Making Europe a global leader in life sciences

Life sciences – the study of living systems, from cells to ecosystems – are central to our health, environment and economy. Europe has long been a leader in life sciences, backed by a strong knowledge base and scientific excellence. But it is now losing ground to other global players in turning research into real-world solutions. To counter this trend, the European Commission has launched a new strategy to make Europe the most attractive place in the world for life sciences by 2030. 

The strategy sets out measures across the entire life sciences value chain to accelerate innovation, facilitate market access, and build public trust in new technologies, ensuring they benefit the people and the planet. Currently, life sciences add nearly €1.5 trillion in value to the EU economy and support 29 million jobs across the EU. 

The strategy proposes to: 

• Optimise the research and innovation ecosystem with an EU investment plan to facilitate funding for multi-country clinical trials. It will also promote a  One Health approach (ie. an integrated approach aiming to balance the health of people, animals and ecosystems) to research and innovation, and fund the development of microbiome-based solutions and new products that drive industrial innovation and sustainability.
• Enable rapid market access for life science innovations by proposing an EU Biotech Act that will create a more innovation-friendly framework across biotech sectors, and launching a matchmaking interface to connect startups, industry and investors.
• Boost trust, uptake and use of innovation by mobilising €300 million to stimulate the procurement of life science innovation in areas such as climate change adaptation, next-generation vaccines and affordable cancer solutions. It will also set up a Life Science Coordination Group to align policies and funding across sectors. 

The strategy is part of the Competitiveness compass. It builds on a public consultation and a large body of evidence, including two studies by the Commission's Joint Research Centre.  

For more information 

A new plan for Europe’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness 

Choose Europe for life sciences: A strategy to position the EU as the world's most attractive place for life sciences by 2030 

Choose Europe – Advance your research career in the EU 

Factsheet 

Press release: Commission launches new strategy to make Europe a global leader in life sciences by 2030. 

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