Uma reforma lenta e demorada: o remédio que chega depois da hora

In her latest opinion article for Expresso, our Partner and Life Sciences specialist, Patrícia Paias, addresses a critical challenge for the future of European healthcare and economy: the growing commercialisation gap between the United States and the European Union.

While the US Administration accelerates bilateral commitments through direct incentives and local production investment, Europe faces a "regulatory archipelago" fragmented across 27 distinct markets.

The numbers speak for themselves:

• The investment gap between the EU and the US grew from €2 billion to €25 billion over the last two decades.
• Between 2015 and 2025, healthcare biotechs in the US raised around €219 billion in venture capital, compared to just €25 billion in the EU.
• 66 out of the 67 European biotechnology companies that went public in the last six years did so outside the EU.

With the "pharma package" and the European Biotech Act high on Brussels' agenda, the key question remains: will European reforms arrive in time to retain innovation and guarantee timely access to new medicines for patients?

For countries like Portugal, small markets operating within this system, swift political decision-making and an attractive regulatory landscape are vital.

Read the full analysis by Patrícia Paias in Expresso below.