Brussels, 13th March 2024

“Get legislation right to incentivise biomanufacturing investment and implement it with speed and coherence across Member States” was the clear message from EuropaBio’s second Biomanufacturing Policy Summit. The Biotech Association’s members, from start ups to global actors and their national associations, discussed how legislation as vital in delivering Europe’s biomanufacturing goals in a fast maturing global landscape.

The Summit covered the full spectrum of applications including medicines, food, feed, fuels and manufacturing intermediates, reflecting the expanding reach of biomanufacturing as a next generation industrial driver.

Within medicines, the overwhelming message was that reductions in Regulatory Data Protection and Orphan Medicines Exclusivity damage Europe’s ability to biomanufacture novel medicines, as investment decisions push innovators elsewhere, carrying with it a high risk of local market failure for Europe’s biotech sector.

For Europe’s growing fermentation and cellular industries, racing against strong global competition to produce sustainable products and reduce petro-chemical inputs, coherence and speed of legislative implementation between the EU and Member States is as critical as the legislation itself. Failed or slow harmonisation prevents single market operation and with it, the market pull of 448 million people.

Claire Skentelbery, DG EuropaBio summed up “Biotech and Biomanufacturing Gross Value Added grew almost 70% faster than the European average in 2021 at €34.5bn, with an employment growth rate seven times higher than average. Legislation needs to enable Europe’s delivery in an intense global race for biomanufacturing, with legislations on the table right now dictating what our future capacity will be. This is not a drill – successful regions will influence supply chains in vital areas such as medicines and food and Europe cannot afford to be absent.”