The Lundbeck Foundation: Bringing Discoveries to Lives
Value and purpose towards 2030
The ‘Bringing Discoveries to Lives’ strategy has been developed with our purpose and statutes as a strong basis and outlines how the Lundbeck Foundation will add value towards 2030.
Two decades of growth
| Selected parameters | 2010 | 2020 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net wealth | DKK26bn | DKK64bn | DKK+130bn |
| Annual grants | DKK384m | DKK600m* | DKK+1,000m |
| % of annual grants to brain/ neuroscience | 54% | ~71% | >90% |
| Number of long-term ownerships | 2 | 3 | 5-8 within healthcare |
| Governance model | Arm's length principle | Active ownership | Engaged owner with long-term perspective |
| Role in society | Quiet existence | Growing voice with focus on transparency | Active voice and contributor to strategic agendas |
| International scope | Limited | International biotech investor | International biotech investor with a strong focus on Danish biotech |
| The Brain Prize | Leading brain research prize in Europe | The world's largest brain research prize |
Global prize reaching all continents and relevant scientific institutions |
*Fixed grants DKK 500m
Our value creation
Our strategy outlines how we will create value towards 2030. Five value flags mark the route for the strategic journey while building the Foundation's achievements in the previous decade and articulating new goals and ambitions.
Top-tier neuroscience
Our ambition is that, by 2030, Lundbeck Foundation-funded research will have led to a better understanding of the brain and to groundbreaking new programmes and treatments in clinical trials or on their way to the market.
Close collaboration between research and business
Our ambition is that, by 2030, the Lundbeck Foundation will have contributed to innovative healthcare solutions and/or started new healthcare companies in Denmark
Leading healthcare companies
Our ambition is that, by 2030, we will be a long-term and significant owner of a portfolio of 5-8 small or large healthcare companies, preferably in Denmark, that are international market leaders or on their way to becoming leaders.
Attractive financial returns
Our ambition for 2030 is for our investment activities to deliver a competetive return equal to or better than that of relevant peers, and that we at least double our annual fixed grants and our assets.
Active public voice
Our ambition for 2030 is that the Foundation has increased the public understanding of the importance of brain health, improved the conditions for research in Denmark and further developed the role of commercial foundations.
Delivering on the five value flags
From labs to lives through entrepreneurship and investments
Bringing discoveries to people and patients lies at the heart of what we do. We unleash the potential of exceptional ideas and talented researchers by supporting the commercial journey from labs to lives, from start-up to exit – or to inclusion in the Lundbeck Foundation portfolio of long-term ownerships within healthcare.
Denmark as a world-leading neuroscience nation
Brain disorders pose a growing burden on patients, relatives, and society. This is why we want Denmark to become one of the world’s leading brain research nations. Funding the first national master’s degree programme in neuroscience is an important initiative to create compelling conditions that will attract new talents to this field.
Tribute to the world’s best brain researchers
The Brain Prize is a tribute to the some of the world’s greatest scientists who have devoted their entire career to solving the mysteries of the brain. The prize winners stand out as role models for younger generations of talented researchers and play an important role as ambassadors for the importance of neuroscience. The Brain Prize is the beacon of the Foundation’s devotion to the brain.
Engaged ownership of innovative healthcare companies
For commercial foundations, the long-term ownership of Danish companies is a cornerstone. For the Lundbeck Foundation, the ownership of healthcare companies is key to our success and the prerequisite for the wealth and impact we create. We are an engaged owner, deeply rooted in healthcare, and our ambition is to develop our companies into international leaders. The companies share more than having the Foundation as a significant owner; they all contribute to improving patients’ lives by offering innovative solutions. The returns from these ownerships are funnelled back into society as investments in public research that will benefit everyone.
Strategic research projects across borders
IPSYCH is a world-class research project involving around 200 leading researchers within the fields of psychiatry and genetics. Across borders and toptier research institutions, the scientists collaborate to uncover the genetic and environmental causes of mental disorders. With more than 700 publications and 17,000 citations, this initiative continues to strengthen the international position of Danish psychiatry
Data-driven insights and policy asks
We will use our voice in society to develop and challenge norms, practice and assumptions of academic research institutions, the business sector and decision-makers. We bring relevant insights and policy asks to the table based on thorough research and data, and we invest in generating new knowledge. This is how we know today that one in five Danes suffers from a brain disorder and that these brain disorders pose enormous costs on society.
At the Lundbeck Foundation, we strive to improve lives by investing responsibly, with a long-term perspective in healthcare companies and public research and a special focus on neuroscience.
Over the years, we have grown to become one of Denmark's largest commercial foundations, a position that gives us unique opportunities and significant responsibilities while demanding a high degree of openness and transparency.
With our 2030 strategy, we want to increase our contribution to further strengthening Denmark's position as an important centre for the global healthcare industry. This requires a strong business community, excellent research facilities and brilliant scientists who can create innovative solutions that will benefit patients, the public, businesses and society as a whole.
We have no reason not to be ambitious as we set the scene for the journey of the Lundbeck Foundation towards 2030.
Lene Skole, CEO
We create powerful ripple effects that bring discoveries to lives through investing actively in business and science at the frontiers of their fields.
At the Lundbeck Foundation, we create value through the ripple effects that our activities set in motion, generating results and breakthroughs that benefit society.
Powerful ripples meet up, connect and influence each other; they create synergies leading to new discoveries. We create ripple effects as a way of enhancing and extending our reach and impact in the world.
The ripple effects will foster discoveries - new science, new knowledge, new ways of doing business, new ways of thinking.
Discoveries reach across borders, technologies, universities, companies, and research requiring us to have a global outlook and an open mind. We must bring these discoveries to lives, not just to life in the classic sense, but to people's lives - where they can make these lives better.
Investment is at the core of what we do as a foundation. We invest actively in innovative people, profitable companies, science, projects, and ideas with the aim of creating environments that will lead to extraordinary results. We take a proactive approach to demonstrate our involvement. We build on our insights and network and take pride in challenging the environment we invest in.
We want the business and science we invest in to constantly push boundaries in efforts to discover the solutions of tomorrow.