Europe stands at a crossroads. For decades, it led the world in pharmaceutical research, delivering medical advances that have transformed the lives of millions. But that leadership can no longer be taken for granted. U.S. trade policies toward the pharmaceutical industry, including tariffs and Most Favoured Nation pricing, underscore the urgency of Europe’s response, while China is advancing at unprecedented speed.
Fina LladósThe figures speak for themselves. Europe led the launch of new medicines in the 1990s but lost that lead to the U.S. in the following decade and, by 2024, to China as well. Over the past 20 years, the EU’s share of global pharmaceutical research and development investment has fallen significantly, while the proportion of clinical trials conducted in Europe has also declined sharply.
This is particularly alarming in the fields that will shape the future of medicine. Advanced therapies, personalized treatments, and solutions for genetic diseases and certain cancers are increasingly being developed elsewhere. Every clinical trial that moves away and every patent filed outside Europe mean a real loss of knowledge, skilled jobs and opportunities for Europeans.
This is not a theoretical risk. The pandemic exposed how reliance on external supply chains can threaten access to essential medical products, underscoring why the pharmaceutical industry is now recognized as strategic for Europe’s competitiveness, security and autonomy. A strong biopharmaceutical industry is therefore not only an economic asset; it is essential to health security and to Europe’s ability to respond to future crises.
Every clinical trial that moves away and every patent filed outside Europe mean a real loss of knowledge, skilled jobs and opportunities for Europeans.
Much of Europe’s declining appeal can be explained by developments across the Atlantic. The U.S. represents a much larger share of the global pharmaceutical market and has long offered stronger incentives for innovation, steadily attracting research investment. New measures to reinforce domestic production and draw further investment to the U.S. risk accelerating this trend. For Europe, the message is clear: strengthening our own regulatory and fiscal incentives for innovation is no longer optional — it is urgent, and it is entirely in our hands.
Greater competitiveness also requires faster and fairer access to treatments by removing unnecessary restrictions. Access to innovation is not only an industry issue; it is also a societal one. Scientific investment must reach patients, because better health also strengthens the economy.
Europe still has an exceptional scientific and academic base, but it has not always translated that knowledge into innovation that delivers wellbeing and social progress on the same scale. The priority now is to build a life-sciences ecosystem that translates research into tangible solutions for citizens.
Developing a medicine takes 10 to 15 years, which is why companies need predictable regulation, legal certainty and policies that recognize the value of innovation.
Spain illustrates this paradox clearly. It is Europe’s fourth-largest pharmaceutical market and a leader in clinical trials, yet patients still wait too long for approved treatments. Scientific excellence does not automatically translate into timely access; closing that gap is a challenge for all of Europe, not Spain alone.
Developing a medicine takes 10 to 15 years, which is why companies need predictable regulation, legal certainty and policies that recognize the value of innovation. Intellectual property protection is central to this. Weakening it will not sustainably lower medicine costs; it will only reduce the incentive to research and develop new treatments in Europe.
Europe’s competitiveness also depends on its ability to attract and conduct clinical trials, where scientific ideas become treatments and much of biomedical innovation’s economic value is created. Faster approvals, harmonized procedures across member states and stronger research infrastructure would make Europe a far more attractive destination for global investment.
Europe also needs an ambitious industrial policy to expand and modernize its biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity. Research and industry reinforce each other, and advanced therapies, personalized medicine and AI-driven drug discovery require industrial capabilities that Europe must build now.
This is why the forthcoming European Biotech Act matters. If it reduces unnecessary administrative burdens, improves access to venture capital and creates real regulatory sandboxes for advanced therapies, it could send the strongest signal yet that Europe is serious about global competitiveness. This opportunity must not be weakened by half-measures.
Policymakers must now act with urgency: protect and reward innovation, remove barriers to faster access, strengthen Europe’s industrial and research base, and make biomedical innovation a strategic priority.
AI can accelerate the discovery of new molecules, optimize clinical trials and enable more precise medicine, provided it is supported by modern regulation that ensures transparency, data protection and human oversight. The European Health Data Area could be decisive if Europe guarantees interoperability, simplifies procedures, and fosters public trust. Together, these tools can accelerate research, improve data-driven decision-making, and ultimately benefit patients and society.
In an aging society, biomedicine and new technologies are delivering increasingly complex treatments that can also reduce broader public costs, such as those linked to sick leave. Yet healthcare systems remain underfunded and rarely account for the wider social value of biopharmaceutical innovation.
Europe’s biopharmaceutical industry and wider life-sciences ecosystem have enormous potential to invest, innovate and grow. But that potential must be consistently recognized and supported at the European level. Policymakers must now act with urgency: protect and reward innovation, remove barriers to faster access, strengthen Europe’s industrial and research base, and make biomedical innovation a strategic priority. This is not only about competitiveness, it is also about ensuring European patients can benefit earlier from the treatments of the future and that Europe can respond autonomously to the health challenges ahead. The choice is clear: Europe must act now.
Disclaimer
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT
- The sponsor is EFPIA
- The political advertisement relates to EU pharmaceutical and life-sciences policy and advocates for stronger incentives, faster access to treatments, and greater support for biomedical innovation and competitiveness in Europe.
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