Oslo, Norway: A pioneer in health and life science
Norway is a pioneer in the health and life science industry, with particular strengths in biopharma, medtech and digital health. The country has made technological breakthroughs in several areas that have advanced the field of medicine and is well known for its world-class research and unique health data (Business Norway).
The country’s capital, Oslo, is a gateway to the country and the Nordics. A compact city with a strong, prosperous economy, Oslo has the second highest per capita GDP in Europe. Its open and mixed economy combines public and private ownership as well as free market activity (Oslo Business Region).
The life sciences and health tech environment in Oslo is growing at lightning speed. Over the past ten years, the value creation in the field has seen an 85 percent increase, reaching EUR 108 million in 2021 and EUR 27.2 million in exports in the same year (Oslo Business Region).
Oslo is now one of the top 10 cities for venture capital investments in Europe. The city has attracted more than 60% of overall VC activity in Norway and is home to nine $1B+ companies. The top three industries in Oslo for VC investment raised in 2023 were energy, transportation, and health. A full report from Dealroom on Oslo’s startup ecosystem and the most active investors will soon be available; check back here for updates or contact us.
Oslo Science City
In 2020, Oslo launched Oslo Science City, an innovation district that is central to the capital’s fast-growing knowledge and innovation ecosystem, home to nearly 30,000 employees and students, 8,000 researchers, 10,000 hospital staff and 1,000 organizations including one of Europe’s largest hospitals, a leading university, numerous research institutes and several incubators. Drawing NOK 70 billion (approx. EUR 6 bn) investment into laboratories and R&D infrastructure and new hospital facilities, Oslo Science City connects the University of Oslo, Oslo Science Park, Oslo University Hospital, and SINTEF research institute. Read more about Oslo Science City here.
New Life Science Center, University of Oslo
The University of Oslo’s new Life Science Center is set for completion in 2026. At 97,000 m2, this center will be Norway’s largest university and hospital building, and vital in the continuing development of life sciences and health tech in Oslo and beyond. Learn more here.
Proton Therapy Center and New Clinical Building, Radiumhospitalet, Oslo University Hospital
A new micro-district for cancer research and treatment with 40,000 m2 of state-of-the-art office space, laboratories, a biobank and a research hotel for national and international players in oncology and biotechnology. The area, set for completion in 2030, will include shops, cafes and restaurants for patients, employees and residents.
Innovation hubs, industry clusters and unique collaborations
Oslo has over 50 startup hubs and industry clusters, including several that specialize in health and life sciences, offering unique environments for prototyping, market testing, collaborating, and networking.
Following are some of key health and life science innovation hubs and initiatives. Reach out regarding opportunities to collaborate:
Aleap: The largest incubator for health startups in the Nordics.
Cellfit Project: Funded by The Research Council of Norway, the Cellfit Project is addressing one of the biggest challenges for cell-based cancer therapy – efficient and scalable production. This process deals with living drugs and requires precise logistics The project is a collaboration led by Oslo University Hospital, Department of Cellular Therapy and includes project partners Oslo Cancer Cluster, SINTEF, and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
CONNECT - Norwegian Cancer Precision Medicine Implementation Consortium: Advances the implementation of precision cancer medicine and is a driver for cross-functional and cross-organizational initiatives, workshops, and education. CONNECT gathers all Norwegian university hospitals, pharmaceutical and technology companies, the Norwegian Cancer Society as a patient organization, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Norwegian Directorate of Health, and the Norwegian Medicines Agency.
ECHoS (Establishing of Cancer Mission Hubs: Networks and Synergies): Aims to support the implementation of Cancer Mission activities in all member states and associated countries through the establishment and development of Cancer Mission Hubs operating at national, regional and local levels. In Norway, a Cancer Mission Hub has been set up in collaboration with various actors of the oncology ecosystem.
HealthCatalyst: is building, through public private collaboration, a leading global test and innovation center, developing Norway’s position as a unique test site for future health technology and services. It combines the experience and forces of three health clusters, representing the entire value chain within health in Norway.
Inven2: One of Norway’s largest technology transfer offices. Researchers and clinicians from the University of Oslo and the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority submit ideas and inventions to Inven2 to address global challenges relating to health, climate and the environment.
Life Science Academy: A Nordic, EU-funded project that empowers and enables startups in the life science sector to unlock their growth potential. The Academy aims to forge a collaborative startup program that unites Denmark, Norway, and Sweden/ÖKS region.
Norway Health Tech: A not-for-profit member organization with about 270 members representing the full value chain of healthcare, with a special focus on technology solutions. The organization aims to improve quality in treatment and care by developing and industrializing world class health solutions through member organizations and the ecosystem.
Oslo Cancer Cluster: A major collaboration in cancer innovation, with a growing pipeline of preclinical and clinical stage assets. The national, non-profit oncology research and industry cluster has more than 90 members, including university hospitals, startups, investors, and global pharma companies. Jointly, members cover the entire oncology value chain, from exploratory research to delivering novel therapeutics and diagnostics to patients worldwide. Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park will be expanded by 12,000 m2 in 2025. Catch up on the latest news here.
Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator Offers a dynamic, creative and professional growth environment for scientists & startups. It provides physical infrastructure, including laboratories and a competent team with an extensive life science network.
ShareLab: Is one of the leading 4 Scandinavian incubators for life science and biotech startups. Central to ShareLabs service offering is their 500 sqm fully equipped and serviced laboratories which facilitates the development of next generation life science-based products and services. The labs are open for use by academics, startups and industry. As per the second quarter of 2024, the 28 startups at ShareLab raised an accumulated 2 billion NOK (168 million EUR), in grants and investments.
The Life Science Cluster: A not-for-profit members organization with over 120 members across the health, technology, marine, and agriculture sectors. The Life Science Cluster aims to strengthen interaction and knowledge-sharing across industry, academia, government and the private and public sectors for sustainable business development in the field of Life Sciences.
Startups, scale-ups and unicorns
Oslo is home to nearly 2000 startups and 200 scaleups within the ICT, Health and Urban Development sectors. The startup ecosystem has doubled its numbers of scale-ups in the last 10 years and has fostered 7 unicorns (“Startups and Scaleups in the Oslo Region – 2023,” Oslo Business Region).
For an overview of startups and scale-ups in health and life science, visit Oslo’s Dealroom database. Here, you can easily search, filter and discover some early stage and fast-growth companies based in Oslo and throughout the country.
Snapshot of Oslo-based growth companies
ClexBio: A pre-clinical tissue therapeutics company with a next-generation technology platform enabling scalable, high-throughput generation of lab-grown tissues.
Diffia: Gives healthcare professionals new ways to interact with patients, whether they are in the hospital or under home care - through its app, Nimble.
Eys: Accelerates the digital transformation in eye healthcare with an e-health platform that uniquely connects healthcare professionals by streamlining collaboration with telemedicine, digital referrals and high-quality clinical eye examinations.
HoloCare: Transforms how clinicians see and engage with medical images with intuitive, easily generated holograms for pre-operative planning.
Hemispherian: An innovative preclinical pharmaceutical company focused on developing a novel class of small molecule drugs. These drugs target the TET2 enzyme as a targeted therapy for particularly aggressive cancers.
Nextera: The company’s approach is to attack or modulate disease at the core of the problem - the adaptive immune receptor (AIR) synapse- translating to targeted disease-specific treatment without compromising the patient’s health.
Nordic Brain Tech: Developing digital therapeutics for migraine and headache.
Nykode Therapeutics: A biotechnology company that develops immunological therapies and vaccines for cancer treatment. Listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the company currently is valued at NOK 8,2 billion.
Oncoinvent: designs better cancer treatments by applying known physical and chemical principles of selected novel materials in new ways to maximize their medical benefit while minimizing potential safety concerns. The company’s leading product candidate, Radspherin® is a novel alpha-emitting radioactive micro particle suspension designed for local treatment of metastatic cancers in body cavities.