“The science is brilliant in Europe, but the translation is what’s lacking,” said V-Bio Ventures managing partner Christina Takke on the state of the European funding ecosystem for biotechs at the ongoing BIO International Convention 2025.
The discussion on funding for European biotechs comes at a time when federal funding in the US is facing cuts while the European Union and France have pledged €500m to attract researchers to pursue projects in the EU. However, this alone is unlikely to foster the necessary ecosystem required to allow European biotechs to thrive.
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Historically, US venture capital (VCs) have provided a fillip to early-stage biotechs to build pipelines, influencing how companies operate in the US and Europe. An oft-cited distinction as a result of this is cultural differences between US and European biotechs and their approach to research.
The BIO conference is taking place in Boston, where Avante Biocapital CEO Matthew Foy said an environment exists for a two-way dialogue between academics and VCs. The hubs in Europe are relatively more disparate. Even when it comes to telling a story, Hansa Biopharma CEO Renée Aguiar-Lucander said European biotechs are more focused on the science, while talk of products, market opportunity and domination takes place much earlier with US companies.
Nonetheless, it is often not the company’s management team, but the board and how these companies were built by those investors who previously operated in a market without later-stage capital, that can hold back a European company, said Foy.
Against the backdrop of the threat of Asian biotechs, it might be difficult to compete in a global setting with cultural touchpoints like wanting to work fewer hours in Europe, said Lucander. However, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. It can be cheaper to develop something in Europe than in Boston’s Kendall Square, so it is important to combine the approaches that work best, said Takke. On that point of efficiency—or the ability to do more with less, Aguiar-Lucander said European biotechs are already used to being cost efficient, so they may not be impacted as much as US companies when compared to Chinese biotechs.
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By GlobalDataThe evolution of the European funding ecosystem
European biotech has come a long way in the last 10–15 years in terms of the sophistication of VCs, management teams, quality of science, and more, said Foy.
European VC companies such as Sofinnova, Forbion, which recently funded RNA editing company AIRNA, and sleep apnoea therapeutic-focused Mosanna, have raised billions of dollars in 2025.
Finding a silver lining in the conversation on biotech funding that has recently been fraught with challenges, Foy said these VC raises show there is fresh capital to fund and accelerate development. While the sector deals with geopolitical issues, raising money without a syndicate is “nearly impossible”, he said, highlighting the importance of early efforts to build a network. Nonetheless, much larger, later-stage funds are emerging in Europe, which can fund companies further, he said.
VIB managing director Jérôme Van Biervliet said there is capital, but “the problem is how much of it is being deployed in either venture capital or….the stock market at some point; that’s where we’re short”.
Van Biervliet was optimistic that with ongoing efforts that invite new talent and management styles, now is the time to push forward for the European funding ecosystem. Alternate funding models have often been suggested as an antidote to biotechs to counter some of the early funding challenges in Europe.
VIB is a non-profit research institute with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and has bio-incubators for startups across Belgium. In the beginning, the institute collaborated with big pharma, but has prioritised small biotechs more recently, said Van Biervliet. He cited the example of VIB’s work with Belgian biotech argenx to develop an asthma treatment, ARGX-118, which argenx will now further develop. Having a long-term partner, who can help build an ecosystem for the long term help, and this has been well documented in the US, he added. But much larger, later-stage funds are emerging in Europe, which can fund companies further.
