EUCOPE Resources / Partnerships - March 14, 2023

?️Sounds of Science Podcast #14 on Trans-Atlantic Innovation

Sounds of Science Podcast – Episode 14

Trans-Atlantic Innovation : Building bridges between the EU and US life sciences industry

With the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act, significant changes are coming for drug pricing and payment in the United States. At the same time, the upcoming revision of the EU Pharma Package will have a significant impact on the competitiveness and predictability of the EU biopharmaceutical landscape.

There are several gaping differences between the biopharma ecosystems of the US and the EU. For instance, it takes on average 150 days longer to get an innovative medicine approved in Europe than in the US – time that could be crucial for some patients.

To understand what is happening in policy and regulatory developments in both the EU and US markets and how they will impact biopharmaceutical innovation for the foreseeable future, our latest podcast gathers first-hand perspectives from our American counterparts and details how we can work together to build trans-Atlantic bridges for innovation in life sciences.

Our special guests include:

You can listen to Episode 14 and all other Sounds of Science podcast episodes using the links below:

Episode Highlights

Justin Pine, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)

“From a commercial standpoint, we really want to ensure that US companies are able to access the European markets to get their drugs approved and launch and have reasonable pricing reimbursement mechanisms in place.”

“I’m hopeful that we can strengthen the broader trans-Atlantic scientific relationship, for the benefit of our economies and most importantly for patients that will benefit from these innovations.”

“We organize the Council of State Bioscience Associations, where state biotech associations come together to share best practices and keep a community together where we’re able to keep each other posted and updated on policy developments, new opportunities, new challenges, and share learnings [with]  each other.”

Ben Bradford, MassBio

“We have the luxury of sitting directly next to two of the best universities in the world and that’s not something every region or municipality is going to be able to do. But what we have done, and what industry has done here and what the municipal government has done is make this industry predictable and make development predictable.”

“The idea that regardless of political party, you view the life sciences industry as something that buoys the economy here in Massachusetts is really something that has been helping companies with predictability. Being able to know what to expect, being able to know that your partners in government will be a resource to you has been huge for the development of the life sciences industry.”

“We don’t care who cures cancer, it could be Boston, it could be Belgium, it could be somewhere in California. It doesn’t matter to us. So these communication mechanisms and cross-border partnerships are something that at the end of the day, are helping patients.”

Alexander Natz, EUCOPE

“It doesn’t matter where the innovation stems from, we need to help each other. We need to help our companies to navigate the systems on, on both sides of the Atlantic.”

 “It’s really important that also we are sending the right message to innovative US companies to ensure that they are attracted by European markets. We have seen that in the last decade, especially in cell and gene therapies, that US companies have chosen to come to Europe first, and we need to make sure that this is remains to be the case in the future. So, really important that we strike the right balance in the general pharmaceutical legislation.”

 “There is an openness for innovation in Europe but I think there’s a lot we can learn from the US also when it comes to financing healthcare and prioritizing healthcare.”

 

Join EUCOPE at the BIO International Convention from 5-8th June in Boston, Massachusetts to Stand up for Science. Register here

If your company would like to put forward a topic for us to discuss or to participate in a future podcast episode, please reach out to our producer, Dante Di Iulio.