 |
Courtesy
of Aresa
Jarne Elleholm, CEO of Aresa |
Denmark’s entrée into the biomedical
field began with pigs. Denmark raises nearly 25
million of them a year, making it the world’s
biggest exporter of pork. The large amount of pigs
on Danish soil helped Novo Nordisk’s exploration
into insulin. Since Novo Nordisk’s first successful
experiments in 1922 extracting insulin from the
pancreas of cows and pigs, they have been leading
the world in Diabetic care. These days Novo Nordisk’s
production is based on biotechnology in which they
use genetically modified microorganisms to produce
insulin. However, it all started on a farm.
Denmark may have come from humble roots but is
now a world leader in life science innovation. Denmark
ranks number one in biotech patents per member of
the population, second in Europe in the European
Union’s best performance index of biotechnology
innovation, and third in Europe in the size of its
drug development pipeline.
Denmark has identified life sciences as a key economic
growth area and the world can expect more developments
to be "made in Denmark."
Coming down the life science
pipeline
Enkam Pharmaceuticals A/S:
 |
Courtesy
of Novozymes
Research laboratory at Novozymes. |
When Alzheimer affects a patient, most pharmaceutical
companies look to slow down the progression of the
disease, not Enkam. This Danish company has created
a regenerative compound for traumatic brain injuries
such as found in Alzheimer patients or accident
victims. Enkam Pharmaceuticals A/S has a leading
position in the field of neural cell adhesion molecules
and has a focus on neurodegenerative disorders and
cancer. The unique compound created by Enkam is
being prepared for phase II clinical studies.
Aresa A/S:
There are believed to be about 100 million unexploded
landmines around the world. About 25,000 people
are injured or killed a year by infected landmines.
To Danish biotech company, Aresa, these figures
warranted a solution.
Aresa has harnessed the power of nature by creating
genetically modified plants that turn from green
to red when they come in contact with explosives
in the soil. This method of humanitarian de-mining,
which will be hitting the market soon, has the potential
to save lives and the environment.
Novozymes:
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Courtesy
of Aresa A/S
The technology of RedDetect by Aresa consists
of the gene-modified weed plants, Arabidopsis
thaliana, which change color when coming in
contact with infected soil. |
Novozymes, the world leader in enzyme technology,
is changing the way we live. In 2001, Novozymes
established the Biotechnology Business Development
(BBD) group with the challenge of looking for business
development opportunities where the company could
leverage its world-leading technologies in the discovery
and development of enzymes into the field of biotechnology.
CEO Steen Riisgaard sees the need for a biological
revolution to bring solutions to replace many of
the polluting practices of industry today. In the
future, he believes that biological processes will
be involved in the manufacturing of more products,
foods and pharmaceuticals.
"With enzymes, the sky is the limit. The only
limit is our own creativity," says Riisgaard.
Novozymes already has a portfolio of activities
that restructures the way the world works by "unlocking
the magic of nature." Novozymes biotechnology
unit seems to be everywhere, for example, it is
creating cosmetics, helping with wound care, fueling
cars, and making biopharmaceuticals. "Someday
in the not so distance future, everything that is
plastic will be replaced by biodegradable materials,"
said Thomas Nagy, President of Novozymes North America.
Picture it; Novozymes has the science to make clothing
out of corn, and computers out of a sugar molecule.
The only way the customer can note the difference
in the materials made from nature, is that bio products
decompose when buried helping to create cleaner
products with renewable sources.
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DENMARK
