Biotech lobby group moans about lack of funding

Here we were, thinking that the life sciences get far too much attention when it comes to science and innovation, often at the expense of the physical sciences. Seems we were wrong.

 

Europabio, "the European Association for Bioindustries," thinks that even the biosector is hard done by. It has just come up with a report that, as the accompanying press release puts it, complains that "the European and the US biotechnology industries both have around 2000 companies, but the US sector employs nearly twice as many people, spends around three times as much on research and development, has twice the number of employees involved in research and development, raises over twice as much venture capital, and has access to 10 times as much debt finance".

 

It seems that venture finance is the issue. Or, as the report puts it "Despite the right-minded high-level political intentions to transform Europe into an innovation-intensive economic powerhouse, Europe’s biotechnology project is in danger of foundering from the relative dearth of that most vital of fuels for innovation: money."

 

All this is a bit confusing. The report shows that Europe is ahead of the USA in the number of new companies set up. And the survey of companies found that they raised €2.5 billion in venture capital in 2004 which is up from €2.2 billion in 2003.

 

Still, moaning about money is what lobby groups are all about. We have to ask, though, if all the concentration on healthcare is part of the problem. We spent part of the afternoon talking to someone who ferments thinks that are changing the shape of the food industry. Europabio might not describe this as mainstream biotechnology, despite a passing reference in its report, but it is making money for the company concerned. It may not be a start up, but it is certainly a part of Europe's innovation machine.

 

Before getting too carried away about the state of European research,  read this press release from the Royal Society. The first sentence sums it up: "The United States is lagging behind other leading nations on stem cell research, members of a bipartisan Congressional delegation announced today (1 June 2006) during a fact-finding trip to the UK."