Brussels, Belgium - 14 March 2024 - EuropaBio, the association representing Europe’s biotechnology industry, welcomes the European Parliament vote on the compulsory licensing regulation which brings several improvements from the Commission’s initial proposal. We appreciate the Parliament’s position to strengthen rights of patent holders to be heard, promote the use of voluntary agreement, and ensure compulsory licensing is used as a last resort mechanism.

We remain concerned that the Regulation risks eroding intellectual property rights (IPR) and make it more difficult for biotech companies, in particular small to mid-size companies for which IPR is the key value to their existence, to protect their innovation. The fact that patent applications remain in the scope of the Regulation and that patent holders would be required to share know-how and trade secrets from patent holders will have negative impact of the entire biotech ecosystem worldwide. Undermining our IP framework will only increase our dependency on other regions as innovators commit into countries that recognise IP as a as the main driver for innovation.

IPRs are essential to the growth of biotechnology innovation and to enable scientific breakthrough to be translated into real-life applications. In highly competitive industries such as biotechnology, IPRs are essential to encourage industrial applications, safeguard investments into innovative research, and enable smaller companies without a substantial capital base to access financing in an already challenging European venture capital landscape.

Dr Claire Skentelbery, Director General of EuropaBio said: “As a global race is underway to leverage the full potential of biotechnology for people and planet, this sends the wrong message to biotechnology innovators worldwide. If Europe is to become a leader in biotech innovation, its policies must guarantee the protection and value of innovation.”

EuropaBio remains committed to working with policymakers and stakeholders to ensure the proposal does not negatively impact the capacity of innovative biotech industries to deliver on the EU’s strategic objectives.