Renowned for its support of researchers, Belgium has become a key hub for the pharmaceutical industry.
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L’industrie pharmaceutique belge : la formule du succès ?
Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, UCB, to name but a few… A sensationalist headline might claim that Belgium’s position on the global pharmaceutical industry map will shock you, but in fact, more than 29 of the 30 global leaders in the pharmaceutical industry have a presence in Belgium.
Renowned for its support for researchers and for the close ties that its institutions have fostered between universities and laboratories, Belgium has, in the wake of the pandemic, become a key hub for the production of Covid-19 vaccines, hosting several key sites within its borders.
This economic success is not, however, the result of shrewd opportunism. Historically, Belgium has always been the leading investor in pharmaceutical R&D in Europe. In 2019, for example, nearly €4 billion (compared with €3.6 billion in 2018) was invested in research, accounting for around 10% of European expenditure. According to Pharma.be, which brings together industry stakeholders, these figures are rising steadily. We are, in fact, witnessing a genuine increase in investment in knowledge, notably through greater investment in qualified R&D personnel.
Belgium is going out of its way to support its industry
The country has developed an exceptional ecosystem comprising more than 200 pharmaceutical companies. Multinationals, biotechnology firms and specialist SMEs work in synergy and maintain close collaboration with universities and research centres.
This unique organisation reinforces Belgium’s leadership in the field, placing the country (which has a population of just 11.5 million) at the top of the European rankings and second in the world for clinical trials (in terms of the number of trials per capita). This dynamism is particularly supported by the institutions that have established, since 2018, a permanent national observatory for the pharmaceutical sector, whose mission is to analyse, evaluate and make recommendations regarding the competitive position of the Belgian pharmaceutical sector. But beyond this political will and the presence of leading industrial players, Belgium also enjoys a unique geostrategic location.
As the seat of the European institutions, it is a key historical crossroads for the trade routes that criss-cross Europe from north to south and east to west. This major geographical advantage, which dates back to the great medieval trade fairs of Flanders, has never lost its significance and continues to shape distribution activities across Europe to this day.
The pharmaceutical sector in Belgium: a driver of sustainable economic growth
The figures speak for themselves: even before the outbreak began, the Belgian pharmaceutical industry’s international exports stood at €50 billion. In 2019, Belgium alone accounted for 13% of European biopharmaceutical exports, despite being home to just 2.5% of the EU’s population…
To sustain this windfall and ensure its continued growth, Belgium has worked to enhance the appeal of its ‘Biopharma Valley’: the country is renowned both for its tax incentives – including a reduced corporation tax rate if profits are reinvested in research and benefits for registering patents in Belgium – and for its regulatory flexibility, which notably allows for the rapid approval of clinical trial applications.
Currently accounting for over 30,000 jobs in Belgium, the pharmaceutical industry generates a significant amount of wealth and contributes to the country’s appeal. Highly qualified professionals, purchasing power and international influence are all assets that reinforce Belgium’s leadership – if not its exceptional status – in Europe, and this is particularly evident in Flanders.
Located in the north of the country, the Flanders region brings together biotechnology, medtech and the pharmaceutical industry. This ‘cross-pollination’, to use the local government’s own words, forms the basis of a thriving ecosystem centred on the life sciences.
This is where, for example, Pfizer’s laboratories are located; the company has established its second-largest site worldwide in the small town of Puurs, after its facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In this colossal factory, which comprises no fewer than three production units, billions of doses of the mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 are currently being produced.
A powerful and strategic industry
The pharmaceutical industry spends fifteen times more annually on lobbying European institutions than consumer organisations in the health sector. This figure highlights the sector’s strategic importance and the stakes involved for a country such as Belgium, particularly as nine of the ten largest companies in the sector are owned by foreign multinationals, meaning that the sector’s development does not depend on Belgium, but on decisions taken elsewhere. It is therefore essential for Belgium to maintain and promote a long-standing sector that has proven its effectiveness both over time and across different regions.
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