Euro VCs team up to invigorate life sciences ecosystem
Major venture capital groups in Europe have joined forces to set up a new coalition aimed at revitalising access to investment for life sciences companies – and try to restore Europe's global presence in the sector.
The creation of the European Life Sciences Coalition (ELSC) is designed to mobilise public and private investment in life sciences, plugging gaps in financing that are compromising Europe's competitiveness. It will cover the entire European Economic Area (EAA), as well as the UK and Switzerland.
Launched today in collaboration with Invest Europe, a Belgium-based private equity group, the ELSC's membership includes the VC arm of Novo Nordisk, Novo Holdings, as well as investment companies Cooley, Covington & Burling, Forbion, HealthCap, Omega Funds, Sofinnova Partners, Van Lanschot Kempen, and the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB).
According to Invest Europe, the challenge facing the European life sciences sector is clear - Europe currently accounts for just 7% of global life sciences VC, compared with 63% in the US and 14% in China, while 66 of 67 EU biotech IPOs in the past six years listed outside the bloc.
"The creation of the ELSC responds to growing concern that, despite strong scientific foundations and entrepreneurial talent, Europe is increasingly unable to scale and retain its life sciences innovation," said the company.
That is because of "structural barriers like under-utilisation of private savings, fragmented capital markets, low (and decreasing) numbers of specialised VC firms, and slow and uneven regulatory processes," it added.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, acknowledged the financing problem at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp yesterday, saying that businesses across all sectors "urgently need better access to low-cost capital."
Last year, the EU unveiled a life sciences strategy designed to make Europe the most attractive place in the world for life sciences by 2030, backed by almost €10 billion ($11.8 billion) in funding.
The ELSC can bring some coordination and scale to bear on the problem, as its members collectively manage more than €24 billion in life sciences assets and have invested in, or helped found, more than 1,400 life sciences and biotech companies.
Concerns about Europe's waning position compared to the US and China are running at a fever pitch, particularly under the new geopolitical environment and uncertainties in trade that have emerged with Trump's second term as US President, including tariffs that have resulted in capital investment projects and R&D spending being diverted from Europe to the US.
According to the ELSC, five of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies by revenue are European, and the life sciences sector overall supports around 29 million jobs across the EU.
"To succeed and scale, life sciences companies need access to substantial capital and policy frameworks that recognise the realities of developing complex, science-based businesses," commented Novo Holdings' senior partner for venture investments, Naveed Siddiqi.
"Equally important, the sector requires access to experience, long-term engagement, and a deep understanding of how these businesses are built and financed over time," he added.
Photo by Danielle Rice on Unsplash
