Nordic Life Science 1
THE CHANGING WORLD // EUROPE “Companies need to s
ee that launching a new drug or a medtech device in Europe is good business for them. In this way, we ensure that Europeans receive the latest medicines and that companies can operate in Europe.” MARJO PUUMALAINEN T 34 | NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG HE GLOBAL LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY is changing rapidly, and it is not just due to the accelerated scientific progress we’ve seen in fields like artificial intelligence (AI) and cell and gene therapy. It is also, especially recently, due to a changing geopolitical landscape. The industry is facing a new landscape for trade, market entry, collaboration, crisis preparedness, and even for carrying out science in different countries. The conditions for European life science companies are changing as well, and many stakeholders and organizations stress the need for a more unified, less complex, and stronger European life science ecosystem. “For the competitiveness of the EU, it is crucial that the industry is strengthened, and the current global turmoil is forcing us to focus on resilience,” says Alexandra Peth, Managing Director of Finnish Bioindustries, Finland's biotechnology industry association. “Europe will be left very vulnerable if it cannot produce medicines or medtech devices for its citizens on its own. Many countries are currently focusing on building their armies, but how many realize that without medicines, their army and population won’t survive long. We are seeing that many companies are interested in understanding the role of the industry in times of crisis,” says Marjo Puumalainen, International Director at SwedenBIO, the national association for the Swedish life science industry. A lack of risk appetite Currently, the European life science sector directly employs over 900,000 people and it is the largest contributor to the EU’s trade balance. The region has a strong legacy of cuttingedge universities producing both the innovation and talent that are prerequisites for a strong life science industry. Highquality manufacturing and collaboration between different sectors are also key elements for the European life science industry, describes Puumalainen. “However, the European life science industry lacks the risk appetite when it comes to investments and this slows down commercialization of innovation and growth of the companies,” says Puumalainen. “One of the core challenges is to ensure large-scale European funding for the life science and biotech industry,” agrees Peth. Over the last two decades, 25% of Europe’s share of global R&D investment has been redistributed to other regions of the world. Similarly, its share of global clinical trials has fallen from 25.6% to 19.3% in the last decade according to Mario Draghi's (former European Central Bank President) report on European Competitiveness published last year. European biotechs are only able to access around 20% of the finance that their US counterparts have access to. “Companies need to see that launching a new drug or a medtech device in Europe is good business for them. In this way, we ensure that Europeans receive the latest medicines and that companies can operate in Europe,” emphasizes Puumalainen. A fragmented market One of Europe’s greatest disadvantages when competing with, say, the US and China, is the very nature of the region. That is, it is not only one country but 44 (according to the United Nations), and 27 of them are members of the European Union (EU). “This makes the European life science market more fragmented in terms of both the market for products and the market for capital,” explains Niels Abel Bonde, Chairman of the Board of the Swedish-Danish life science cluster organization Medicon Valley Alliance (MVA). This is also one of the key points highlighted in Mario Draghi's report, he notes. “We don’t have a well-functioning internal market. What we do have is high-quality research and interesting companies, but European companies don’t have the benefit of a big internal market, like Chinese and US companies do. We