The Swedish government has announced a national investment in precision medicine to strengthen its long‑term implementation in Sweden. The initiative involves the allocation of state funding to regional precision medicine centres across the country. For Precision Medicine Center Karolinska, this represents important support for ongoing, long‑term efforts to integrate precision medicine into everyday healthcare.
Precision medicine involves a more personalised approach, in which advanced diagnostics and treatment are integrated into a continuously learning healthcare system to provide the right intervention for the right patient.
The government initiative totals SEK 63 million, which will be distributed by the National Board of Health and Welfare to the seven precision medicine centres during 2026. Of this, SEK 35 million will be allocated equally among the centres. The funding may be used, for example, to develop and further establish the centres, strengthen national collaboration and develop shared ways of working to support equitable implementation across the country.
The remaining SEK 28 million will be distributed based on population size within each a regional collaboration area and will be used to support a structured introduction of, and equitable access to, precision medicine methods and approaches.
New large-scale medical technologies, such as broad genomic analyses, are bringing a new level of precision to diagnostics and opening up opportunities for personalised treatment. These technologies need to be integrated with established clinical practice through multidisciplinary, cross-specialty ways of working, where different parts of healthcare and academia collaborate in integrated, thematic patient pathways," says Anna Wedell , professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery , Senior Consultant at Karolinska University Hospital and Director of Precision Medicine Center Karolinska.
Long-term structures and shared ways of working
At Precision Medicine Center Karolinska, a collaboration between Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, this development work has been ongoing for some time. The focus has been on building long-term structures and shared ways of working that enable the use of advanced precision medicine methods as an integrated part of routine healthcare.
The government initiative now provides additional opportunities to strengthen this work, in collaboration with other regional precision medicine centres. At the same time, work is underway at the National Board of Health and Welfare to establish a national coordination function for the long-term implementation of precision medicine.
"National collaboration is essential if precision medicine is to benefit patients across the country. It is also important to continue driving development, to support the structures and new ways of working that are already in place and functioning in healthcare, and to develop new organisational models to help scale up these approaches," says Anna Wedell.
