For years, Portugal sat just outside Europe’s main biotech conversation: scientifically credible, strong in research, but too small, too fragmented and too thinly financed to compete with the established hubs in Switzerland, the UK, France, Germany or the Nordics. That view is becoming harder to defend. Portugal still does not have the scale of Europe’s top biotech markets, but it is building something more durable than a collection of isolated startups.
Can Europe finance and keep its biotech winners?
Latest News, OpinionThe recent resurgence of life sciences IPOs in the US highlights a persistent structural imbalance: Europe generates world-class science but struggles to finance and retain it. The European Life Sciences Coalition was created to address this gap by mobilizing institutional capital and strengthening the policy framework needed to scale European innovation at home.
Europe’s distinct biotech venture studio model
Background, Latest NewsFor decades, biotech companies were formed around a discovery: a promising biological signal, a novel target, a platform emerging from academic research. Now a different formation model is gaining momentum: venture studios. These entities don’t just fund startups, they assemble them, testing hypotheses, building teams and infrastructure, and only then spinning out companies designed to scale.
Adcendo banks US$75m to push ADC pipeline forward
Latest NewsCopenhagen-based biotech Adcendo ApS has closed an oversubscribed US$75 million Series C round led by Jeito Capital. The funds will fuel early-phase trials of three ADC candidates for cancers with high unmet need.
Clean Food Group to scale yeast-based oils with £4.5m in the bank
Latest NewsClean Food Group has secured £4.5 million from a group of investors led by Clean Growth Fund and New Agrarian, together with £700,000 in non-dilutive funding from Innovate UK. The London-based biotech will use the funds to accelerate the ramp-up of the world’s largest yeast-based oils and fats facility in Knowsley, Liverpool.
BioNTech reports promising Phase II data for uterine cancer ADC
Latest NewsMainz‑based biotech BioNTech has presented compelling Phase II data for its compound trastuzumab pamirtecan. The antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) was evaluated in patients with advanced uterine cancer who had previously undergone multiple lines of treatment.
Basilea lands US$6m CARB X boost for novel antibiotic
Latest NewsAmid chronic under-investments in new antibacterial weapons, Basilea Pharmaceutica has secured an additional US$6 million from CARB‑X to fund the first‑in‑human Phase I trial of a novel Gram‑negative antibiotic now entering early clinical development. The compound BAL2420 targets LptA, part of the lipopolysaccharide transport bridge that Gram negative bacteria rely on to build their outer membrane.
SLAS Announces the Cohort for Innovation AveNEW at SLAS Europe 2026
BackgroundTwelve emerging life science startups to showcase enabling technologies at the SLAS European Conference and Exhibition in Vienna, 19-21 May 2026
Jeito Capital raises record US$1.2bn to bankroll European biopharma’s next generation
Latest NewsJeito Capital has closed its second dedicated biopharma fund, Jeito II, on a record US$1.2 billion (€1 billion), making it the largest fund ever raised by a fully independent European biopharma-focused private equity firm. The move firmly places Jeito among the leading global backers of clinical stage innovation.
Gilead acquires German ADC specialist Tubulis in US$5bn deal
Latest NewsFor Tubulis, the time for an exit has arrived: US based pharma group Gilead is set to pay up to US$5bn for the biotech’s ADC expertise.
Portugal’s biotech industry is growing up
Background, Latest NewsFor years, Portugal sat just outside Europe’s main biotech conversation: scientifically credible, strong in research, but too small, too fragmented and too thinly financed to compete with the established hubs in Switzerland, the UK, France, Germany or the Nordics. That view is becoming harder to defend. Portugal still does not have the scale of Europe’s top biotech markets, but it is building something more durable than a collection of isolated startups.