News

September 2026

Pedersen & Partners and CMS co-hosted the 2026 Germany Life Sciences & Healthcare Breakfast in Frankfurt, bringing together senior leaders from the sector to discuss The Future of Europe’s Life Sciences Ecosystem and how Germany and Europe can remain globally competitive as science, capital flows and AI reshape the industry.

The discussion was co-hosted by Sandra Roels, Client Partner and Global Head of the Life Sciences & Healthcare Practice Group at Pedersen & Partners, and Dr. Roland Wiring, Partner and Co-Head of the CMS Life Sciences and Healthcare Sector Group, together with panellists Benedikt von Braunmühl, Markus Felten, Mihai Diga and Gaurav Dular. 

Four themes shaped the conversation:

• The Capital Gap - Why European science scales up elsewhere 
• Regulation as a Location Factor - Speed vs. safety 
• AI Between Productivity Lever and Compliance Burden 
• Supply Chain Sovereignty - from active ingredient to medical device

The key takeaways from the discussion were:

• Capital - Early-stage funding for start-ups in Germany and Europe is largely there. It gets harder in later rounds, precisely the point where a good idea needs to become a scalable company. That's where the real capital gap opens up. Alongside a cultural one: For example, in the US, failure is treated as experience; here, it's still too often seen as something negative.
• Regulation - Regulation is not the enemy of competitiveness. Done well, it builds trust in a location. If the MDR and the EU Pharma Act are implemented properly, they can strengthen Europe as a place to invest and innovate. But fragmentation remains a real problem: the US has one FDA but Europe has a patchwork of authorities.
• Artificial Intelligence - AI is a genuine gamechanger for drug discovery, drug development and patient care alike. But AI is not a technology decision, it is an end-to-end process decision, and it belongs on the Board's agenda, not just IT's. Done right, the EU AI Act can build long-term trust rather than just add friction. One line from the panel stuck: for every euro invested in technology, you need a multiple of that in the processes and, above all, the people who will actually work within these new structures. Technology alone does not transform a company.
• Supply chain sovereignty - IT sovereignty matters just as much as physical sovereignty. Europe needs to clearly define what is systemically relevant instead of leaving it vague.

The discussion in Frankfurt reinforced a central point: Europe is not short of scientific capability or ideas. The challenge is turning them into competitive companies with sufficient speed and consistency before capital, talent and innovation scale elsewhere.

We thank all speakers and participants who joined the discussion and contributed to the exchange.