Publication date: February 6, 2026
Biotechnology is one of the fastest-growing research and innovation sectors in the world today, and the European Union plays a significant role in this process. Over the past decade, the number of biotechnology researchers in the EU has nearly doubled, from approximately 42,000 in 2012 to over 81,000 in 2021, and the share of employment in this field has reached 17.2% of total R&D employment. These figures confirm that Europe has a strong scientific base and is systematically building capacity in technologies critical to health, industry, and food security.
However, when we look at what happens next – patents, technology scaling, and market penetration – the picture becomes less optimistic. The EU’s share of global biotech patents fell from 22.6% in 2001 to 18.3% in 2020, while the US still accounts for nearly 40% of global patent filings. On a per capita basis, the difference is even more pronounced: in 2020, the US had three times the number of biotech patents per million inhabitants than the EU.
However, it is worth breaking down this general picture into its first factors, because biotechnology is not a single sector, but a collection of very different areas that operate in different market and regulatory conditions.
Red biotechnology, encompassing medical and pharmaceutical applications, is the largest and most capital-intensive segment of the entire sector. It is here that a significant portion of biotechnology patents worldwide are created. Between 2001 and 2020, medical-related technologies, including peptide preparations and antibody-based solutions, accounted for a significant portion of all patent applications in biotechnology.
Europe is scientifically strong in this area. Universities, research institutes, and clinical infrastructure are among the world’s leading. The problem arises at the commercialization stage. Drug development requires enormous financial resources, a long time frame, and a stable, predictable regulatory environment. Meanwhile, in the EU, these processes are often perceived as more complex and dispersed than in the US. As a result, many technologies developed in European laboratories reach the market under the auspices of American companies – through acquisitions, licensing, or transferring further stages of development outside of Europe.
White biotechnology, or industrial applications, is the largest category of biotechnology patents worldwide. Technologies such as processes based on microorganisms, enzymes, and biochemical tests collectively account for over one-third of all biotechnology patents filed between 2001 and 2020.
This is an area of particular importance from the perspective of industrial transformation and the green economy. Interestingly, it is in white biotechnology that Europe, alongside Japan and China, demonstrates relatively higher specialization than the United States. Despite this, the EU’s share of the global patent portfolio is not growing. Why? Scaling is again crucial. Industrial technologies require a rapid transition from pilot to large-scale production, which in turn depends on access to capital, infrastructure, and a single market. Regulatory fragmentation and national differences mean that European companies often develop more slowly than their competitors.
Green biotechnology, primarily related to agriculture and food security, accounts for the smallest portion of the patent portfolio – the number of applications in this area is relatively low both in the EU and globally. Despite this, the importance of this segment is growing.
Globally, China demonstrates a clear specialization in green biotechnology, while in the EU, only a few countries, such as the Netherlands, have a clear competitive advantage in this area. This demonstrates that the potential exists, but is not being utilized evenly. Mechanisms are lacking to develop these technologies across the EU and make them a real pillar of innovation.
Horizontal biotechnologies, which can be applied across multiple sectors simultaneously, account for a small percentage of patents (around 2%). However, their importance is greater than their scale suggests. These are often technologies that can accelerate innovation in other areas. The example of Great Britain demonstrates that even with a relatively small number of patents, high specialization can be achieved, although in this case we are also talking about a niche, not a mass market.
Analysis of individual areas of biotechnology leads to a common conclusion: regardless of the sector, the European Union is consistently building research and technological potential, but significantly underutilizes it during the growth and commercialization phases. In red biotechnology, barriers include long and costly market development paths; in white biotechnology, barriers include limited ability to rapidly scale industrial processes; in green biotechnology, barriers include low innovation rates and strong differences between Member States; and in horizontal biotechnologies, barriers include small scale despite high technological significance.
As a result, biotechnology in the European Union accounts for a patent portfolio close to the global average, while in other leading regions it accounts for a significantly larger share of total patent activity. At the same time, patent activity in the EU remains highly concentrated geographically in a few Member States, primarily Germany and France. This means that the potential of the single market as a development space is not being fully exploited.
In this context, the Biotech Act addresses the clearly defined gap between potential and utilization. It does this by introducing uniform definitions and procedures, reducing the need to navigate separate national systems. This eliminates the need for projects to undergo separate, uncoordinated administrative processes, and the time required to obtain key approvals is shortened. At the same time, the act facilitates access to financing and regulatory support, especially for SMEs, reducing the risks and costs of market entry. The Biotech Act aims to foster better links between the European research base and the market, strengthen commercialisation capacity and enable companies to develop within the single market rather than seeking more favourable conditions outside Europe.
All data used in this document come from: Grassano, N., Napolitano, L., M’barek, R., Rodriguez Cerezo, E., Lasarte Lopez, J., Exploring the global landscape of biotech innovation: preliminary insights from patent analysis, Joint Research Centre, European Commission , Luxembourg , Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.