Industry-university co-operation. Experiences, possibilities and problems as seen from a Swedish perspective

The co-operation between industry and academia in Sweden has been subject to changing views in the society. The experiences of Astra Läkemedel AB are described and placed in a more general perspective. The co-operation in drug development includes the testing of biological hypotheses, drug formulation, preclinical and clinical studies, etc. An interesting way of collaboration is the position of 'adjunct professor'. Some problems and concerns relating to these kinds of co-operation are discussed. It is concluded that co-operation is very useful, provided that one is aware of possible pitfalls.