Medicon Valley as a recipe for success: weight loss injection allows the Danish economy to grow

Medicon Valley as a recipe for success
Weight loss injection allows Danish economy to grow

By Céline Joufffrau and Andrea Sellmann
April 11, 2024, 11:00 a.m

Denmark is celebrating the hype surrounding diabetes medications that help you lose weight. Because they boost the economy of the neighboring country. Can German companies benefit?

The bridge over the Øresund is an important land connection between Denmark and Sweden: The imposing structure provides a direct connection by road and rail between Copenhagen and Malmö. It not only connects the people of both countries, but also the Medicon Valley.

Benny Egholm Sørensen from the BVMW Scandinavia foreign office has been observing the region for a long time: In the life science sector, Medicon Valley is now the second strongest cluster in Europe, he says in the “Wirtschaft Welt & Weit” podcast. The run on diabetes medications that also help you lose weight has caused the market value of the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk to grow. And the success of the industry also drives the Danish economy as a whole.

But it’s not just about profit, says Philipp Schröder, professor of international economics at Aarhus University: There are many foundations in Medicon Valley that are tied to the Danish economy. This enables “basic research that does not directly produce an economic profit,” says Schröder in the new podcast episode.

On first name terms is mandatory, status symbols are frowned upon

The success of Medicon Valley also attracts German companies. When moving to Scandinavia, however, there are a few special features that need to be kept in mind: being on first name terms is mandatory, report the Denmark professionals, and status symbols are superfluous: “You’re not allowed to drive up in the big car,” is Sørensen’s initial advice for German CEOs . This requires even more trust, because that is, so to speak, the currency of the Danish economy.

In the new Denmark episode, host Andrea Sellmann discusses with her two guests what specific advantages arise from the Danish way of doing business and where the stumbling blocks could lie for German bosses.

Philipp Schröder comes from Berlin, but has lived in Denmark for a long time. He is Professor of International Economics at the School of Business and Social Sciences – Aarhus University. And Benny Egholm Sørensen is the contact person for German medium-sized companies interested in Scandinavia at the BVMW foreign office in Silkeborg, Denmark. He has been advising German companies on entering the Danish market for more than 30 years.