Industry welcomes biotech report

EuropaBio’s Vanhemelrijck: study a "valuable tool" in getting out the good word about biotech.

The study from the Joint Research Centre (JRC), entitled “Consequences, Opportunities and Challenges of Modern Biotechnology for Europe”, or Biotech for Europe (Bio4EU) is the first of its kind in Europe.

The study shows that life sciences and biotechnology have grown to be central to several industrial sectors of the EU economy and confirms contribution of biotech to progress in medicine, despite rationing of healthcare practised by member states.

Key facts and figures include:

• Biotechnology and its applications generate almost 2 per cent of EU gross value added, indicating that its importance is comparable with Europe’s largest industry sectors.

• The European biotech industry directly employs 96,500 people, mostly in SMEs; employment in industries using biotechnology products is many times higher. 

• The number of biopharmaceuticals on the market has more than doubled in the last 10 years

• The number of biopharmaceutical companies rose from 37 (1996) to 143 (2005).  

• 30 per cent of all in vitro diagnostics in the EU in 2005 were biotech-based

• Revenues for biotech vaccines jumped from €65 million in 1996 to €259 million

• In agroindustry, up to 20 per cent of turnover is now related to biotech

• In Spain, studies show a 12 per cent increase in gross margin for GM maize over conventional production

• The EU produces about 75 per cent of the world’s enzymes

• About 45 per cent of all manufacturing sectors, for example textiles and pulp paper, use biotechnology

• Industrial biotech increases labour productivity by 10 to 20 per cent over conventional processes

The environmental improvements that can be realised through the use of biotech in industrial applications are striking. For example, the change from a chemical to biotech method for the production of a class of antibiotics reduced the use of electricity by 37 per cent, solvents by almost 100 per cent, and led to a 90 per cent reduction in wastewater

Other industrial applications, such as biodegradable plastics and packaging, are expected to provide similar benefits.

“Studies like the JRC’s Bio4EU are a valuable tool to help get the word out about the benefits of biotechnology, but it is up to the member states to adopt EU wide rules and show their faith in the value of the facts and the figures,” said Johan Vanhemelrijck, Secretary General of EuropaBio.