EURACTIV - Belgian MEP Wouter Beke (EPP), the European Parliament's lead rapporteur on the Biotech Act in the industry committee (ITRE), is pressing for a larger patent-related incentive for innovative medicines than the European Commission has proposed, as lawmakers tabled their amendments to the file. Read more

EURACTIV - Across Europe, governments are buying 'greener' medicines. Norway scores them one way, Sweden another, France a third. The same medicine, assessed in different countries, receives different environmental ratings. Right now, 'green healthcare' means whatever each country decides it means. Read more

EURACTIV - Global guidelines commit EU governments to make neurological conditions a national priority, yet epilepsy care still varies sharply across Europe. A recent report urges the EU to harmonise standards, embed epilepsy in its non-communicable disease policy, and build mental health into the standard epilepsy care budget. Read more

EU PERSPECTIVES - Europe's lawmakers are pushing to create a single "trial union" by merging 27 national systems and speeding up how new medicines are tested, with approval times of clinical trials set to fall to 75 days. But pharmaceutical companies warn the EU is still falling behind, demands approvals in weeks, not months. Read more

EURACTIV - Belgium's biotech sector has the science but not the scale, according to a new PwC whitepaper, which argues that the country must operate as one ecosystem if startups are to grow. Read more

EU PERSPECTIVES - Europe's share of global clinical trials has been cut in half in just a decade, while China has surged ahead. As Ireland takes over the EU presidency on Wednesday, Dublin is betting that faster drug approvals, biotech reforms and health investment can restore Europe's competitiveness — and determine how quickly patients get...

EURACTIV - Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has told policymakers he wants to restart the R&D Biopharma platform after the summer. He played down talk of crisis, a day after warning – at the anniversary of Novartis's Puurs site in Belgium – that Europe is losing ground to the United States and China. Read more

EU PERSPECTIVES - Two European Parliament committees have moved to delete the Biotech Act's most contested measure: a proposed 12-month extension of market protection for biotech medicines. Read more

EU PERSPECTIVES - Cardiovascular disease kills around 1.7 million Europeans every year, yet the EU has never had a dedicated strategy to tackle it. That is now changing with the Safe Hearts Plan. But as lawmakers backed the initiative on Wednesday, its parliamentary rapporteur warned that the final compromise fell short of her ambitions on tobacco...

EURACTIV - Dementia experts from 12 countries have signed a policy paper urging Brussels to give dementia its own framework, modelled on the €4 billion Beating Cancer Plan. Read more