Visualized: The Global Biotech Race

Insights and graphics from the EU Joint Research Centre

The Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s scientific service, has released a report on “the global landscape of biotech innovation,” especially looking at patents. The study’s figures emphasize the United States’ very strong performance in the field.

The U.S. has more biotechnologists both absolutely and as a share of researchers:

The U.S. has long dominated in terms of its share of biotech patents worldwide, though the share of Chinese patents is growing fast:

U.S. per capita performance is very strong, in addition to having a large population:

Overall, the figures are suggestive of the United States’ leadership, to not say dominance, in biotech, with 39% of biotech patents worldwide in 2020, followed by the European Union with 18%. These figures broadly match economic estimates of the biotech sectors in the EU and the U.S.

In 2020, China generated 10% of biotech patents, up from almost negligible levels in 2010. No doubt China is converging with the EU, possibly equalizing this decade. All this underscores the need for the EU and its member states to prioritize biotech as a strategic technology in the years to come, a stated ambition of the European Commission (on which, see my analysis for Acumen).