Europe cannot afford to lose the race for biomedical innovation
As clinical trials and investment increasingly turn elsewhere, European patients are missing out on breakthrough treatments. Policy can make a real difference here.
Europe finds itself at a critical juncture in its global leadership of pharmaceutical research and innovation. A once dominant position, earned through decades of medical breakthroughs, is now threatened by U.S. trade policies, including tariffs and Most Favoured Nation pricing, as well as China's rapid advancements. By 2024, Europe had fallen behind China in pharmaceutical research and development investment, and clinical trial conduct has also declined sharply.
This loss of knowledge, jobs, and opportunities for Europeans is significant. The pandemic highlighted the threat of reliance on external supply chains, making biopharmaceutical innovation a strategic necessity for Europe's competitiveness, security, and autonomy. The decline of Europe's appeal can be traced to U.S. developments, which offer stronger incentives for innovation and attract more research investment.
Europe must bolster its regulatory and fiscal incentives for innovation, accelerate access to treatments, and build a life-sciences ecosystem that translates research into tangible solutions for citizens. Intellectual property protection is crucial, as weakening it will not sustainably lower medicine costs, but rather deter research and development in Europe.
A strong biopharmaceutical industry is not just an economic asset, but essential for health security and Europe's capacity to respond to future crises. Policymakers must act swiftly, protecting and rewarding innovation, removing barriers to faster access, and strengthening Europe's industrial and research infrastructure. AI has the potential to accelerate drug discovery and enable more precise medicine, but only with modern regulation ensuring transparency, data protection, and human oversight.
Enhancing the European Health Data Area could accelerate research, improve decision-making, and ultimately benefit patients and society. Europe's biopharmaceutical industry and broader life-sciences ecosystem have immense potential to invest, innovate, and grow, yet this potential must be consistently acknowledged and supported at the European level.
Written by urgent.news from Politico EU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
