When BioJapan returns to Yokohama this October, it will mark more than another gathering of biotechnology companies, researchers and investors.

The 2026 edition marks the 40th anniversary of the conference, which was first held in 1986. Over four decades, BioJapan has grown alongside the biotechnology industry itself, reflecting how biological science has expanded from a specialised field of research into a foundation for innovation across healthcare, food, manufacturing, sustainability and other industries.

Its evolution is particularly relevant to the growing relationship between Japan and Denmark.

The two countries have long maintained close economic and scientific ties, but cooperation in life sciences is entering a new phase. Japanese companies are expanding their presence in Denmark through investment, manufacturing and research, while Danish companies are looking towards Japan as both an important market and a potential partner for innovation.

Increasingly, the relationship is moving beyond conventional trade and investment towards research collaboration, clinical development, health data, biosolutions, digital health and co-development.

At the centre of this opportunity is a simple fact: Japan and Denmark bring different but highly complementary strengths to the life sciences.

From investment to integration

Denmark has developed a strong international reputation in life sciences, supported not only by globally recognised companies but by the connections between universities, hospitals, research institutions, government and industry.

According to Ulrik Eversbusch, Director at Invest in Denmark, the Danish life sciences industry generated EUR 24 billion in value added in 2023, an increase of 169% over the previous decade. Life science-related exports account for more than a fifth of Denmark’s total exports, while foreign direct investment in Danish life sciences reached EUR 13.6 billion in 2025.

For Japanese companies, this ecosystem is increasingly becoming a platform from which to build.

One of the clearest examples is Fujifilm’s investment in Denmark. The company is investing DKK 11 billion to expand its biopharmaceutical manufacturing site in Hillerød, representing the largest foreign direct investment in Danish history. Other Japanese companies, including Daiichi Sankyo and Astellas, have established significant Nordic operations in Copenhagen.

Yet the relationship is not limited to large corporate investments.

Japanese specialist investors have also begun backing early-stage Danish biotechnology companies. Medical Incubator Japan co-led financing for HOBA Therapeutics, which is developing treatments for chronic pain and hearing loss. Corundum Systems Biology joined Freya Biosciences’ Series A financing for reproductive immunotherapies.

For Oliver Hall, Head of Tech Investments, Europe and Japan at Copenhagen Capacity, these investments demonstrate that Japanese interest is reaching deeper into Denmark’s innovation ecosystem.

The significance is that Japan is not simply looking to Denmark as a place to sell products or manufacture them. It is increasingly engaging with Danish science at earlier stages.

The ecosystem advantage

This is where Denmark’s model becomes particularly relevant to Japan.

The country’s strength is less about any single institution or technology than the connections between them. Denmark combines universities and research environments with specialised hospitals, clinical research capabilities, health registries, biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and public authorities.

“Healthcare innovation rarely happens within the boundaries of a single organisation,” Eversbusch says. “A promising scientific discovery needs researchers, clinicians, companies, regulators, investors and, ultimately, patients to move from an idea to a solution that can be implemented at scale.”

That collaborative structure is particularly valuable as healthcare becomes more personalised and data-driven.

Denmark has a nationwide healthcare system, extensive health registries and biobanks, and significant experience in clinical research. According to Eversbusch, Denmark currently ranks first in the EU for clinical trials per capita.

The country is also strengthening its infrastructure for health data research, personalised medicine, genomics, advanced medical therapies and AI-enabled healthcare.

For Japanese companies, this creates possibilities beyond simply conducting clinical trials. Denmark can provide an environment in which researchers, hospitals, health data and companies can interact throughout the development process.

That is one reason Thomas Senderovitz, CEO of Denmark’s pharmaceutical industry association Lif, sees considerable untapped potential between the two countries.

“Where I see significant untapped potential is in establishing more strategic partnerships,” he says.

Among the possibilities he identifies are joint clinical trials using Danish health registries to generate real-world evidence for regulatory submissions in both Europe and Japan, as well as cooperation in digital health, patient monitoring, data governance and interoperability.

Biosolutions: where biology moves beyond medicine

The opportunity extends beyond pharmaceuticals.

The term biosolutions encompasses technologies that use biological processes, organisms, enzymes, proteins or other biological mechanisms to address industrial and societal challenges. In Japan, the concept is increasingly relevant to questions ranging from food and nutrition to resource efficiency and energy security.

Novonesis offers one illustration of how this field is developing.

The company traces its presence in Japan to the 1970s and has built long-term relationships with Japanese companies, academic institutions, customers and partners. According to Hirokazu Sano, Representative Director and President of Novonesis Japan, Japan’s combination of scientific expertise, technological capabilities and manufacturing know-how makes it important not only as a market but as a source of ideas with global potential.

Novonesis estimates that Japan’s biosolutions-related industries could reach ¥4.79 trillion by 2035, while the number of jobs supported by the industry and its value chains could rise from 65,000 to 167,000.

For Sano, however, the challenge is not simply developing better biological technologies.

“The key is connecting science, industry, and public policy in a way that enables promising technologies to move from research into practical, scalable solutions,” he says.

That emphasis on translation, taking science out of the laboratory and into commercially viable applications, creates a natural connection with Denmark’s own strengths in life sciences.

From the microbiome to the gut

One emerging area where the two ecosystems could intersect is the microbiome and gut health.

Danish company Bactolife is preparing for the commercial launch of its Helm Binding Proteins technology, which is designed to bind harmful metabolites in the gut while leaving beneficial bacteria undisturbed.

Fredrik Gumpel, Bactolife’s Senior Vice President of APAC, describes the approach as complementary to established gut-health ingredients such as prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics.

For Bactolife, Asia, and particularly Japan, represents both a market and a potential partnership ecosystem.

Japan’s sophisticated consumer market, strength in functional foods and nutrition, scientific capabilities and established companies with regional footprints make it an important potential gateway into Asia. Bactolife is exploring collaborations with Japanese companies spanning scientific research, product innovation and commercialisation.

The example is instructive because it shows what the next phase of Denmark-Japan cooperation could look like at company level. Rather than simply exporting a Danish technology to Japan, the opportunity is to combine Danish science with Japanese market knowledge, product development and regional distribution capabilities.

Building bridges across Medicon Valley

The potential extends into one of Northern Europe’s most established life sciences clusters, Medicon Valley.

Stretching across eastern Denmark and southern Sweden, the cluster brings together more than 330 companies, hospitals and universities. Its model is based on what Medicon Valley Alliance CEO Anette Steenberg calls the “Triple Helix” of public and private sectors, universities and hospitals.

“One plus one equals three,” she says, describing the additional value created when institutions collaborate across traditional boundaries.

Japan’s participation in Horizon Europe could provide another mechanism for turning that philosophy into concrete projects. Japanese organisations associated with the programme can participate in eligible European research consortia, creating opportunities for cooperation with Danish and wider European partners.

For Steenberg, areas such as reproductive health, microbiome research and oncology offer potential starting points.

Reproductive health is particularly interesting. Medicon Valley has spent 16 years developing cross-border expertise in fertility and reproductive health, while both Japan and the Nordic countries face demographic pressures that are reshaping healthcare and society.

The question, as Steenberg puts it, is no longer simply how the two sides can meet.

“What can we do together?” she asks.

A shared response to shared pressures

The case for closer cooperation is strengthened by the fact that Japan and Denmark face many of the same structural challenges.

Both countries have ageing populations, growing chronic disease burdens and pressure on healthcare workforces. Both are looking for ways to make healthcare more resilient while managing costs and maintaining high standards of care.

Their respective strengths, however, are different.

Japan brings a major life sciences industry, advanced manufacturing capabilities, technological expertise and deep experience in fields including oncology, rare diseases and advanced biologics.

Denmark brings a highly connected research and healthcare ecosystem, strong clinical capabilities, health registries, real-world data and experience integrating public and private actors.

The two governments have increasingly recognised this complementarity. Bilateral cooperation has expanded from traditional economic relations into healthcare, life sciences, digital technology and other emerging fields. A 2025 Letter of Intent on public-private partnerships in life sciences further strengthened the framework for cooperation between companies, knowledge institutions and public-sector actors.

For Eversbusch, this points towards a different kind of bilateral relationship.

“I believe that should be the direction for the next phase of the relationship: moving from exchange towards co-development.”

From exchange towards co-development

This may ultimately be the most important shift.

For decades, international cooperation in life sciences could often be described in terms of market access, foreign investment or technology transfer. The emerging Denmark-Japan relationship suggests something broader: an ecosystem-to-ecosystem partnership.

That could mean Japanese companies using Denmark as a European base for research, clinical development and specialised manufacturing. It could mean Danish companies entering Japan through established local partners. It could mean joint research projects, shared clinical evidence, digital-health solutions, biosolutions and new approaches to ageing and chronic disease.

It could also extend into sustainability.

Denmark’s life sciences industry has already made progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while Japan brings substantial technological and manufacturing expertise. Combining these capabilities could create opportunities to make healthcare and pharmaceutical production more resource-efficient while maintaining high standards of quality and resilience.

For Lif’s Senderovitz, the most valuable partnerships will ultimately be those organised around problems rather than individual transactions.

“The strongest partnerships will bring companies, researchers and policymakers together around shared healthcare challenges focused on bringing value to the patients.”

That makes BioJapan’s 40th anniversary an apt moment to consider where the industry is heading.

The event began in 1986, when biotechnology was emerging as a distinct industrial field. Forty years later, biology sits at the intersection of healthcare, food, manufacturing, digital technology and sustainability.

BioJapan’s own evolution reflects that transformation. Its platform now sits alongside regenerative medicine and health technology, illustrating how increasingly interconnected the life sciences have become.

The next chapter of Denmark-Japan cooperation may reflect the same evolution.

The opportunity is no longer simply to connect two markets. It is to connect two innovation ecosystems, bringing together Japanese technology, manufacturing and scientific expertise with Danish research, healthcare, clinical and data capabilities.

From Yokohama to Copenhagen, the relationship is moving towards a model in which the most valuable outcome may not be what either country can do alone, but what they can develop together.