The Lundbeck Foundation joins ODIN and expands the programme to CNS
ODIN is pleased to welcome the Lundbeck Foundation as a new funding partner in 2026, and to expand the programme’s scientific scope to include central nervous system (CNS) disorders.
An established platform for early collaboration
The Open Discovery Innovation Network (ODIN) was developed at Aarhus University in 2020 and expanded as a national platform in 2024. The platform now includes over 700 international academic and industrial members and has funded 26 joint precompetitive cross-sector research projects. ODIN is operated by a dedicated secretariat that stewards the programme while supporting matchmaking and project development.
The programme is built on an open, patent-free collaboration model, meaning that all data and results generated within ODIN projects are shared openly to accelerate scientific progress and enable early exploration of innovative, high-risk ideas leading toward drug discovery and new diagnostics. Early engagement with industry supports shared validation of research outputs and helps identify and strengthen potential paths toward commercial relevance.
Line Vildbrad Kristensen, Senior Scientific Programme Manager at the Lundbeck Foundation states: “Our ambition in joining ODIN is to leverage precompetitive co-creation between academia and industrial partners to accelerate the early-phase development of new therapies and diagnostics. We have already seen promising results from ongoing ODIN projects, and we are therefore very excited to broaden its scope to include CNS – the Lundbeck Foundation’s focus area.”
A milestone in ODIN’s continued development
With the Lundbeck Foundation joining the programme alongside the Novo Nordisk Foundation, ODIN now brings together multiple philanthropic funders around a shared model for early collaboration.
“The Lundbeck Foundation joining ODIN marks an important milestone for the programme,” says Chantelle Driever, Programme Manager of ODIN.
“It validates our model for early, precompetitive collaboration and strengthens our ability to support a broad portfolio of high-quality, exploratory research ideas within life science.”
Expanding ODIN’s scientific scope to CNS
CNS research is characterised by significant scientific complexity and unmet medical need, where early collaboration between academia and industry can play a decisive role. The new scope will focus on advancing innovative research into the biological mechanisms, development, function, and pathology of the brain and nervous system to better understand, prevent, diagnose, and treat brain disorders.
The new CNS scope demonstrates ODIN’s ability to expand into new clinical areas while maintaining its core principles and structure. From a broader perspective, the expansion aligns with the principles of Open Innovation in Science, which underpin ODIN’s approach to early collaboration.
“ODIN was designed as a flexible platform that can evolve with new scientific opportunities. Expanding into CNS reflects this adaptability and strengthens ODIN’s role as a space for early, open collaboration between academia and industry.” Says Marie Louise Conradsen, Head of OIS and founder of ODIN.
The Lundbeck Foundation has allocated DKK 14 million to support a CNS-focused scope within ODIN in 2026, in addition to the scope areas of cardiometabolic and cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, regenerative medicine, and disease-agnostic platform technologies. The scope is fully integrated into ODIN’s existing structure, and the 2026 call guidelines will be launched in March.