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Home > All articles > Sweden is a Rich Source of Real-World Evidence (RWE) and Health Data – Together with Finland, it Offers a Population of 15 Million  

Sweden is a Rich Source of Real-World Evidence (RWE) and Health Data – Together with Finland, it Offers a Population of 15 Million  

Real-world data (RWD) created in Finnish healthcare is comprehensive and high-quality. Sweden, another Scandinavian country, also offers high-quality healthcare data for real-world evidence generation.  

-By combining the data from these two countries, we reach a population of over 15 million unique individuals, states Dr. Johanna Simin, Lead RWE Epidemiologist at Medaffcon, during the EMMA event organised by Medaffcon.  

In Sweden, a vast amount of healthcare data is available at the national and regional levels, covering a long period of time. Different data sources can be linked using the Swedish personal identification number.  

The information needed for real-world evidence (RWE) research is available in Sweden from several national and regional databases, researcher-led databases, about 450 registered biobanks, and over 100 disease-specific quality registries.  

-Research results based on solid real-world data (RWD) from Sweden or Finland can be generalised to other relatively similar populations and settings, such as Germany, states Dr. Johanna Simin, Lead RWE Epidemiologist at Medaffcon.  

VårdAnalysdataLager (VAL) Contains Real-time Real-World Data (RWD)  

The Stockholm-based VårdAnalysdataLager (VAL) data lake integrates data from the County of Stockholm. This data lake contains the real-time data needed for real-world evidence (RWE) generation reflecting the clinical praxis and covers nearly a quarter of Sweden’s population.   

VårdAnalysdataLager (VAL) data lake includes information from specialised and primary healthcare and private healthcare services. Linking VAL data to the regions’ hospitals allows tracking of patient treatment and prognosis, treatment costs, and variations in treatment outcomes across different hospitals.  

VårdAnalysdataLager (VAL) includes data from 3 000 healthcare providers, 2.5 million individuals, and 26 municipalities.  
-Data can be ordered at the patient or aggregate level, and linked with hospital data, says Stockholm-based Dr. Johanna Simin, Lead RWE Epidemiologist at Medaffcon.  

Real-world research data from VårdAnalysdataLager (VAL) is acquired through the Stockholm Center for Health Data. Center for Health Data coordinates data acquisition between data owners and data users.  The Center also verifies the ethical approval of studies, scientific credibility, and data security.  

Medaffcon´s Real-World Data (RWD) Project Investigates Lung Cancer

Medaffcon is running a lung cancer research project in Region Stockholm. It utilises data from the VårdAnalysdataLager (VAL) data lake.  

-This project provides an in-depth understanding of lung cancer patients, such as the number of patients, risk factors, including smoking status, pathology and histology information, treatments, outcomes, and health care utlization related costs, says Dr. Johanna Simin, Lead RWE Epidemiologist at Medaffcon.  

VårdAnalysdataLager (VAL) is a Comprehensive Data Source for Real-World Research – Medaffcon Has an In-Depth Understanding of VAL   

  •  Covers data from Stockholm County  
  • Gathers real-time data  
  • Uses encrypted data and patients can be tracked based on their Swedish personal identification number  
  • Covers approximately 20%–25% of Sweden’s population  
  • Covers urban, suburban, and rural areas  
  • Includes all publicly funded healthcare services, and private healthcare providers with agreements with national healthcare services  
  • Contains over 3000 healthcare providers 
  • Data can be linked to the hospitals within the region 

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Medaffcon Oy provides research and expert services for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. The EMMA-event organised by Medaffcon discussed developing pharmaceutical evaluation activities and utilising healthcare registry data and innovative new opportunities.
The EMMA event was held on April 10, 2024 in Emma museum in Finland. Johanna Simin, Medaffcon’s Lead RWE Epidemiologist, held the presentation on real-world research in the Stockholm area. 

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Petri Määttä

Petri Määttä

Sr. Consultant

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+358 40 355 6111

Petri joined Medaffcon in 2022 as a consultant. Petri holds extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry especially in Market Access, sales and marketing. Before joining Medaffcon Petri worked in various managerial roles in the pharmaceutical industry which has provided him with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the field. Petri conducted his BBA studies in the Netherlands and Finland providing him with a great basis to work in international organizations.
Petri’s extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry and his background in business equip him with a unique perspective in the field of Life Science and commercialization of medicines in Finland. His main focus is on helping companies bring Life Science innovations and services to the Finnish market. Petri’s expertise in Market Access, sales and marketing as well as his deep understanding of the pharmaceutical industry provide Medaffcon’s team with valuable information as they provide customer solutions.
“Resource challenges alongside technological development and digitalization provide considerable opportunities to enhance healthcare in Finland. As data collection and digitalization develop, the effectiveness of health technologies can be demonstrated more precisely. While advanced health technologies and medicine offer more effective treatments, bringing them to the market require special know-how and understanding. Thus, companies, the research sector and governmental agencies should continue to further co-operation in effectively bringing health technologies and medicines to the market while simultaneously managing resource allocation in a rational manner.”

Iiro Toppila

Iiro Toppila

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Iiro joined Medaffcon in March 2017 as a Biostatistician. For the preceding four years, he has worked as a research assistant in an academic study group, analyzing clinical and genetic patient data. Iiro holds a Master of Science degree in Technology in Bioinformation Technology.

Iiro’s strengths include his strong expertise in statistics and data-analysis, hands-on experience in working with sensitive patient data, and strong interdisciplinary communication skills with experts from various fields. In the field, he is particularly interested in the large data amounts made available with the revolution of technology and how the information received such data can potentially be utilized to draw concrete conclusions, both in order to understand the nature of diseases and to advance the goals of the pharmaceutical industry and patient treatment.

“Machine learning and AI-based solutions will have a major impact on the healthcare sector now and in the future. However, effectively utilizing the already collected and available health-data will have a higher importance in order to improve health-care”.

Mariann Lassenius

Mariann Lassenius

Sr. Scientific Advisor

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+358 50 345 2393

Mariann joined Medaffcon’s team in 2016 after finishing her PhD. The transition to real world evidence (RWE) research was a natural continuum to her previous research career. Through RWE studies, she has had the privilege to gain a broad insight into working with different stakeholders within the healthcare field. The vast proportion of her days goes towards interacting with clients, planning and performing RWE studies, and supporting Medaffcon’s RWE team. Subjects that keep her work interesting are the vast variability of customers and projects, problem-solving, and interacting with people.

“The number of RWE studies has increased since stakeholders within the healthcare industry have an increasing demand for knowledge-based decision making tools that need to be fulfilled. The future, therefore, has an ever-increasing emphasis on RWE”.

Jarmo Hahl

Jarmo Hahl

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Jarmo joined Medaffcon as a partner and CEO in 2010, having previously worked in various expert and management positions in pharma companies for eight years. Jarmo has a degree in economics and before entering the pharmaceutical industry, he held an office at the Turku School of Economics and also worked as a research fellow at Turku University Hospital.

Jarmo has strong expertise in new health technology innovations and how the demands and expectations of authorities, markets and customers are matched. He also brings to Medaffcon extensive experience in health economics and its applications in research and commercialization, as well as a broad understanding of the ever-changing operating environment.

“From an access point of view, the Finnish health technology market is constantly becoming more demanding and therefore also more attractive from my point of view. On the other hand, increasing demands to demonstrate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of healthcare are broadening the scope and opportunities for Medaffcon to be involved in the development of healthcare as a whole”.

Milla Kalliokoski

Milla Kalliokoski

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+358 50 585 8615

Milla joined Medaffcon September in 2023 as the Marketing Manager. She is responsible for overseeing Medaffcon’s marketing activities, including brand management, digital marketing, go-to-market activities with international sales, events, and also involded in different customer projects.

Milla has extensive experience in launching various brands, such as a global Hublet ICT Saas Business, a new human resource brand under Otiga Finland, and numerous product launches in the consumer goods and cosmetic industries. She has worked with global and Finnish brands and growth companies in marketing, communications, and digitalization positions across different industries, including ICT, Health Tech/Health and Wellness Business, Human Resources, and Consumer Goods/Cosmetics. In the last five years, she has held positions as Head of Marketing/Communications positions.

She completed her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2008, specializing in entrepreneurship, leadership, and marketing. Additionally, she studied economics at the University of Vaasa, focusing on managing a growth company. She is particularly interested in the opportunities that artificial intelligence brings to the development of business and constantly develops herself through these areas.