Få personer har bättre inblick i tidiga nordiska biotechbolag än Søren Møller. Genom sin roll på Novo Holdings – en av världens största life science-investerare – har han under många år arbetat sida vid sida med grundare i det allra tidigaste skedet av bolagsbyggandet.
Enligt Møller är det sällan kvaliteten på den underliggande forskningen som avgör om ett bolag når patienterna eller inte. Oftare handlar det om tre saker: om grundarna är beredda att tänka internationellt från dag ett, om de har rätt ledningsteam, och om de har byggt sin organisation kring var talangen, regulatorerna och kapitalet faktiskt finns – inte bara innovationens geografiska härkomst.
Om kapital och globala ambitioner
I den här intervjun berättar Møller om hur Novo Holdings stöttar nordiska biotechbolag från grunden.
How does Novo Holdings approach syndicates and capital when building successful biotechs?
– Strong biotech companies are built on three interdependent pillars: best-in-class science, the right management team, and sufficient capital to reach clinical proof-of-concept. You cannot have one without the others.
– Our role at Novo Holdings is to work alongside founders from the earliest stages, identifying where management capability needs to be strengthened, and recruiting the best talent available globally to fill those gaps. In practice, the companies we back often develop a multi-location structure. Companies therefore often end up with having two or three locations: the Nordics, Europe, and the U.S., reflecting the location of the unmet needs, the talent, and the capital.
What is your number one tip for Nordic biotech founders?
– Think international from the start. That means building scientific ambitions around unmet global needs. The Nordics produce world-class science, the challenge is ensuring that science reaches patients globally, and that requires an international operating model from day one.
With that said, how important is the location of the company?
– Location matters most in the early stages, when the relationship between investor and founder needs to be close. We prioritise that proximity during the build phase.
– As companies mature, typically approaching Series A and beyond, the relevant question shifts: where is the best talent for the next stage, where are the key regulators, and where is the capital? The Nordic base remains strategically important – it’s where the science originated and often where core R&D stays – but global ambition requires a global footprint.
