Consumables

Stora Enso and Chalmers enter collaboration in intelligent pharmaceutical packaging

Wednesday 19. December 2012 - Stora Enso and Chalmers' Encubator have reached a co-operation agreement under which Stora Enso will act as a partner to Encubator. The focus of the collaboration is an innovation project developing intelligent pharmaceutical packaging. The idea comes from Stora Enso, and Encubator will run the business development together with Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship.

“This gives us a new approach to innovations supporting our packaging business. Forming a dedicated team will create an environment that can enable successful market entry and create a growth company,” says Mats Nordlander, Executive Vice President, Stora Enso Renewable Packaging.
The innovation project will develop intelligent pharmaceutical packaging to address the problem of poor adherence to prescription instructions by patients, a problem which in Sweden alone causes costs of over SEK 20 billion annually. The package simplifies communication between patient and doctor by registering when pills are removed from the package. If the medication is missed, a reminder is sent wirelessly to, for example, a mobile phone. Information may also be shared with family members to increase support.
Encubator is a Chalmers incubator that exploits ideas by combining advanced entrepreneurship education with real business incubation. The ideas mainly come from national and international industry and academia. Over the past 15 years, Encubator and Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship have created more than 50 new companies.
“To be able to exploit innovations, it is important to take advantage of combined strengths. The collaboration with Stora Enso is an example of how innovations can develop through partnership between young entrepreneurs and established companies,” says Linnea Olsson, Business Developer at Encubator