Nordic Life Science 1
FINANCING // VENTURE CAPITAL “Our goal is to buil
d a European framework that matches our scientific excellence with competitive financing capacity” NLS asked Cedric Moreau, Chair of the European Life Sciences Coalition (ELSC) and Partner at VC firm Sofinnova Partners, about the future of life sciences innovation and investment in Europe. T E X T B Y PAU L A P É R E Z G ON Z ÁL E Z -ANG U I ANO P H O T O B Y M AG A LI D E LP OR T E W HAT IS THE CORE mission of the ELSC and how will it concretely strengthen Europe’s life sciences ecosystem? “The ELSC's mission is to mobilize private and public capital into European life sciences and biotech, while removing the structural barriers that hold the ecosystem back. Our members collectively manage over EUR 24 billion in life science assets and have backed more than 1,400 companies. That builds credibility, which is central to what we do.” “Practically, we are creating direct dialogue with institutional investors to make the case for greater allocation to life science Venture Capital (VC). We are also working with EU policymakers to make sure new rules for regulation and investment help innovation instead of slowing it down.” “Europe has a unique opportunity right now, with major initiatives like the Biotech Act, discussions on the Capital Markets Union, and the European Competitiveness Fund happening at the same time. The ELSC works to ensure that life science venture capital is included in these discussions.” What are the top two or three practical actions Europe must take right now to stay competitive in biotech and healthcare innovation? “We have one clear priority: mobilizing more private and public capital into the European VC biotech ecosystem. To get there, Europe needs to move on three fronts: creating the right incentives for institutional investors to increase their allocations to life science VC, introducing regulation that simplifies and speeds up administrative processes so that Europe becomes the best place to build a biotech company, and developing a public market that NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 67 Financing