Europe boosts biomanufacturing collaboration by connecting three key regional ecosystems

The BRIDGE – Biomanufacturing Regions for Integrated Development and Growth in the Ecosystems project has officially kicked off, aiming to strengthen European competitiveness through a strategic alliance between Catalonia (Spain), Silesia (Poland), and Campania (Italy).

With a budget of €1,393,669 and a two-year duration, the project brings together key stakeholders from industry, academia, and public administration. The consortium, coordinated by Cluster Campania Bioscience CBIOS, leverages the strengths of each participating region:

• Catalonia contributes advanced expertise in biotechnology and biomanufacturing;

• Silesia, through EHTIC (European HealthTech Innovation Centre), brings excellence in engineering and applied technologies;

• Campania offers a strong industrial pharmaceutical base represented by BTK (BioTekNet).

The consortium also includes Reig Jofre, Fundación EIT Health Spain, and EIT Health InnoStars, whose participation introduces a strategic pan-European dimension.

EIT Health InnoStars: strengthening cross-regional cooperation

As part of the consortium, EIT Health InnoStars plays a pivotal role in connecting the three ecosystems through the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS). Building on nearly a decade of experience in accelerating innovation in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe, InnoStars brings:

• pan-European networks and brokerage opportunities,

• proven knowledge-transfer methodologies,

• ecosystem mapping tools previously applied to high-performing regions,

• innovation support schemes such as EIT Jumpstarter and InnoStars Connect,

• community platforms enabling structured exchange and collaboration among innovators.

This contribution ensures that BRIDGE serves not only the three participating regions but also generates spillover effects across the wider RIS area, supporting long-term collaboration, higher innovation capacity, and investment readiness in the biomanufacturing and medical biotechnology sectors.

From Fragmentation to Strategic Collaboration

Biomanufacturing is vital for the modernisation of the European economy and a key driver in advancing the European Health Union. The sector contributes significantly to the EU’s GDP, generating over 175,000 direct jobs. Yet Europe faces important challenges: four out of ten medicines currently on the market originate from biotechnology, but the gap between scientific discovery and industrial production capacity continues to hinder competitiveness.

Europe’s potential in this sector is slowed by systemic barriers: fragmented and isolated ecosystems, difficulties in translating research into market-ready applications, regulatory complexity, limited access to finance, and skills gaps in an industry undergoing rapid digital transformation.

The study “The Panorama of Biomanufacturing Ecosystems in Europe” (EIT Health, EIT Manufacturing, and CEBR) highlighted a key opportunity: Spain has well-developed biomanufacturing ecosystems, while Italy and Poland demonstrate strong potential supported by complementary capabilities. BRIDGE seeks to unify these strengths and translate them into enhanced European competitiveness.

EIT Health InnoStars, through its RIS networks and long-standing experience in bridging innovation gaps across Europe, will support the consolidation of these fragmented ecosystems by facilitating structured collaboration, shared learning, and cross-regional capacity building.

Three Pillars, One Objective: Interregional Investment

BRIDGE is structured around three strategic pillars:

• Bidirectional knowledge transfer between ecosystems

• Joint initiatives driven by the industry

• Mapping of European funding instruments

The project aligns with the Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) of the three regions, where biotechnology is a defined priority. One of the key outputs will be a portfolio of interregional investment opportunities, from which three high-potential projects will be selected. These projects will receive technical assistance to access the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), supporting scale-up and commercialisation efforts.

EIT Health InnoStars will contribute to these pillars by providing methodologies for ecosystem mapping, innovation support frameworks, and platforms that enable continuous knowledge exchange between regions.