As the Country Manager for Bristol-Myers Squibb Sweden, I am delighted to be part of this blog. An important way of communicating our work externally. At Bristol-Myers Squibb Sweden we are committed to bringing our innovative medicines to patients as quickly as possible, this is especially important in areas where there is a high unmet need. We are a company focused on helping patients prevail over serious diseases, these include: cancer, stroke prevention, rheumatoid arthritis, hepatitis C and HIV.

The importance of collaboration and partnership

Having been in Sweden for 18 months, an excellent experience so far, it is clear to me that the healthcare environment is one where more collaborations and partnerships can have a bigger impact on patient outcomes. I believe Sweden is a country that can be a pioneer in the healthcare sector, having a strong drive from the top down on innovation. However whether this is incremental or transformational innovation, it requires that different perspectives are shared, discussed and debated. I believe this can only happen through increased levels of collaborations between the public and private sector as well as within different industries in the private sector.

The Innovation Race

I was very inspired by the recent collaboration and partnership that took place at the ‘Innovation Race’, an initiative that brought together Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbvie, Microsoft and Uppsala University Hospital in the effort to bring innovative solutions to help patients suffering from cancer. At one point during the 52 hour race, I remember walking into the back office (the team supporting two creative working groups) and I could not differentiate between the different partners – everyone working passionately towards the same goal – with the patient as the North Star. A proof of concept that competitors within the industry and partners outside the pharmaceutical industry can work together, bringing expertise and a global reach to try and solve some of the local challenges that a patient goes through from pre-diagnosis onwards.

To conclude

Furthermore, as a company we are committed to work even harder this year to provide innovative medicines with speed to patient, to strengthen the partnerships across the public and private sectors in the best interests of patients, and to continue to bring cutting edge research and development to Sweden.