LOGOLOGOLOGOLOGO
  • About us
    • What we do
    • Who we are
      • Governance
      • Staff
      • Vacancies
  • Members
    • EuropaBio Members
    • About Membership
  • How we work
    • Healthcare Biotechnology Council
      • Patient BioForum
      • Study – Impact of the EU’s General Pharmaceutical Legislation
    • Industrial Biotechnology Council
      • EFIB
      • Microorganisms
    • National Associations Council
    • SME Platform
    • Biomanufacturing Platform
      • Biotechnology in our Lives
  • Activities
    • 25 Years of Innovation
    • The EU Biotech Act
    • European Biotech Week
    • EU Projects
      • PRIMED Project
      • APROVALS Project
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
  • Library
Become a member
✕

Let’s Beat Cancer with Innovation!

04/02/2020
BLOG

Let's Beat Cancer with Innovation!

The 4th of February 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of World Cancer Day, a global initiative aimed at raising worldwide cancer awareness and encouraging “personal, collective, and government action.” Cancer remains a heavy burden on individuals, families and communities. A quarter of the global cancer cases occurs in Europe, which has only one eighth of the global population. Cancer is the second highest cause of death and morbidity on the continent.

Despite the continued challenge we face, biomedical research has reached significant milestones in our understanding of this disease. The last two decades have witnessed several biotechnological breakthroughs. Whereas cancer used to be treated as one single disease, bioscience has allowed us to recognise individual tumour types and to customise treatment to individual patients. Investments in scientific research have led to a better understanding of cancer biology and the use of our immune system against it. This, combined with advancements in genomics, has enabled scientists to better target and treat specific forms of cancer, opening possibilities for the transformation of the cancer treatment landscape.

Such ground-breaking biotechnological innovations are already being trialled today. Advanced therapies, which were once considered science of the future, already find themselves in use in real-life clinical settings. One example of this cutting-edge bioscience is that of CAR T (chimeric antigen receptor t-cell therapy). This therapy is a process, whereby a cancer patient’s T-cells are extracted from the body, designed to identify and attack the cancer cells, before being reintroduced to the patient. CAR-T therapies help patients with blood cancers, for example, achieve complete remission rates of more than 50%.

Another revolutionary biotechnological innovation showing immense potential against cancer is the gene-editing technique CRISPR-Cas9. CRISPR-Cas9 allows scientists to precisely add, remove, or alter genetic material of the DNA, serving as a promising tool for further improving the effectiveness of advanced therapies against cancer.

Here, we are only beginning to scratch the surface of the medical revolution that biotechnology is presenting to society. There are many more treatments out there on the horizon, from personalised cancer vaccines, and oncolytic viruses, to radioligand therapies. Every new revolutionary treatment starts with an idea. It is now up to policy makers to provide the right stimuli to enable the biotech eco-system to turn what was once “just an idea” into the cancer treatment of the future.

Today, on World Cancer Day, the European Commission is bringing together stakeholders to begin its outreach on the “Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan”. EuropaBio and its members join the EU’s collective effort for positive change for a healthier future. We firmly believe that innovative biotech treatments will be critical in the fight to beat cancer.

By Bernard Grimm, Healthcare Director, EuropaBio

Share
Alexandra Simionca
Alexandra Simionca

Related posts

07/07/2025

EuropaBio Position on the Critical Medicines Act


Read more
03/07/2025

Life Sciences Strategy Embraces Biotech for Global Impact


Read more
26/06/2025

EuropaBio AGM 2025: Association Chair, Executive Committee and Board announced


Read more

Important links

  • EuropaBio Position on the Critical Medicines Act
  • Life Sciences Strategy Embraces Biotech for Global Impact

Categories in our Newsroom

EBIO-white

EuropaBio represents corporate and associate members across sectors, plus national and regional biotechnology associations which, in turn, represent over 5000 biotech companies, 4600 out of them are SMEs.

Contact us

Extra links

Members
Staff
Privacy policy
Legal & cookies
Events
Newsroom

Become a member

Media pack

© 2025 Europabio. All Rights Reserved. Designed by EYAS
Become a member

Algal Omega 3

Algal Omega-3 is an innovative feed product for aquaculture. It reduces the impact on climate change by 30-40% compared to fish oil and saves 60 tons of wild fish for every ton of Algal Omega-3 used.

Cheese

Cheese is a vegetarian product thanks to biotechnology. Biotechnology is also essential to produce lactose- or cholesterol-free cheese, as well as alternative proteins.

Clothes

Clothes made from alternative fibres produced by microorganisms can be 8x stronger than steel, 100% recyclable, biodegradable and replace fossil-fuel based or resource-intensive textiles.

Vitamin B2

The biomanufacturing of Vitamin B2 led to the reduction of 75% of fossil raw materials and 50% operating costs, compared to the chemical process. Vitamin B2 is used in the food, feed or healthcare sectors.

Detergents

Enzymes and biosurfactancts are alternative ingredients that improve the performance of detergents, while leading to water and energy savings and reductions in CO2 emissions and water toxicity.

Insulin

Insulin is one of the most widely known biopharmaceutical. Biotechnology revolutionised its manufacturing process and led to the development of new types of insulin through r-DNA technology.