Science for Health returns this year with a timely theme—Stronger Regions, Greater Impact. The ambition is clear: connect Belgium’s complementary strengths to keep breakthrough health innovation rooted locally while growing globally. The event on 4 November 2025 in Brussels will focus ‘ATMP & New Modalities’, with case studies, ecosystem spotlights, and high-level discussions designed to turn ideas into action.
Jérôme Van Biervliet— Managing Director at VIB and Chair of the Board of Biovia—will deliver a keynote about ‘Anchoring Innovation in Belgium’ to tackle the tough questions: What are we missing and how can we improve?
Read this article to learn more about the Science for health 2025 topics: ATMP & New Modalities!
Belgium’s number one problem
“If I had a magic wand and could fix one thing about Europe, it would be the capital markets,” says Van Biervliet. He doesn’t beat around the bush. “There is a big funding gap relative to the opportunities emerging from the ecosystem. While challenging, we still manage to secure early funding, but companies evolving from startups to scaleups simply don’t find the resources they need in Europe.”
“Companies evolving from startups to scaleups simply don’t find the resources they need in Europe.” – Jérôme Van Biervliet
Currently, European Venture Capital funds are still too small for companies looking to scale their operations and enter the market, and though there has been growth in the space, it has mostly been in early-stage funding.
“Most VC funds in Europe are still around EUR 100 million,” says Van Biervliet. “They’re not equipped for late-stage, large rounds. If we could deepen the European investment capital for innovative companies by a factor of five in the next 10 years, that would have a huge impact.”
Fix the markets; close the gap
In the absence of a magic wand, fixing the issue will have to be done the traditional way, with “a lot of hard work and cooperation,” according to Van Biervliet. The good news is that while the depth of capital is the biggest challenge for innovative companies, he also believes it is the most actionable one.
“There are concrete steps we can take to improve the European landscape—steps that have often already been taken in places like the US. To incentivize the establishment of large, tech-specific VC funds, we may also need a regulatory or policy push. We need to combine government-supported initiatives with support from institutional investors. And we need to fix the fragmented European public markets.”
Together, we stand strong
While Van Biervliet considers capital “the most bang for our buck” in terms of solutions, there are other complex challenges which will require more concerted efforts to solve. High on this list is regulatory approval, which is slow, complicated, and often doubled: once for Europe as a whole (through the EMA), and again for each member state.
“We desperately need to streamline regulations and push for national bodies to recognize EMA approval,” says Van Biervliet. “We know there is strength in unity, and we need to make one unified European market a reality. Apart, no single member state even comes close to the US or China; but as one, Europe is the second largest health market in the world.”
“We know there is strength in unity, and we need to make one unified European market a reality.” – Jérôme Van Biervliet
Another problem high on the agenda is manufacturing, where lower costs and political pressure—e.g. from the Trump administration in the US—often forces companies to use non-European suppliers. “This pressure could be eased with more local pilot plants and biomanufacturing infrastructure, which is something Belgium is already putting resources into, for example with ATMPs,” says Van Biervliet.
More ambition and concrete goals
Finally, there’s the issue of clinical trials. For many years, Belgium was among the top three countries in Europe in terms of trials per capita. But Belgium is rapidly losing ground, with companies increasingly opting to conduct their clinical research in countries like the US and China, where timelines are shorter or access is easier.
“We need to set concrete targets to speed up the clinical trial process—from submission to the first patient test—and be far more ambitious with our goals.” – Jérôme Van Biervliet
“This is not only an economic issue. It’s also about maintaining front-line access to new therapies for Belgians,” says Van Biervliet. “To reverse the trend, we have to encourage broad participation in clinical trials across hospitals and harmonize access to ensuing patient samples and healthcare data for research. We need to set concrete targets to speed up the clinical trial process—from submission to the first patient test—and be far more ambitious with our goals.”
A coalition of the willing
Belgian companies don’t usually leave Europe because they want to—they leave because they must. If the growth gap improves, many will stay—cycling talent, experience, and capital back into the local ecosystem. But to anchor innovation, the issue has to be considered from a broad European perspective.
“We can’t look at this as a problem for Belgian companies that Belgium can fix,” says Van Biervliet. “This is a problem for European companies that member states need to tackle together.”
“This is a problem for European companies that member states need to tackle together.” – Jérôme Van Biervliet
So, what can Belgium do to drive progress forward for the whole bloc? Van Biervliet is optimistic: “We may be small, but we are mighty. Belgium is one of the most innovative countries in Europe, punching well about our weight in health innovation. We can lead the way with improvements to our own ecosystem and join forces with a coalition of the willing—similar countries like the Netherlands and the Nordics—to blaze a trail for the rest,” he concludes.
“Together, we can show Europe how it can be done.”
Join us at Science for Health—4 November 2025 in Brussels—to hear Jérôme Van Biervliet’s keynote and connect with academics and industry leaders on the topics of ATMP and New Modalities. Get inspired and join forces with the people shaping the future of Belgian health innovation—register now!
