Eisai, Japan’s fourth-largest drugmaker, cooperates with the Swedish biotech company Bioarctic Neuroscience on an Alzheimer’s disease treatment. It started off with a joint R&D project five years ago and has now moved on to phase I clinical trials.

The world-leading pharmaceutical company in Alzheimer’s disease research and treatment, Eisai, decided to invest in Bioarctic  Neuroscience’s totally new concept for a next-generation treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, a monoclonal antibody BAN2401. They started off in a joint R&D project in 2005.

At the same time Eisai wanted a base for its new Nordic sales and marketing company and opened up a Nordic headoffice in Stockholm, Sweden.

In 2007, cooperation continued and Eisai licensed the rights to Bioarctic’s antibody to develop an experimental Alzheimer’s disease treatment, giving Eisai the right to study, develop, manufacture and market the drug. They started to plan and schedule for clinical trials. In 2010, Eisai started a clincial study of the drug on patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Why Sweden?

The fact that Sweden is the biggest market and is centrally located in the region played a part in the decision to establish  the Nordic headquarters in Stockholm.

“On the other hand the presence of the globally-respected  Karolinska Institutet and its hospitals was also important,” says Christer Ahlberg, former managing director of Eisai’s Nordic operation to the Sweden Today magazine. “The quality of the research here is very high and from that point of view it was important to be close to it. Stockholm also has the best possibilities in the Nordic region to get the most highly educated and suitable employees.”

Eisai Sweden has flourished in the five years since it was established, growing from a single employee to 25 today.

Invest Sweden involvement

In 2005 Eisai approached Invest Sweden when the company was looking to establish a Nordic base in its international expansion.

“The competition was between Stockholm and Copenhagen and it was much due to Invest Sweden that Eisai decided to go to Stockholm. They were very much involved in the establishment  in Stockholm and supported us from many different points of view,” says Christer Ahlberg.