As other regions ramp up their investments and streamline regulatory frameworks, Europe cannot afford to become a secondary or even tertiary player in global health innovation.
As other regions ramp up their investments and streamline regulatory frameworks, Europe cannot afford to become a secondary or even tertiary player in global health innovation.
Europe’s fragmented regulatory environment exacerbates the gap, reducing the EU’s competitiveness as a location for clinical trials. Recent research showed that 60,000 fewer patients living in Europe had access to clinical trials since 2018, missing out on new research in immunisation, cancer, rare diseases and paediatrics. Europe’s global share of commercial trials — those sponsored and funded by a pharmaceutical company — is half of what it was a decade ago.
Meanwhile, commercial trials in China rocketed, making up 18 percent of those taking place globally. For the most innovative therapeutics, advanced cell and gene therapies, China holds a 42 percent share, the biggest in the world.
The impact of Europe’s decline reverberates beyond patient care. Skills and expertise are migrating — nearly three-quarters of European science graduates choose to remain in the US after completing their PhDs. Over time we stand to lose our ability to recruit and retain the next generation of scientists.
In Europe we have fantastic ideas, the skills, world-class academic institutions and pockets of brilliance, but our processes are slow, and our eco-system is very fragmented.
In Europe we have fantastic ideas, the skills, world-class academic institutions and pockets of brilliance, but our processes are slow, and our eco-system is very fragmented. The scale and pace at which we are losing global share of research shows there is only a finite amount of time to turn things around.
What needs to happen?
