Invest Europe

The European Biotechnology Renaissance

Name: The European Biotechnology Renaissance
Start: 2026-09-07T17:00
End: 2026-09-07T18:30

External events

Brussels, Belgium

• 07 Sep 2026

As co-legislators move on to the crucial phase two of the biotech act, the Lisbon Council convenes the High-Level Policy Roundtable on ‘The European Biotechnology Renaissance: Delivery through Collaboration’. The roundtable aims to bridge the gap between legislative intent and market reality, bringing together European decision-makers, researchers, investors, leading pharma companies and biotech scaleups. The discussion will be informed by The European Biotechnology Renaissance, a new policy brief by the Lisbon Council to be launched at the roundtable, and it will feed directly into the legislative debate on the biotech act.

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Biotech & Life Sciences External events

The European biotechnology ecosystem, traditionally a pillar of competitiveness and a critical shield against global supply chain vulnerabilities, is falling behind the United States and China. As Europe's share of global research and development declines and its share of clinical trials is halved, we are becoming a continent of consumers rather than leaders in health innovation. The European biotech act provides a new pathway for the entire ecosystem to remain firmly rooted in Europe, from world-class science and ambitious scale-ups to mature pharmaceutical leaders.

However, the act cannot succeed in a vacuum. The true test lies in the mobilisation of leading biotech players and how effectively it interfaces with Europe's wider polic landscape. Most importantly, it should avoid the traditional silo-based approach to policymaking, treating science, finance and market access as separate. In reality, innovation is not a linear conveyor belt: it is messy, networked and looped. Regulatory bottlenecks have an impact on startup funding and the trajectory of mature pharmaceutical leaders influences the scaling capacity of early-stage biotech.

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