Building Cell & Gene Therapy SWEDEN

A new national partnership, Cell & Gene Therapy SWEDEN, is being established to strengthen Sweden’s global competitiveness in advanced therapies through coordinated collaboration between academia, healthcare, and industry.

The work to establish a national coordination function for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) is progressing steadily. This initiative is now formally introduced under the name Cell & Gene Therapy SWEDEN.

A national partnership for advanced therapies

The partnership is being built through two synchronized and coordinated projects, one financially supported by Swelife/Vinnova. The shared goal is to improve patients’ access to innovative treatments, support strong research environments, and enhance Sweden’s ability to translate research into new products and production capacity.

The ambition is for Cell & Gene Therapy SWEDEN to be fully formed as a consortium, with financing and operational activities, by the second half of 2026.

Strong collaboration across Sweden

Partners in the initiative include Sweden’s seven medical universities, seven university hospitals, and seven representatives from biotech, pharma, and medtech industries. These stakeholders previously collaborated through the Vinnova-supported projects CAMP and ATMP2030.

The association ATMP Sweden, responsible for atmpsweden.se, contributes to strengthening ecosystem engagement, particularly through communication and digital publishing. Together, CGT SWEDEN and ATMP Sweden aim to complement each other in advancing Sweden’s position in cell and gene therapy.

Leadership and coordination

During spring 2025, Hannah Karlsson from Uppsala University Hospital took on the role of chair of the coordination group. Sara Nolbrant, from Lund University, joined as project coordinator.

“We are now gaining momentum to present a financed and unifying activity that makes Sweden more competitive,” says Dag Larsson, chair of the steering group.

Partners and governance

Steering Group:

• Dag Larsson (Lif, Chair)
• Martin Bergö (Karolinska Institutet)
• Christina Herder (SwedenBio)
• Jan Holgerson (Sahlgrenska University Hospital)
• Stefan Jovinge (Skåne University Hospital)
• Eva Tiensuu Janson (Uppsala University)
• Sara Nolbrant (Lund University, Project Coordinator)
• Elias Uhlin (ATMP Sweden, Adjunct)

Coordination Group:

• Hannah Karlsson (Chair, Uppsala University Hospital)
• Christian Andersson (Sahlgrenska University Hospital)
• Petter Björquist (Verigraft)
• Karin Blomberg (Örebro University)
• Pontus Blomberg (Karolinska University Hospital)
• Lindsay Davies (QVance), Gunilla Enblad (Uppsala University)
• Ewa Ellis (Karolinska Institutet)
• Anna Göthlin-Eremo (Örebro University Hospital)
• Per Hammer (Cytiva)
• Paul Kingham (Umeå University)
• Jessica Martinsson (SwedenBio)
• Jenny Nyström (Sahlgrenska Academy)
• Martin Olsson (Lund University)
• Anna Sandström (AstraZeneca)
• Lars Skagerlind (Norrlands University Hospital)
• Marcus Söderberg (Linköping University Hospital)

Learn more

In the coming months, Cell & Gene Therapy SWEDEN will be visible through atmpsweden.se and on LinkedIn.

Contacts:

• Dag Larsson – dag.larsson@lif.se

• Hannah Karlsson – hannah.karlsson@akademiska.se

• Sara Nolbrant – sara.nolbrant@med.lu.se

Read CGT Sweden’s official statement.