Unleashing the power of a patient-centred life science ecosystem to drive innovation, economic growth and prosperity across the EU

European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen has made the launch of a new European Prosperity Plan a central focus of her political guidelines for the next European Commission 2024-2029. The plan aims to place research and innovation at the core of the EU’s economy, including through the introduction of a Strategy for European Life Sciences[i].

At Johnson & Johnson (J&J) we believe that the EU life science sector must be at the core of any upcoming initiatives aimed at boosting the EU’s industrial competitiveness. A strong life sciences ecosystem is crucial to meet the needs of patients, doctors, and nurses, drive our economies, create jobs and opportunities through attracting strategic investments in research and innovation, foster advanced manufacturing, promote public-private collaboration, and strengthen healthcare sustainability and resilience.

Let me put our sector into a few figures:

• The pharmaceutical sector alone supports around 900,000 direct jobs in Europe and the EU medicinal and pharmaceutical sector contributes €136bn in trade surplus.[ii]
• The medical technology employs over 880,000 people in high quality jobs and provides €11bn in trade surplus.[iii] [iv]
• In 2021 the US dedicated €40 billion to public research investments in health, as compared to 8,4 billion annually in the EU.[v]

Despite its significant role, the EU life science sector position as a global leader is challenged by competition from other regions such as the US and China, which have been investing massively in health innovation. The gap between the EU and these regions has been increasing significantly. As a result, the EU life science sector is facing brain drain[vi] [vii], and a decline in R&D investments and share of global clinical trials.[viii]

To reverse this trend and ensure that the EU life science sector continues to generate strategic investments, discover new innovations, create opportunities for highly skilled workers, and bring prosperity and health to EU citizens, we urge policymakers to leverage the opportunity offered by the European Prosperity Plan and the upcoming Strategy for European Life Sciences by enacting policies that:

• Strengthen the competitiveness of the EU single market, while recognizing the specificities on national healthcare systems.
• Enable innovation through world-class, agile regulation and a robust intellectual property (IP) framework tailored to the specificities of the EU life sciences sector and the digital age.
• Support research and investment in the EU life sciences ecosystem.
• Develop an environmental sustainability framework that strengthens European competitiveness and recognizes the complexities of the life sciences sector.
• Bolster the number of highly qualified workers in the EU life science sector.
• Champion open trade policies that ensure free flow of goods and services.

At Johnson & Johnson we are eager to build on Draghi’s vision on the EU’s future competitiveness[ix]. We are committed to contribute by our part to Europe’s strategic response to recent challenges and we call for courageous political leadership to rapidly translate policy recommendations into concrete actions that drive the right mindset in making Europe an attractive place for future innovations in life-sciences.  

CP-491946 Nov 24