Helping the World Get Healthier and Happier: Denmark’s Health Innovations

Denmark has become a global player in life sciences and the international pharma, biotech, MedTech and eHealth industries. Chances are you’ve heard about it – or even benefitted from one of our many healthcare innovations: pharmaceuticals are classed as Denmark’s top export category, a trend that has only intensified since the last Olympics were held in 2020.

The Global Wonder Drugs: Ozempic & Wegovy 

There’s one very big reason why Denmark’s standing in the pharmaceutical field has grown exponentially in recent years: Novo Nordisk. The established Danish firm invented the world’s first commercially available insulin pen in 1985, and in 2017, launched the Type 2 diabetes and weight loss products Ozempic and Wegovy. The drugs have had a global impact, helping those with obesity and diabetes the world over, turning the pharmaceutical firm into Europe’s most valuable company . 

It’s not the only pharmaceutical company doing ground-breaking healthcare work with global reach in Denmark. Coloplast’s design solutions led to the world’s first disposable ostomy pouch, changing the quality of life of millions of people worldwide suffering with conditions relating to their digestive system. Lundbeck leads the way within the development and commercialization of central nervous system (CNS) drugs worldwide, including antidepressants, antipsychotics, and antiepileptic products.

Towards Better Hearing

Another thing we’re shouting from the rooftops is that Denmark supplies half the world’s hearing aids and is the center of Europe’s audiology industry. If your hearing is deteriorating or you suffer from hearing loss, you’ll likely know of Widex and GN Hearing, two of the world’s largest manufacturers of hearing instruments. The organizations create tailor-made state-of-the-art hearing instruments and related sound experience products to help improve people’s quality of life. Denmark’s universities run world-class programs in audiology and hearing-related subjects, ensuring a flow of expert research and highly trained professionals who will continue to drive the area forward.

Harnessing AI technology in Healthcare

Several Danish companies are changing the way that healthcare benefits from technology in novel ways. Corti has developed an AI and machine learning system that helps on emergency phone calls. The software analyses background noise including breathing sounds to offer smart in-call diagnostic assistance with extremely high success rates. Be My Eyes is a global community that connects blind and vision impaired people with sighted volunteers, who lend their eyes through a live video call. Through Be My Eyes, they tackle challenges and handle a wide range of everyday tasks. The online community was founded in Denmark and is now connecting people in more than 150 countries worldwide. 

Two further health-tech innovations have led to Qvin, a game-changing women’s health device, and Khora’s HekaVR, a tech therapy for those suffering auditory hallucinations. Qvin embodies a change of perspective in the medical industry, viewing menstrual blood as a resource by turning the regular menstrual pad into the Q-Pad. The device collects health data from blood, offering a needle-free and non-invasive way to manage women’s health on a monthly basis. HekaVR uses simulation training programs and voice modulations to help patients suffering from schizophrenia and other disorders that can lead to auditory hallucinations to face their malevolent voices, ultimately helping them to regain control over their lives.

Working Together

What is behind Denmark’s life science success? Knowledge-sharing and a close collaboration between public and private partners across science, education and regulatory affairs are two of the key drivers. Denmark hosts more trials per capita than many other countries: it is easy to recruit suitable study participants, and a single point of entry makes the identification and contact with leading clinical centres at hospitals nationwide easy. The Copenhagen Healthtech Cluster initiative Data Saves Lives is another example of a successful partnership that brings together health actors across both public and private sectors, sharing essential knowledge for the good of everyone, while maintaining a high level of data security.

Community, Equality and Happiness

The closely held Danish values of community and equality also power several of the country’s health interventions. Trygfonden’s Hjerteløber (‘heart runner’) is a network of publicly accessible defibrillators supported by local volunteers. Every minute counts for those suffering from a heart attack; by engaging the public, and minimizing time from incident to help, the heart runners help save lives and act as a supplement to the primary rescue service. It is an example of community spirit at its most impactful.

LykkeLiga, the happiness league, is a handball league created for kids and young people with developmental disabilities with a dual purpose. It strives to create a positive community surrounding the players and their families and works to demystify developmental issues as a part of society at the same time. In LykkeLiga all players are stars, and inclusion is always at the heart of the game. Regularly in the top five happiest nations in the world, Denmark likes to blend happiness – lykke – into as many pursuits as possible.

We also can’t talk about Denmark without mentioning its people’s love of fitness: running, swimming and cycling are in the blood. Two particular initiatives are helping Danes get fit, stay fit and enjoy being active. The Royal Run was originally conceived as a one-off running event to celebrate Crown Prince Frederik’s 50th birthday, but has now become an annual tradition where the people of Denmark run a mile, 5km or more with the royal family during a one-day event. It’s been incredibly popular; His Majesty the King Frederik X of Denmark, as he is now, will continue supporting the tradition and in doing so, support mental and physical health across the country. Denmark is a key international sport destination as well, a destination where you can follow major sports events and participate yourself.

Cycling Without Age has brought the joy of two wheels to the physically impaired and elderly. Initially an idea the company’s founder developed to take a few care home residents out into the fresh air in a trishaw (a three-wheeled cycle-powered rickshaw), it has developed into a movement across 40 countries giving everyone the chance to feel the wind in their hair, whether they can cycle or not. It’s not unusual to see the red-canopied rickshaws powering around Copenhagen on a sunny day, underlining the very Danish belief that everyone should have access to a healthy and happy life. Discover the wonders of healthy Denmark at The Denmark Pavil