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This year, AstraZeneca's innovation hub, BioVentureHub, celebrates its tenth anniversary. Meet the visionary behind the initiative and hear his perspective on why collaboration with other companies is crucial for AstraZeneca as well as for Sweden's competitive edge.
Magnus Björsne is a chemist with a doctorate that decided to pursue an MBA around the turn of the millennium. Since then, he has worked on developing partnerships that help AstraZeneca gain access to cutting-edge research, drive innovation, and accelerate the delivery of new medicines.
He states that he is motivated by challenging what everyone else considers right:
"Kodak invented the digital camera but didn't believe in it themselves and continued producing their film products, which generated more profit in the short term. They eventually went under because of that. There are many similar examples of companies that keep on doing what they're skilled at but miss the next big technological shift.”
AstraZeneca is a science-led company with over a century of experience in developing medicines. Today, medicines are rarely just a product but a comprehensive solution that also includes new technology and services, such as apps that help patients manage their medication and health. This means that the scientific and technical areas in which the company needs expertise have expanded. Together with the significant challenges society faces, such as climate change, partnerships have become increasingly important:
"We have incredibly sharp minds at AstraZeneca, but we're just a drop in the ocean compared to the total intelligence in the world. The more we can bring in from outside our walls, the more successful we'll be," says Magnus Björsne.
One of his major drivers is contributing to Sweden continuing to be a leading nation in life sciences. This is a prerequisite for AstraZeneca to keep investing in research and development in the country.
Those who interact a lot with others in real life are more successful
“Innovation is a contact sport where those who interact a lot with others in real life are more successful. That's why geographical proximity is important. If Sweden isn't attractive enough, companies have no reason to invest here. It involves everything from access to ideas and talent to the right economic incentives for innovation," Magnus Björsne explains.
BioVentureHub, an initiative to strengthen Sweden's life sciences ecosystem, was born out of his frustration ten years ago. At that time, he had worked in business development at AstraZeneca for almost fifteen years and had seen business opportunities vanish because the solutions were so new that it was not possible to build a business plan around them.
"I wanted to find a way not to have to say no when something is intriguing. If we say no because we don't have all the facts, we disqualify ourselves from groundbreaking innovation because you never have all the answers when something is entirely new."
When BioVentureHub was launched, there was no clear plan for how the innovation environment would be created, just a vision.
"From day one, our strategy has been to experiment. Some people ask what I would have done differently, and I usually say nothing because I've changed things three hundred times," says Magnus Björsne.
The result
The results have been impressive. The companies and academic groups that are or have been a part of BioVentureHub have obtained more than 110 patents, launched over 25 new products, and in collaboration with AstraZeneca, conducted over 30 clinical studies and published around 50 scientific papers. The hub has also positively impacted the perception of AstraZeneca as an innovative company and facilitated recruitments.
According to the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, which studied BioVentureHub, the recipe for success is a decentralised leadership where decision-making is driven by curiosity. Contributing to this has also been the full trust that AstraZeneca Sweden's management has given the hub from the start. The culture created within BioVentureHub has also been crucial.
"There still isn't an equivalent to BioVentureHub anywhere in the world. The companies in the hub have the same access to systems, facilities, and other resources as everyone else at AstraZeneca in Gothenburg. It's unique. Trust and the Swedish model of collaboration are central to our culture. This has proven difficult to replicate and is therefore a competitive advantage in Sweden."
Magnus Björsne does not know what the next step for BioVentureHub will be. But there may be a clue in what currently energises him the most:
"AstraZeneca has set ambitious sustainability goals, and to achieve them, we must find completely new solutions. Right now, I'm putting in a lot of effort to explore how we can collaborate with small companies to innovate in the sustainability area."
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