Advances in artificial intelligence, biotechnology and the use of health data are widely regarded as among the most significant technological leaps in healthcare in decades. The European Regional Development Fund and Region Västra Götaland are now investing SEK 25 million in the Precision Platform, a new initiative designed to make it easier to develop, test and implement the next generation of personalised solutions for prevention, diagnostics and treatment.
The Precision Platform is a key step in delivering the Agenda for Life Science in Western Sweden. It will strengthen collaboration, innovation capacity and international competitiveness in one of the region's most strategically important areas for future growth.
Many of the most significant breakthroughs occur at the intersection of different research disciplines, technologies and clinical specialties. To harness this potential, the Precision Platform is being established as a joint platform where researchers, clinicians, companies and innovation partners can collaborate to develop innovations in precision health.
The platform provides a single point of access to expertise, research environments, clinical settings, testbeds, infrastructure and collaboration partners. Its purpose is to shorten the path from research and innovation to practical implementation in healthcare.
The initiative is led by Sahlgrenska University Hospital in collaboration with the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology and Sahlgrenska Science Park.
More personalised healthcare
Precision health is about understanding each individual's unique conditions for health and disease. This creates new opportunities to identify health risks at an earlier stage, prevent disease and provide more personalised diagnostics and treatments.
"We are facing one of the greatest technological advances in healthcare since the emergence of modern medicine. It paves the way for more preventive, precise and personalised healthcare. To ensure that these new opportunities benefit patients and the wider population, we need environments where research, healthcare and industry can develop new knowledge and solutions together. That is exactly the role the Precision Platform is designed to play," says Boubou Hallberg, CEO of Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
Positioning Western Sweden
As part of the initiative, two additional strategic resources for research and innovation will be established.
The first is a Health Data Sandbox - a secure testing and computing environment where researchers, companies and healthcare professionals can develop and evaluate AI-based clinical decision support systems, diagnostic tools and other data-driven solutions.
The second is a pre-GMP laboratory that will strengthen the region's capacity to develop and scale up advanced therapies, enabling a faster journey from early-stage innovation to clinical application and commercialisation.
The overall ambition of the Precision Platform is to establish Western Sweden as a leading innovation hub for precision health by creating a platform where researchers, healthcare providers, companies and innovation actors can develop, test and implement the next generation of solutions for prevention, diagnostics and treatment.
The initiative will strengthen the conditions for new collaborations in research, development and innovation while making Western Sweden more attractive to talent, investment and international partnerships. In the long term, it will help improve people's health and position Western Sweden as one of Europe's leading ecosystems for precision health.
"Western Sweden is well positioned to take a leading role in the development of precision health. Through the Precision Platform, we are strengthening the region's attractiveness for investment, research excellence and innovative companies, while reinforcing our position as a leading life science region," says Helena Lundberg Nilsson, Regional Director of Development, Region Västra Götaland.
Martin Nilsson Jacobi, President and CEO, Chalmers University of Technology:
"Precision health is a key area for Chalmers, where we combine strong expertise at the intersection of technology and life science. With the Precision Platform we are taking an important step forward together with our partners in the field, creating strong environments, for example through open testbeds provided by Chalmers Next Labs. This will benefit patients while strengthening the competitiveness of a key regional industry."
Jenny Nyström, Professor and Dean, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg:
"The Precision Platform will give researchers, students and collaborative partners better opportunities to develop, test and bring new medical innovations into healthcare. The initiative is particularly important for the continued development of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), building on Western Sweden's strong ecosystem in advanced therapies, health data, AI and precision medicine."
Göran Hilmersson, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Science and Technology:
"This is an important initiative for us because precision medicine is an area where knowledge from the natural sciences plays a crucial role. Research in fields such as biology and chemistry forms an essential foundation for medical research, and in recent years our work has become increasingly integrated with precision medicine."
Axel Wolf, Professor and Director, University of Gothenburg Centre for Person-centred Care - GPCC:
"Western Sweden has a unique combination of expertise that also includes person-centred care and patient involvement. This creates the conditions to develop solutions that are medically accurate, organisationally sustainable and socioeconomically valuable, where people's experiences, resources and goals are translated into concrete decisions and actions throughout the entire innovation chain."
Cecilia Edebo, CEO, Sahlgrenska Science Park:
"To accelerate innovation, we must translate research and technological breakthroughs into real-world impact much faster. Sahlgrenska Science Park acts as a catalyst by making it easier for our many start-ups and industry partners to connect with researchers, healthcare providers and test environments through the Precision Platform. This provides faster access to the right expertise and infrastructure, enabling more innovations to be developed, tested and implemented in clinical practice - ultimately benefiting people while strengthening the Swedish life science sector."
