Report: Finland produces competitive health sector research but faces challenges in scaling up business growth

NordenBladet — Funding for the health sector has developed and strengthened, but the Finnish funding environment is about to fall short of the reference countries, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment publication “Report on the development of the health sector funding environment” published on 21 February 2022. The report also contains proposals for developing the funding environment.According to the report, the sustained nature of action and growth funding that specialises in the health sector are the most significant bottlenecks in the financing environment. The fragmentation of funding into relatively small and short-term packages appears as the key bottleneck in Finland’s health sector funding environment, which explains why the commercialisation and scaling of promising ideas and innovations do not make smooth progress.Finland has competitive research, but business scaling is a challenge. While EU funding offers significant opportunities, the utilisation of EU funding is not as systematic and strategic in Finland as in many other countries. By creating a more efficient national organisation Finland would probably make much more use of EU funding sources.Funding for health sector research has increased, and Finnish growth companies in the health sector have managed to raise substantial capital investments. However, the financial environment is clearly less developed than in the reference countries (Sweden, Denmark, Belgium) and the competitiveness of the financial environment is falling behind them. The intention is to utilise the report’s results in implementing the Health Sector Growth Strategy and in developing the funding environment for the health sector. The report is part of the measures included in the Roadmap for Health Sector Growth Strategy for Research and Innovation Activities, which was published in December 2020. It was submitted to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment by 4Front Oy and KPMG. 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi