Europe’s competitiveness challenge: Ensuring patient access to transformative therapies in Europe
The EU recognises health as fundamental to its economic security and competitiveness, with initiatives like the Competitive Compass, Life Science Strategy and upcoming Biotech Act designed to strengthen these objectives. However, transformative innovations such as gene therapies and genomic testing remain unevenly accessible across the EU, challenging the Union's commitment to solidarity.
Europe's competitiveness challenge extends beyond attracting investment to ensuring equitable and timely patient access to future innovations, such as individualised neo-antigen therapies. The shift of research and design (R&D) and manufacturing to other parts of the world risks leaving European patients last in line to benefit from transformative therapies.
Demographic change and an ever-aging workforce add additional challenges not only to competitiveness but also underpinning the need for healthy aging to ensure long-term fiscal and social security. Investments in healthy populations can generate healthcare system savings through reduced treatment complexity, shorter hospital stays and lower staffing needs.
Realising this potential requires a fundamental shift in political and policymaking mindsets and structural healthcare system reforms. A vision for a resilient, competitive and innovative European pharmaceutical sector remains incomplete when transformative technologies fail to reach national markets and patients across EU member states.
This discussion paper outlines 10 key policy recommendations as to how to make this vision a reality.
Read the full paper here.
Elizabeth Kuiper is Associate Director and Head of the Social Europe and Wellbeing Programme.
This project is financially supported by MSD, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs (EUCOPE) and the European Alliance for Personalised Medicines (EAPM). The support the European Policy Centre receives for its ongoing operations, or specifically for its publications, does not constitute an endorsement of their contents, which reflect the views of the author only. Supporters and partners cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
