Building a Sustainable BioPharma Industry--the European Way

Europe's financing and regulatory environment means that it has been, and will continue to be, very difficult to build Amgen-style big biotech from scratch here. But a sustainable industry of large biotechs is nevertheless emerging-mostly through the transformation of existing big or mid-sized pharma assets. Big Pharma spin outs, created to circumvent prohibitive labor laws, and small, R&D-embracing in-licensing firms are two important sources. But so are the mid-sized drug firms--another largely European phenomenon. The potential transformation of UCB into a big biotech, triggered by the acquisition of Celltech, is the most recent example.