Strategic Sector, Generic Funding: How Does the EU Fund Plant Biotech?

​What does the future hold for living plant technologies, and who will pay for it?

Although the EU officially designates biotechnology as a "strategic sector," European research grants continue to distribute funding like any standard tech sector. This session unpacks Strategic Sector, Generic Funding, a new report from the Centre for Future Generations analysing ten years of EU research grants to biotech firms. We will look at where the money actually goes, which startups miss out, and what these dynamics mean for the future of plant synthetic biology.

​We will explore why small biotech firms account for most grant recipients yet capture only about a fifth of total EU funding, as well as evidence showing why grant-related growth boosts often fade, and even reverse, within just a few years. Additionally, we will discuss why early-stage plant, crop, and cellular agriculture technologies receive far less capital and reach fewer firms than red health biotech, and what upcoming policy reforms like the EU Biotech Act could change for plant-based innovation across Europe.

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Speaker Bio

​Mariana Edwards

​Biotechnology Officer, Centre for Future Generations

​Mariana Edwards is part of the Biotechnology team at the Centre for Future Generations. Prior to her work at the Centre for Future Generations, she contributed to EU health policy at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. She holds degrees in Pharmacology and Biomedical Sciences from the University of Bath and the University of Amsterdam.