnover. We are proud to be involved in some of these companies, and we are eagerly looking forward to the future.

Find out more about our participations: AGILe Biotics, EV Biotech, PolyVation, QDI Systems, SG Papertronics and Sulfateq.

Source(s): NoordZ, Jean-Paul Taffijn
https://campus.groningen.nl/nl/nieuws/life-science-regio-noord-nederland-koploper-met-wereldwijde-impact/