Swedish life science remains a powerhouse for early-stage innovation, new pipeline report shows

The Swedish Drug Discovery and Development Pipeline 2026

The 2026 Swedish Drug Discovery and Development Pipeline report reveals steady progress in Sweden’s drug development landscape, highlighting a preclinical-to-clinical ratio increasingly in line with more mature European ecosystems, and pointing to company diversity–rather than reliance on large pharma–as one of the country’s key strengths.

518 projects by 152 companies – A domestic pipeline the size of a big pharma
The Swedish Drug Discovery and Development Pipeline Report, published every three years by SwedenBIO, is based on a survey of Swedish companies to track progress and trends in the country’s drug development sector.

Click here to access the report.

This latest edition of the report shows that the pharmaceutical pipeline consists of 518 projects being conducted by 152 companies with headquarters in Sweden. Approximately half of the projects are in discovery or preclinical stages and half in clinical phase. The impressive pipeline matches global pharma companies in clinical assets and exceeds the number of preclinical assets held by big pharma, with the preclinical pipeline being more than double the size of pharma giants like Roche and AstraZeneca.

Company diversity an advantage and strength for Sweden’s life science industry
Sweden’s company population continues to be signified by a majority of small companies. A vast majority of the companies (73%) are micro-sized with less than 10 employees. One fifth have 10-49 employees, one tenth have 50-249 employees and only one company has more than 250 employees.

The ratio of preclinical to clinical-stage drugs is now closer to 50% and better aligned with more mature ecosystems elsewhere in Europe. This ratio, together with the great diversity in the company population, is described as one of Sweden’s critical strengths.

“The Swedish pharmaceutical pipeline continues to demonstrate resilience in a world where economic and political turbulence is shaking the industry, much owning to our highly innovative and diverse company population. The pipeline does not rely on a single or a few big pharma companies, but rather a diversity in terms of development stages, indications and modalities, says Jessica Martinsson, CEO and Director General of SwedenBIO, adding: “However, we need to improve access to capital for our companies, so more projects reach clinical phase.”

Majority of phase III projects made successful exits
In yet another sign of the strength of the Swedish drug developing ecosystem, close to 60% of the projects that were in phase III in the 2023 pipeline report have since then made successful exits, as the new report reveals. This includes 11 approved drugs and over $1.1 billion generated through acquisitions. Moreover, Sweden maintains a robust portfolio of more than 200 assets currently available for partnering.

Click here to access the report.

The report is produced by SwedenBIO, the trade organization for Sweden's life science industry, in cooperation with Citeline and with support from Vinnova and Business