London, 28 May 2022 (TDI): Sweden and the United Kingdom signed a cooperation agreement in life sciences in London on Friday in the presence of the Swedish King and Queen.
Great coverage of our new bilateral life sciences MOU with Sweden. Signed yesterday in the presence of Their Majesties The King & Queen, it sets the framework for ever closer cooperation between two life science superpowers. 🇬🇧 🇸🇪
https://t.co/lCL4TpYiCS— Judith Gough (@JudithMGough) May 28, 2022
Cooperation agreement in life sciences
The agreement aims to strengthen academic research as well as commercial collaboration. Due to this, Britain seeks to deepen scientific ties with other nations after Brexit.
It is the first bilateral science agreement reached by the UK with an EU member state since Brexit.
Thereby, the agreement delivers a framework for joining together both countries’ life sciences strategies in different areas. Namely, from early diagnostics and genomics to pharmaceutical manufacturing.
UK Science Minister, George Freeman revealed that they are entirely committed to international collaboration.
Additionally, he said they have left the European monetary and political union and above all, they want to deepen their science ties.
Freeman further pointed out that the agreement is part of strengthening their bilateral scientific relations with Israel, Switzerland, and currently, Sweden after Brexit. He also mentioned that South Korea and Japan will be next.
King Carl XVI Gustaf conveyed that both countries need each other in science.
The King affirmed that their agreement ties together the strong knot that exists already among scientists in Sweden and Britain.
The December 2020 Brexit withdrawal treaty provided for the UK to join the EU’s €96bn Horizon Europe research program. Nevertheless, Brussels refused consistently to allow it to take associate membership due to a long-running dispute with the government of the Uk over the post-Brexit trade in Northern Ireland.
Collaboration scientifically between the two countries is already close, fixed in pharmaceuticals by AstraZeneca. Which is a drug company that emerged after the 1999 merger of Britain’s Zeneca with Sweden’s Astra.
The UK is second following the US in jointly authored research papers for Swedish scientists.
Sweden’s education and research minister, Anna Ekström, brought to light their interest in having a relationship with Britain that is very good in terms of research.
All things considered, the agreement memorandum does not instantly launch any new Swedish and UK research programs. Still, it explains a mechanism for doing so in the future.
