As clinical trials and investment increasingly turn elsewhere, European patients are missing out on breakthrough treatments. Policy can make a real difference here.
Europe stands at a crossroads. For decades, it led the world in pharmaceutical research, delivering medical advances that have transformed the lives of millions. But that leadership can no longer be taken for granted. U.S. trade policies toward the pharmaceutical industry, including tariffs and Most Favoured Nation pricing, underscore the urgency of Europe’s response, while China is advancing at unprecedented speed.
The figures speak for themselves. Europe led the launch of new medicines in the 1990s but lost that lead to the U.S. in the following decade and, by 2024, to China as well. Over the past 20 years, the EU’s share of global pharmaceutical research and development investment has fallen significantly, while the proportion of clinical trials conducted in Europe has also declined sharply.
This is particularly alarming in the fields that will shape the future of medicine. Advanced therapies, personalized treatments, and solutions for genetic diseases and certain cancers are increasingly being developed elsewhere. Every clinical trial that moves away and every patent filed outside Europe mean a real loss of knowledge, skilled jobs and opportunities for Europeans.
