Fall in biotech investment worries EU

Concern has been raised by the European Commission about a fall in European investment in biotechnology, which has matched the declining confidence of EU consumers in genetically modified products in general.

Brussels' first progress report on its action plan for European life sciences says that 'urgent action' is needed to reverse this trend, especially as EU legislation has now been agreed regulating the development of GM technology and its potential adverse effects. The report warned that between 1998 and 2001, notifications for EU genetically modified organism (GMO) field trials declined by 76%, for instance.

This has prompted European research Commissioner Philippe Busquin to warn: 'Now that legitimate consumer and environmental concerns have been tackled by strict EU legislation, it is time to reverse this downward trend. If we do not react, we will be dependent on technology developed elsewhere in the world within the next 10 years.'

The report said that a dip in biotechnology private investment was dangerous because it is much larger than public inputs.

These concerns are backed up by a survey released by the European Commission that shows how a decline in confidence regarding genetically modified food could be deterring investment in medical biotechnology, potentially leaving the EU at a competitive disadvantage. This Eurobarometer poll says that overall support for GM food is found only in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Finland; with most Europeans considering GMOs 'of little value and dangerous for society'.

The result, concluded the poll, was that the 'EU has seen significant delays to new GM varieties and applications; small and medium-sized enterprises have stopped participating in innovative plant biotechnology research and large biotech companies have relocated research, field trials and commercialisation of new GMOs outside the EU'. It added: 'This will quite possibly lead to importing and processing only of GM materials in the EU. Interest in GM technology continues to grow outside Europe, with many new applications being researched and followed up in field trials.'

These problems are arising despite the fact that GM medical applications are widely supported within the EU, with genetic testing for inherited diseases and cloning human cells and tissues supported in all Member States.