Brussels, 14 May 2024 - The Biomanufacturing Policy Summit is an annual meeting organised by EuropaBio that brings together biotech industry representatives and policymakers to discuss the most timely and relevant topics for biomanufacturing across sectors. The 2024 edition occurred in Brussels on 13th March and gathered 73 participants, including participants from the European Commission and the European Parliament.

“Policy pathways for biomanufacturing in Europe” was the Summit theme and the umbrella topic for discussions on the best ways to defragment and accelerate biomanufacturing in the EU, plus biomanufacturing policies from other global regions. It is a critical timing for biomanufacturing, as different policy files are underway at EU level, with an impact on relevant products or processes including biopharmaceuticals, new genomic techniques, detergents, alternative proteins and cell-cultivation .

This report summarizes the Summit’s main discussion points and takeaways and uses them as a foundation to build a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis for biomanufacturing in Europe. The analysis is further refined with data from recent reports and examples provided by EuropaBio's members, in order to add evidence and practical examples to support the arguments. Following the 2023 report which presented 10 recommendations for biomanufacturing, the 2024 SWOT analysis aims to act as an open conclusion from the Summit, adding substance to the ongoing debate around biomanufacturing in Europe.

The report stresses the urgent need to address the question “What does the EU want to be?” and build an answer with pillars in innovation, skills, smart and agile legislation and financial instruments, and the Single Market. The EU needs a smart industrial policy for biotech and biomanufacturing rooted in science-based policymaking, which promotes and incentivises the scale-up of infrastructures and sustainable solutions and creates innovative and resilient supply-chains, whilst answering the EU’s long-term ambitions.