REGION SKANE

Their core work

Region Skåne is the regional government authority responsible for healthcare delivery across Skåne county in southern Sweden, home to Lund and Malmö university hospitals. In H2020 projects, they contribute clinical infrastructure — patient registries, hospital networks, and real-world care settings — enabling large-scale clinical trials and health system innovation. Their participation spans autoimmune disease research (type 1 diabetes, Crohn's disease), neurodegenerative disease trials, and integrated care models for ageing populations. They function as a bridge between academic research and frontline healthcare delivery, providing the patient populations and clinical environments that research consortia need.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2015–2017), Region Skåne focused on specific disease treatment strategies — optimising Crohn's disease therapy cycles (BIOCYCLE), entering type 1 diabetes translational research (INNODIA), and supporting a Parkinson's disease clinical trial (TreatER). From 2019 onward, the focus broadened significantly: they moved into exposome research linking environmental factors to immune diseases (HEDIMED), end-of-life care systems (iLIVE), and — most notably — pre-commercial procurement for integrated care solutions (Carematrix PCP). This shift suggests a transition from being a clinical trial site for specific diseases toward becoming a health system innovator tackling systemic challenges like multimorbidity and care integration.

Region Skåne is moving from providing clinical infrastructure for disease-specific research toward leading demand-side health innovation — particularly in integrated care procurement and population-level prevention.

How they like to work

Region Skåne never coordinates projects — they join as participants or third parties, contributing clinical environments and patient access rather than project management. With 140 unique partners across 26 countries, they operate within large, research-intensive consortia (INNODIA alone involves dozens of partners). Their role is consistent: they are the healthcare system that gives researchers access to real patients, real hospitals, and real clinical data. For potential collaborators, this means a reliable, non-competitive partner that adds clinical credibility without seeking to lead.

Extensive pan-European network of 140 partners across 26 countries, built primarily through large health research consortia. Their partnerships span major university hospitals, medical research institutes, and biotech companies across the EU, with particular density in Scandinavian and Western European networks.

What sets them apart

Region Skåne is not a university or research institute — it is a regional healthcare authority that runs actual hospitals and clinics serving 1.4 million people. This gives them something most research partners cannot offer: direct access to diverse patient populations, clinical registries, and the healthcare delivery system itself. Their Carematrix PCP project also demonstrates a rare capability — acting as a public procurer of innovation, meaning they can be both a research partner and a future customer for health technologies.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Carematrix PCP
  Their largest funded project (€4M) and a rare example of a regional authority using pre-commercial procurement to drive innovation in multimorbidity care for ageing populations.
• INNODIA
  Major European type 1 diabetes consortium spanning 2015–2023 with a follow-up project (INNODIA HARVEST), indicating deep, sustained involvement in T1D translational research.
• TreatER
  Clinical proof-of-concept trial for CDNF protein therapy in Parkinson's disease — a first-in-human intracerebral administration study hosted at their clinical facilities.