National Drug Discovery Center to be under ownership steering of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
On 1 June 2023, the Government decided to amend the Government Decree on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment to add the National Drug Discovery Center Ltd under the Ministry’s mandate. The centre was previously under the competence of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
The National Drug Discovery Center is a state-owned special assignment company. The company aims to develop research and innovation activities and to utilise and commercialise research results, which fall within the area of responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most RDI-intensive and fastest growing sectors in the world. The increasingly compact ecosystem in the Finnish health sector has created good opportunities for drug development aiming for commercial success. The center serves the universities and research institutes, operators in clinical drug research and companies in the sector across Finland.
The next steps in launching the company’s operations are selecting more members to the board of directors, recruiting the company’s managing director and creating a business model and strategy.
The National Drug Discovery Center is part of the implementation of the Health Sector Growth Strategy for Research and Innovation Activities and of the chain of the national centres of expertise (Comprehensive Cancer Center Finland, Neurocenter Finland and Finnish Biobank Cooperative FINBB).
The agreement to establish the National Drug Discovery Center was signed on 4 February 2022. The company is based in Turku. The decision to change the ministry responsible for the centre’s ownership steering was made already at the government budget session in autumn 2022 when the Government capitalised the company with EUR 20 million.
The change will enter into force 5 June 2023.
Inquiries:
Anni Kaukoranta, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 072
Tarja Enala, Chief Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 135
Mari Leinonen, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 087