GOVERNOR PATRICK LEADS LIFE SCIENCES INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP FORUM IN DENMARK

GOVERNOR PATRICK LEADS LIFE SCIENCES INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP FORUM IN DENMARK

Governor Patrick Promotes Global Collaboration with Massachusetts  

COPENHAGEN – Monday, September 15, 2014 – As a follow-up to signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Massachusetts and Medicon Valley in 2012, Governor Deval Patrick today spoke at a Life Sciences Innovation Partnership Forum in Copenhagen. The forum was part of the Governor’s innovation partnership mission to Denmark, the United Kingdom and France to expand opportunities between the Commonwealth and these three European countries for economic development and job creation in the innovation economy, clean tech, digital gaming, financial services, workforce training and education sectors.

In June 2012 Governor Patrick signed a MOU with Medicon Valley, a region that includes eastern Denmark, in an effort to stimulate economic, industrial, technological and commercial cooperation between the two leading life sciences regions. The goal of today’s forum was to explore ways in which the two regions can best implement the MOU through international collaboration programs recently developed by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

“Lasting growth in the 21st century global economy will come from our competitiveness in global markets,” said Governor Patrick. “Thanks to the investments we are making and the relationships we are building, Massachusetts has become the global leader in the life sciences.  We look forward to ongoing growth and a strengthened partnership as we continue to collaborate with Medicon Valley’s thriving life sciences cluster.”

During the event, Governor Patrick spoke about the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s (MLSC) International Collaborative Industry Program (ICIP), through which Massachusetts companies can secure grant funding for joint R&D projects with partner companies in six geographic regions around the world, including Medicon Valley, matched by funding for the partner company from their region. Additionally, the Governor spoke about the MLSC’s recently announced Universal Partnerships (UP) program, through which companies in Massachusetts can seek grant funding to support R&D collaborations with partner organizations all over the world.  The MOU signed in 2012 also allows the parties to be eligible for Horizon 20/20 funding from the European Union.

“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Medicon Valley are both centers for life sciences innovation with economies driven by entrepreneurship,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki. “Our strengths in industries such as life sciences and digital technologies have positioned us as a global leader, and by working together, we will ensure economic growth in our regions for generations to come.”

“No one country or region can address on its own the urgent health challenges that still face our global community,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., President & CEO of the MLSC. “In Massachusetts we believe that the life sciences breakthroughs of tomorrow will be grounded in new models of international collaboration, like the strategic alliances that we’ve helped create, and that we are promoting as part of this trade mission.”

“Our agreement has strengthened the collaboration on research and has fostered an exchange of talented researchers between Massachusetts and Denmark. It is our strategy that the Capital Region of Denmark be an international knowledge region that collaborates with the best research institutions and companies in the world. The agreement with Massachusetts is an important milestone in that strategy,” said Sophie Haestorp Andersen, Regional Chairman of the Capital Region of Denmark.