European Commission publishes new Life Sciences Strategy
On 2 July 2025, the European Commission published a new Strategy for European Life Sciences. This Strategy aims to reinforce all aspects of the current life sciences infrastructure, with the ultimate goal of making Europe the most attractive place in the world for life sciences by 2030.
Life sciences drive innovation in key areas such as medicine, food and sustainable production, and as such are critical for protecting the health, environment and economy of the EU. However, over recent years Europe has lagged behind other global players in this field due to challenges such as complex regulations and scattered funding.
The new Strategy, with more than 10 billion euros of annual funding from the current EU budget, aims to close this gap by accelerating innovation, facilitating market access, and building public trust in new technologies. Drawing on results from a public consultation held earlier this year, as well as studies by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the strategy proposes three action areas:
- Optimising the research and innovation ecosystem by developing an EU investment plan and increasing funding for life sciences research and development;
- Enabling rapid market access for life science innovations through a new EU Biotech Act;
- Boosting trust, uptake and use of innovation by aligning policies and funding across sectors, engaging with stakeholders, and stimulating the procurement of innovation in areas of public interest.
In response to the Strategy’s publication, EURORDIS praised its strong focus on scientific excellence and shared global challenges, which has the potential to transform the lives of the 30 million people living with a rare disease across Europe, and expressed their hope that it will translate into concrete outcomes for rare disease patients. In the organisation’s statement, Valentina Bottarelli, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, said:
“The Commission’s explicit focuses on rare diseases – alongside its support for advanced therapies, multi-country clinical trials, and more adaptive regulatory tools – is both timely and essential…What matters now is that implementation is bold, well-resourced, and inclusive of patient organisations at every step.”
By launching this Strategy, the Commission is demonstrating its commitment to safeguarding life sciences and the benefits they deliver to all people living in Europe. Together, the actions outlined above will work to promote and streamline innovation, ultimately improving Europe’s competitiveness on the global stage.
