With one of the most densely concentrated life sciences and biotech ecosystems in Europe, the Netherlands is home to numerous biotech and pharmaceutical companies and also happens to be the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), based in Amsterdam. As the Netherlands now sets its sights on becoming a global biotech leader by 2040, we take a deeper look at the country’s biotech scene.
Overall, the biotech sector in the Netherlands is internationally oriented, with a strong base in early-stage research, academic excellence, and public-private partnerships.
According to Annemiek Verkamman, managing director of hollandbio, a biotech industry association, the Netherlands has been building its biotech sector for decades, meaning that it is now a well-established life sciences and biotech hub. “We have world-renowned crop breeding companies, Leiden and Oss are leading biopharmaceutical hub spots, and there is a historical presence of industrial biotech knowledge institutions and companies such as DSM-Firmenich and Corbion.”
Thanks to this, the country is now considered to be one of the leading European biotech hubs, along with the likes of Switzerland, France, and the U.K. It is currently home to around 1,979 life sciences companies, including several well-known biotech companies, such as Amsterdam-based uniQure, which developed the first approved gene therapy for hemophilia B.
Furthermore, over the past couple of years – particularly since the arrival of the EMA in Amsterdam – the Netherlands has managed to attract a significant number of foreign life sciences companies, whether that be big pharma companies or up-and-coming biotechs. In fact, several large drugmakers, including AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Roche, currently have bases in the country. There has also been a string of investments in recent years by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), Johnson & Johnson (J&J), and Gilead to set up large manufacturing facilities in the Netherlands.
Read the rest of the article (by Willow Shah-Neville): https://www.labiotech.eu/in-depth/the-netherlands-biotech-hub/
Bron: Labiotech