Better health, stronger Europe: A Strategy for Life Sciences
Our submission on the call for evidence on the new Strategy for European Life Sciences can be found here.
The EU Health Coalition — representing 55 patient and healthcare organisations, trade associations, medical societies, research infrastructures/ research organizations and regional health authorities whose membership spans all 27 Member States — welcomes the European Commission’s ambition to develop a Life Sciences Strategy.
Europe’s life science sector has delivered significant value – from vaccines that helped end the COVID-19 pandemic to a dynamic and productive workforce millions-strong [1]. To continue driving innovation and improving the health and well-being of people across Europe, this sector must be strengthened. That means supporting the development of new diagnostics, treatments, and preventive tools that lead to better outcomes for patients; bolstering the role of healthcare professionals as essential partners in research, clinical trials, and the adoption of new health solutions; and recognising patient organisations as vital in public involvement in the life sciences.
The EU must reclaim its leadership in life sciences by placing the sector at the core of its policy and investment priorities through bold, coordinated policies. Doing so will support economic growth and global competitiveness and improve the quality and accessibility of care for patients across Europe. A strong life sciences ecosystem, underpinned by a skilled and empowered healthcare workforce, is essential to delivering better health outcomes for all Europeans.
Prioritize Research and Innovation.
In 2010, the U.S. attracted a third more R&D investment than Europe; a decade later, that difference had reached more than two-thirds.[2]Regaining ground will require the EU to
- Facilitate the translation of early scientific discoveries into safe and effective innovative products that meet patients’ needs, incl. by ensuring access to funding for start-ups and fostering an innovation-friendly regulatory framework
- Create and scale up hubs of innovation to connect industry, manufacturing, researchers, and academic hospitals
Strengthen and future-proof the workforce
Experiencing labour shortages [3] and caught in a global race for talent in life sciences with China and the U.S., the EU needs to nurture and future proof its workforce by
- Aligning/leveraging the Pact for Skills and the planned Quality Jobs Roadmap with the European Life Sciences Strategy to identify and address the training, retention and skills gaps for the sector
- Supporting Member States (MS) in educating, training and retaining their life sciences workforce through EU-funding programs
Accelerate clinical trials in Europe, and resource regulators and enablers of R&D:
Europe’s share of clinical trials dropped from 22% in 2013 to 12% in 2023, resulting in 60,000 fewer clinical trial places for European patients in just a decade.[4] To reverse the trends, Europe needs to:
- Invest in infrastructure – hospitals, networks, data and biobanks – and ensure their integration into MS' health systems
- Enable multi-country clinical trials through single approval and convergence of approvals and ethical reviews
- Facilitate cross-border access to trials, building on work by the EU Cross-Border Clinical Trials Initiative
- Strengthen the EMA and national regulators with the resources required to keep pace with scientific advancements and new types of products, ensuring a modern regulatory framework
- Encourage diversity among cohorts to increase representation of paediatric population and rare disease patients
- Encourage the integration of digital health solutions and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into research and regulatory processes
Boost support for Public-Private Partnerships
- Expand support to and embed the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) – the EU’s largest public-private partnership (PPP) for health research – and similar collaborative ecosystems as core enablers of translation and innovation in the new Life Sciences Strategy.
- Additionally, mechanisms to de-risk investment and scale innovation and support implementation should be designed into future EU programmes, including coordination with the EIB and InvestEU, and other programmes like today’s EU4Health.
Ensure the meaningful involvement of patient organisations and other relevant healthcare stakeholders to support people’s awareness and understanding of and engagement in life sciences
- Identify a sustainable, accessible, predictable, and transparent funding scheme, such as Operating Grants under the EU4Health programme, to allow patient associations and other health civil society organisations to engage in biomedical life sciences.
Establish a Dedicated Health and Life Sciences Office within the European Commission
- Facilitate policy coherence by creating an office that connects DG SANTE, DG HERA, DG RTD, DG CNECT, DG ENVI, DG GROW, and DG JUST to spearhead a unified European strategy for the health and life sciences sector.
Europe needs a forward-looking European Life Sciences Strategy for a thriving sector that contributes to the continent’s economic growth and competitiveness, and the well-being of its citizens.
References
[1] EFPIA. The Economic Footprint of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Europe. Brussels: European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, 2023, available at: https://www.efpia.eu/media/3dqjpl3x/economic-footprint-of-the-pharmaceutical-industry-in-europe-report.pdf, and EuropaBio. Europe’s Life Science Ecosystem: An Attractiveness Scorecard 2023. Brussels: EuropaBio, November 2023, available at: https://www.europabio.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Life-Science-Attractiveness-2023-November-22-Final-Final_LR2.pdf.
[2] The Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures – Key Data 2023. Brussels: European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, 2023.
https://www.efpia.eu/media/rm4kzdlx/the-pharmaceutical-industry-in-figures-2023.pdf
[3] European Commission. New European Research Area: Commission Sets Out Actions for Researchers to Move More Easily and Pursue Attractive Careers. Brussels: European Commission, July 13, 2023.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/it/ip_23_3704
[4] IQVIA. Assessing the Clinical Trial Ecosystem in Europe. Brussels: European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and Vaccines Europe, October 2024.
https://efpia.eu/media/o2gjnmfu/efpia_ve_iqvia_assessing-the-clinical-trial-ct-ecosystem.pdf