Denmark Healthcare National Action Plan for Precision Medicine
The Danish Health Data Registry has collected high-quality data on the entire population for the past four decades, providing unique opportunities to study the development of diseases and treatments over time. This wealth of systematically collected data and the country’s robust private and public healthcare sector, provides fertile ground to a world-class healthcare system utilizing data to benefit the patient.
A national action plan for precision medicine
Taking advantage of the country’s long tradition of systematic data collection in the health care system, the Danish government adopted the first ‘National Strategy for Precision Medicine’ in 2017 aimed at strengthening precision medicine research and associated infrastructure. The most important outcome of these efforts was the establishment of the National Genome Centre (NGC) in 2019. NGC consists of a Whole Genome Sequencing Center and a High Performance Computing Center. The mission of the NGC is to collect data about Danes’ genomes and provide safe data storage and processing capacity for doctors and researchers who wish to access the Danish genome data.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation donated $144 million to launch the facility and conduct Whole Genome Sequencing of the first 60.000 patients.
When updated in 2021, the National Strategy for Precision Medicine set forth new objectives including better integration of national and international precision medicine research. Consequently, international researchers were also permitted to apply for access to the NGC Cloud Database in collaboration with a Danish research institution. Application requirements can be found at the National Genome Center. The NGC Cloud Database is the latest progression in Denmark’s long-term action plan for precision medicine.
Precision Medicine in Denmark
Denmark strives to position itself as a hub for precision medicine research. 2022 marked the first year a cohort matriculated as graduate students in precision medicine from the University of Copenhagen. The course is intended for professionals within the field who wish to gain additional skills in data science, clinical decision-making processes, and ethics around precision medicine.
In addition, 2022 saw the launch of Denmark’s first quantum computer program. Research at the Niels Bohr Institute aims to develop the world’s first fully functional, generally applicable quantum computer before 2034. The Novo Nordisk Foundation has donated more than $200 million to the program in the hopes that the new supercomputer can increase processing capacity when analyzing enormous amounts of genetic data to develop new types of precision medicine.
Danish medical researchers, Novo Nordisk, in particular, has high hopes for precision medicine to treat type 1 diabetes. In November 2022, the Novo Nordisk Foundation hosted the second edition of ‘The Future of Precision Medicine Symposium’, a speaker-series which featured panel discussions on topics such as precision medicine and ‘Trans-ethnic perspectives’ and ‘The role of AI’. The event underlines the keen focus of both private and public actors in Denmark on this promising new field of research.
With a highly developed and efficient healthcare system, cutting-edge R&D and academic community, skilled workforce, public sector support and a strategic location in Europe, Denmark is an attractive destination for American companies in the precision medicine sector.
For more information, please contact Maria.Norsk@trade.gov