PharmaRelations: mapping out what Life Science companies need to grow

Closely followed by successful establishment in Medicon Village in Lund, PharmaRelations is now setting up business at Sahlgrenska Science Park in Gothenburg. This is all part of the long-term strategy; to successfully combines Nordic coverage with local expertise within all areas of Life Science.

The core idea of all operations at PharmaRelations is to guide and support companies in Life Science to grow. The company is locally represented with offices in all the Nordic capitals, as well as in Uppsala, Lund and now also in Gothenburg. PharmaRelations is fundamentally Swedish, founded on Swedish values, competence and knowledge.

What companies in Gothenburg need

In the Gothenburg region there is a strong, well-established world of medtech companies, as well as a significant representation in Big Pharma. The region is characterised by a level of knowledge that is well known internationally.

“The companies in the Gothenburg region have high demands regarding competence, and we must be able to meet that”, says Fredrik Anjou, CEO of PharmaRelations. “We aim to reflect the entire Life Science industry in our company, providing key expertise and knowledge in all areas”.

“Most Life Science companies in Gothenburg have a strong Nordic and international connection. It is important that we meet them at the right level and can contribute to their development and growth”, Anjou continues.

Experts from PharmaRelations have worked with customers in the Gothenburg region for a long time, but by setting up a local office, the core presence can be strengthened, and long-term relationships established more authentically.

The long-term ambition

The ambition is to build a team of comprehensive competence locally in Gothenburg, with specialists in areas corresponding to what PharmaRelations already have in Stockholm, with representatives in all parts of Life Science in the long term.

“We can support our clients through all growth phases, from the innovation and development stages to clinical phase and on to market. For us, it is important to be part of the entire development process from day one. We can then be of the greatest benefit to our customers. We consider ourselves to be a crucial partner for growth and by strengthening our presence in Gothenburg we will enhance the opportunity for companies in the area to grow”, says Fredrik Anjou.

Aina Illiano leads the establishment phase and will be responsible for the continued development of PharmaRelations in Gothenburg. She has previously worked in many different roles within Life Science; first as a specialist nurse and then as a data analyst for IBM, for example. For more than 20 years, Aina has worked as a specialist at AstraZeneca in Gothenburg. She knows the region and its challenges – and opportunities – well.

“When I heard about the establishment of PharmaRelations’ new office in Gothenburg, I became very interested. I wanted to know more about the company and what services it could offer. I quickly realised that PharmaRelations is a tremendously expansive and exciting company with fantastic development opportunities. I wanted to be involved in starting something new and also being a part of the long-term process of shaping it, so I took the chance and applied for the position as Consultant Manager at PharmaRelations in Gothenburg”, Illiano explains.

Mapping out the need for growth

PharmaRelations has built an entire business on focusing on growth in client companies. At the same time, PharmaRelations as a company has grown by about 30 percent every year for the past 8 years. In 2022, growth is estimated to reach over 50 percent, thanks to the two large establishments in Lund and Gothenburg, respectively.

“We have seen rapid growth across the board for many years. Because we are a full-service partner, we can help our customers with all parts of their business, such as product development, preparation for clinical trials and on to regulatory and market for example. The customers appreciate the simplicity in that we as a team can offer all competence in one place”, Fredrik Anjou underlines.

PharmaRelations are established at Sahlgrenska Science Park. During the summer of 2022, major recruitment work has begun to build up the team that Fredrik Anjou describes as the equivalent of what already exists in Stockholm.

“We need to recruit many specialists. In Gothenburg there are many strong niches, especially in the medtech area. There are medtech companies here that develop products that are not yet on the market but that can significantly improve our health, but they often lack a piece of the puzzle to move forward and often it can be just the piece that we from PharmaRelations can add. A clear example being regulatory, which is an area that all companies, regardless of orientation, need to understand and deal with. Therefore, we will invest extra heavily in recruiting competence in regulatory from now”, says Aina Illiano.

The plan is to have at least 30 consultants stationary in Gothenburg within three to five years, but Aina believes there will be more.

“We add competence that our customers need to secure their own growth. We look forward to showing what we can contribute to companies in the Gothenburg region”, she concludes.