A delegation of four ministers from the Swedish government, led by the Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, confirmed the country's largest ever investment in life sciences as a key element of the ruling coalition's autumn budget and research and innovation bill.

Roughly $320 million of the $1.7 billion package will be devoted to the life sciences over the next four years. The package includes a $220 million investment in drug discovery, clinical research, antibiotic resistance research, health in aging and the use of patient registers 

The package also includes a $100 million investment in SciLifeLab, a center combining state-of-the-art research infrastructure with a broad knowledge in translational medicine and molecular bioscience in order to translate discoveries into both tools and therapies. This investment more than doubles the government's current funding of SciLifeLab. 

The majority of the life science investments will be in Stockholm-Uppsala region, already home to more than 50% of Sweden's thriving life science industry.

"In our recently published report, we pointed out the ambitious, future plans for further strengthening the life science sector in Stockholm-Uppsala, thereby ensuring that the region remains a truly global life science cluster,” said Ola Bjorkman, CEO of Stockholm-Uppsala Life Sciences. “In particular, the investment in SciLifeLab with its cutting edge research infrastructure combined with parallel investments in drug discovery, clinical research and the use of patient registers open new avenues for developing more personalized and outcome orientated healthcare."