Nordic Life Science 1
STRATEGY // THE ECOSYSTEM Europe’s life science s
ector is experiencing a moment of uncomfortable clarity. The region has world-class science, deep industrial roots, and decades of accumulated expertise, yet it is losing ground in the global race for innovation. T E X T B Y A L E X A N DR A HOEGBE R G T HE HEALTH BIOTECHNOLOGY sector has grown more than twice as fast as the overall EU economy over the past decade, according to data from the European Commission. And yet, the EU’s venture-capital investment in the sector is a fraction of the global share, compared to the US and China. Scarce financing options mean that start-ups opt to scale up overseas and biotech companies choose to list on non-EU stock exchanges. Approval times for clinical trials are nearly twice as long here as in the US and China, and the global share of clinical trials in the EU has plummeted over the past decade. Europe is a continent rich in potential but constrained by its own structures. That is the overarching message from Nathalie Moll, Director General of Europe’s pharmaceutical industry federation EFPIA, and Frédéric Druck, Secretary General of the Belgian biotech association bio.be, who sits on the board of organizations like EuropaBIO and EU Biotech Campus. Moll depicts the EU’s life science conundrum plainly: “Europe is dominant in early-stage science and manufacturing and has a solid industrial base and strong trade performance. However, compared to countries like the US and China, it struggles to translate its potential into new treatments for patients and commercial products that can drive economic growth.” Druck outlines some of the factors that will continue to impact Europe’s innovative power: “In Europe, we have world-class science – real life sciences excellence. But the geopolitical context, access to capital, operating costs to run business here in Europe, and speed will determine whether the innovation will stay in Europe or be scaled up elsewhere,” he says. Competition with the US and China To understand the position EU is in today, juxtaposed to the US and Asia – particularly China – we must begin telling the story of where it started three decades ago, Druck reasons. “Thirty years ago, there were different strategies put into place across the world regarding biotech and life science. In Europe, we decided to have a research-push strategy, and we set up open innovation and collaboration between the industry and academia. There were many additional regional policies put into place, in countries like Sweden, as well as Belgium, France, Germany and elsewhere in Europe,” he explains. NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 53