- Launched in association with Invest Europe to mobilise public and private investment into Europe’s life sciences Venture Capital (VC) ecosystem
- Despite strong science and talent, Europe is failing to scale life sciences innovation, held back by fragmented capital markets and structural investment barriers
- The gap is stark: Europe accounts for just 7% of global life sciences VC, and 66 of 67 EU biotech IPOs in the past six years listed outside the EU
Brussels, Belgium, 12 February 2026, – The European Life Sciences Coalition (ELSC) has been launched to strengthen Europe’s life sciences and biotechnology VC ecosystem by mobilising greater levels of private and public investment across the sector. Created in association with Invest Europe, the coalition brings together leading European life sciences venture capital firms, research institutions, and other stakeholders across the value chain.
ELSC members collectively manage more than €24 billion in Life Sciences-specific assets and have invested in, or helped found, over 1,400 life sciences and biotechnology companies. As hands-on investors and operators, coalition members bring practical, market-driven perspectives to policy discussions on capital allocation, company formation, and scale-up dynamics.
The creation of the ELSC responds to growing concern that, despite strong scientific foundations and entrepreneurial talent, Europe is increasingly unable to scale and retain its life sciences innovation. Structural barriers, including the underutilisation of private savings, fragmented capital markets, low (and decreasing) numbers of specialised VC firms, and slow and uneven regulatory processes, continue to limit access to growth capital and push promising companies to seek financing elsewhere.
The launch comes at a pivotal moment for Europe, as political leaders focus on strategic autonomy in core industries, capital markets integration, and competitiveness. The life sciences sector supports around 29 million jobs across the EU , underpins public health and economic resilience, and plays a central role in the development and manufacture of life-saving medicines. Without decisive action, Europe risks a progressive hollowing-out of its life sciences VC ecosystem, with direct consequences for long-term economic growth, innovation, and patient access.
These challenges are already visible in the data. European life sciences venture capital funds currently account for just 7% of the global market, compared with 63% in the United States and 14% in China. Even more strikingly, 66 out of 67 EU biotechnology companies that went public over the past six years chose to list outside the EU . The message from founders and investors is clear: Europe is not currently equipped to finance and scale its life sciences innovation at home.
Through the ELSC, members aim to help reverse these trends by advocating for more effective mobilisation of start- and scale-up capital and a more integrated, efficient investment environment for innovative companies. The coalition is not calling for handouts, but for a fundamental shift in how European capital is deployed. Working constructively with policymakers and in association with Invest Europe, the world’s largest association of private capital providers, the ELSC seeks to ensure that Europe not only continues to invent the future of life sciences, but also to finance, scale, and retain it, inter alia through a healthy life sciences VC ecosystem.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About Invest Europe
Invest Europe is the association representing Europe’s private equity, venture capital and infrastructure sectors, as well as their investors. We have over 650 members, split roughly equally between private equity, venture capital and limited partners – with some 110 associate members representing advisers to our ecosystem. Those members are based in 57 countries, including 42 in Europe, and manage 60% of the European private equity and venture capital industry’s €1.25 trillion of assets under management. Businesses with private capital investment employ 11.2 million people across Europe, 5% of the region’s workforce.
For more information visit www.investeurope.eu
ELSC Members
Members of the European Life Sciences Coalition include Cooley (UK) LLP, Covington & Burling LLP, Forbion, HealthCap, Novo Holdings, Omega Funds, Sofinnova Partners, Van Lanschot Kempen and the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB).
Definition of Europe
For the purposes of this press release, references to “Europe” encompass the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.
