“This is not something we can delegate or subcontract to other countries.”
Invested by Europe explores the forces shaping the European economy. In each episode, we hear from experts tackling the most pressing challenges—from housing and energy to innovation and infrastructure, security and defence. We look at what’s changing, what the solutions are, and how Europe is investing in its future.
What this episode is about
Biotechnology plays a central role in Europe’s health systems, innovation capacity and economic resilience. It includes companies developing vaccines and drugs that interact with the biology of the body, medical devices such as robotic surgery tools and diagnostic equipment, and digital medicine that uses new technologies to improve diagnostics and accelerate product development.
In this episode of the Invested by Europe podcast, Antoine de Lachaux, head of the life science and biotech unit at the European Investment Bank, explains why biotech is strategically important for Europe — and why long-term, patient investment is essential in bringing innovation to patients.
The conversation in brief
Biotechnology is a broad ecosystem that spans pharmaceuticals, vaccines, medical devices and digital medicine. It includes enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence and, increasingly, advanced computing tools that help researchers improve diagnostics and develop new products faster.
Europe is strong in life sciences and biotech, both in terms of scientific excellence and innovation capacity. But the sector is also particularly challenging. Developing a life science product takes a long time, requires significant capital, and carries a high risk of failure. The attrition rate is high – many projects never reach the market.
One of Europe’s main challenges is fragmentation. Unlike the United States, where companies can immediately address a market of almost 350 million people, Europe remains divided into national markets with different rules and systems. This makes scaling up more complex and increases costs for companies trying to operate across borders.
Access to capital is another critical issue. Biotech is extremely capital-intensive, requiring substantial investment long before any revenues are generated. While the US venture capital market has a strong appetite for this kind of long-term risk, Europe has relatively few investors with the expertise and financial capacity to support companies through the full development cycle.
Europe is taking steps to strengthen the ecosystem. One recent initiative is the proposed Biotech Act, which aims to facilitate access to the market, harmonise rules across EU countries and improve patent protection. The goal is to create incentives for companies to operate across all 27 member states, rather than remaining confined to national markets.
The European Investment Bank plays a significant role in supporting the sector. Over the past ten years, the EU financing arm has invested €4 billion in around 150 companies, helping to bring life‑saving products to market and building strong relationships across the biotech ecosystem — from venture capital funds to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Improving access to capital is also a key objective of the Savings and Investments Union, which aims to create a more integrated European investment environment.
One of the EIB’s most well-known investments is BioNTech, which it financed before the COVID19 pandemic for its work on mRNA technology. That research ultimately led to the development of the most widely used COVID19 vaccine.
Artificial intelligence is expected to play a transformative role in biotechnology. AI can accelerate drug development by optimising early screening phases, automating the analysis of large libraries of proteins or molecules, and improving diagnostics by detecting patterns in medical scans that the human eye may miss. It can also help streamline regulatory processes. Over time, AI is likely to influence every step of the patient journey, from diagnosis to treatment.
Key takeaways
- Biotech is a strategic sector for Europe’s health, economy and sovereignty.
- Europe’s fragmented market makes scaling more difficult than in the US. Initiatives like the Biotech Act aim to strengthen the European ecosystem.
- Artificial intelligence is set to accelerate innovation across the sector.
About the guest
Antoine de Lachaux is head of the life science and biotech unit at the European Investment Bank. He oversees investments across biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and digital health, with a focus on supporting innovation, improving access to capital and strengthening Europe’s life science ecosystem.
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