A Nordic test hub for future healthcare

Nordic university hospitals are joining forces to act as Europe’s test hub for future healthcare – from advanced therapies to hospital-at-home solutions. With shared values, strong data traditions and concrete cross-border projects, NUHA shows how Europe can turn strategy into real impact for patients.

When Europe sets out to translate its new life science strategy into real change for patients, it needs places willing to lead the way. In the Nordics, five university hospitals have already taken on that role through the Nordic University Hospital Alliance (NUHA).

“If Europe wants to move from strategy to real impact in healthcare, it needs test zones where data, clinical methods and technology meet in practice. The Nordics can be that proof of concept,” says Rasmus Møgelvang, CEO of Rigshospitalet and current chair of the alliance.

NUHA brings together university hospitals in the capitals of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The ambition is clear: to show how innovation can be tested, scaled and implemented across borders in real healthcare systems – not only in laboratories or pilot projects. The collaboration rests on something uniquely Nordic: strong public healthcare systems, high trust, and shared values of equity and patient-centred care.

Signý Vala Sveinsdóttir, Chief of Haematology at Landspitali in Reykjavik, Iceland, emphasises how this collaboration is also about data and long-term innovation:

“Nordic cooperation is important to combine our strengths, increase efficiency, and improve services for patients – but equally to merge databases into joint repositories that we can utilize for innovation and research.”

ATMP – a shared Nordic frontier

Among the areas where collaboration is particularly crucial is Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) – cell, gene and tissue therapies that represent some of the most promising advances in modern medicine. These therapies often target very small patient populations, making it impossible for a single country or hospital to gather the critical mass needed for trials, development and safe implementation.

Through NUHA, the Nordic university hospitals are building a joint platform where ATMP research, development and treatment can progress faster and more efficiently across borders. This includes everything from technology development and quality testing to process innovation.

Knut Steffensen, Director of the Karolinska ATMP Center in Stockholm, Sweden, highlights the value of working together:

“In ATMP we often work with small patient populations, and therefore it is crucial to reach a critical mass. This is possible through Nordic collaboration. At the same time, within ATMP and the various projects running at different hospitals, it is important that we join forces on technology development, quality testing and process innovation.”

Concrete results on the ground

This ambition is already taking form. A Nordic platform trial in intensive care (INCEPT) is enrolling patients in several countries. A NUHA@Home programme is exploring how hospital-at-home models can be scaled across borders. And in rare diseases, the alliance is working to establish a Nordic hub for advanced cystic fibrosis diagnostics, while also testing cutting-edge gene therapies.

Åslaug Helland, oncologist at Oslo University Hospital, Norway, stresses the importance of this approach in cancer care:

“As a cancer doctor, I see every day how crucial Nordic cooperation is. Many patients suffer from rare cancer types, and cross-border collaboration is absolutely necessary to be able to help these patients.”

At HUS Helsinki University Hospital, Head of Pediatric Surgery Jukka Salminen points to how the spirit of collaboration across the Nordic countries has been a trademark for years:

“In pediatric surgery, there is exceptionally close collaboration among the Nordic countries. In transplant surgery, the organ always goes to the patient who needs it most. When Denmark faced long waiting lists for cleft lip and palate patients, Helsinki stepped in to help. Overall, our pediatric surgeons have worked as visiting surgeons in every Nordic country.”

Test solutions in real healthcare

For NUHA’s leaders, these examples show what Europe is asking for: scalable models for innovation, tested in real healthcare.

“We do not claim to have all the answers,” says Møgelvang. “But we have the structures, the data and the will to test solutions in real healthcare. That is what Europe needs now.”

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