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GOTHENBURG/COPENHAGEN — September 4, 2026. A new Sweden–Denmark collaboration is targeting one of the most specialised areas of modern medicine: therapeutic oligonucleotides, short synthetic DNA or RNA molecules that can influence gene expression with high precision.
GU Ventures, the innovation and investment company linked to the University of Gothenburg, and Copenhagen-based BioInnovation Institute have announced the OligoSynergy project. The initiative is intended to connect research, clinical expertise, industrial capabilities and investor networks across the two countries, helping early-stage companies move from laboratory work towards validated products and commercial development.
A specialised field needs a regional network
Oligonucleotide medicines are already being developed for conditions that have proved difficult to treat through conventional approaches. Their potential lies in the ability to target biological processes with a high degree of specificity. At the same time, the route from promising research to a viable therapy is demanding, requiring laboratory validation, preclinical work, clinical planning, regulatory knowledge, intellectual-property management and access to capital.
The partners say the project will focus on companies in the preclinical and early clinical phases. Rather than presenting the initiative as a single drug-development programme, the organisations describe it as a commercialisation platform: a way to help promising research teams find the expertise, facilities and business support needed to progress.
The project is led by GU Ventures, with Eduarde Rohner serving as project manager. The collaboration is funded through Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak and Region Västra Götaland, linking a Swedish regional innovation environment with Denmark’s established life-science ecosystem.
Why Gothenburg and Copenhagen?
The two metropolitan areas have complementary strengths. Gothenburg and western Sweden combine university research, specialist healthcare, industrial partners and experience in building research-based companies. Copenhagen and the wider Danish life-science cluster offer pharmaceutical expertise, investors, incubator capacity and connections to international markets.
The partnership’s logic is regional rather than purely national. Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak supports cooperation between southern Sweden, Denmark and Norway in areas including innovation, entrepreneurship and green transition. Its cross-border structure is intended to help organisations work across markets that are geographically close but still separated by different funding systems, networks and business environments.
For smaller Nordic countries, this kind of cooperation can be particularly important. Highly specialised companies often need a broader pool of researchers, clinical partners, manufacturing expertise and investors than one local ecosystem can provide. Building those links early may also make it easier for new firms to remain in the region as they grow.
From research strength to business strength
GU Ventures says it has long experience in company building, financing, intellectual property and legal support for research-based innovations. BioInnovation Institute, established by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, works with life-science and deep-tech start-ups through funding and business-development programmes.
The organisations have not yet published a detailed list of participating companies or a full project timetable. They have, however, identified a clear target group: early-stage businesses working on therapeutic oligonucleotides and related technologies. Support is expected to include development advice, validation, commercial planning and access to relevant networks.
That emphasis reflects a wider challenge for European innovation. Strong academic research does not automatically become a successful company or a product that reaches patients. The gap between a scientific discovery and a fundable, clinically credible business can be especially wide in biotechnology, where development cycles are long and technical risks remain high.
A practical test of Nordic cooperation
OligoSynergy gives the Nordic region a practical test case for turning cross-border innovation policy into company-level support. Its success will depend not only on the quality of the underlying science, but also on whether researchers and founders can access the right partners at the right stage.
For western Sweden and Denmark, the project adds another link between two closely connected life-science communities. For the wider Nordic economy, it illustrates how regional cooperation can be used to strengthen commercialisation in a field where expertise is highly concentrated and international competition is intense.
The partners say they expect to share more detailed information as the work develops. The immediate objective is straightforward: give more research-based innovations a realistic path from laboratory discovery to investable company and, eventually, to new therapies.
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