COLLABORATION. Today, February 9, a framework agreement between healthcare company MSD, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and Region Västra Götaland was signed. It is the beginning of a new and innovative, collaborative arena that will ultimately benefit the patients.
The steering committee that the partners are co-building will devise joint initiatives that will benefit society and the patients. It is not just about developing new treatments and techniques, but even includes identifying medical needs and finding new ways to introduce newly developed treatments into care faster.
MSD has it Swedish office in the Life Science cluster, Stockholm Life, but operates throughout the country. MSD is extremely active in Swedish clinical research and is responsible for one fourth of all patients in company run clinical studies in Sweden.
“We want to put the focus on the patient and in together with healthcare and the most qualified research, create the best possible medical results for the patients. Developing the collaboration in Region Västra Götaland is, therefore, a natural step for us,” says Jacob Tellgren Managing Director of MSD Sweden.
The new steering committee will be established within a month, with discussions on different areas of collaboration being initiated in early spring.
“Our organizations mutually respect our differences and circumstances, and have the patients’ best as our goal. With the framework agreement in place, we end the hierarchy and create meetings that I am convinced will benefit the patients in the long run,” says Olle Lärkö, Dean at Sahlgrenska Academy.
The region and the University have previously had individual collaborations with MSD with good results. This includes such things as clinical studies that have improved care both within and outside of Sweden.
“This agreement is the basis for a more systematic collaboration that will be both long term and transparent. It opens doors between our organizations and creates added value for healthcare,” says Deputy Director of Healthcare Services Peter Lönnroth who represented Region Västra Götaland at the signing of the framework agreement.
The parties
MSD is a research intensive company, which in collaboration with healthcare, discovers, develops and provides society with drugs and services that improve peoples’ health. MSD Sweden has its office in Hagastaden in Stockholm, and is part of the medical cluster that surrounds Karolinska Institutet and the university hospital New Karolinska Solna. In the USA and Canada, the company is known as Merck & Co., Inc. The company is represented in over 140 different countries.
SAHLGRENSKA ACADEMY is the Health Science Faculty at the University of Gothenburg. The faculty has a unique research scope within medicine, odontology and the health and care sciences, which enables effective cooperation over disciplinary boundaries. Within many areas, research is of the highest international class, including pharmacology, obesity, pediatric health, odontology and cardiovascular medicine.
REGION VÄSTRA GÖTALAND works for a good life on equal terms for the people of Västra Götaland, which includes good healthcare for everyone. Clinical research is a natural part of all care operations in Region Västra Götaland; at the hospitals, health centers and dental clinics. To strengthen growth and development in Västra Götaland, Region Västra Götaland initiates and participates in research collaborations with companies, universities and colleges.
