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On Tuesday, 14 July, AmCham EU hosted Csaba Kontor, Policy Assistant, Cabinet of European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, for a discussion on strengthening Europe’s competitiveness in the life sciences sector. Moderated by Katerina Valkova (Bristol Myers Squibb), Chair, Healthcare Committee, AmCham EU, the exchange explored how policy decisions can support investment through research and innovation while ensuring patients in Europe can access health innovation. Participants also discussed the importance of resilient EU-US supply chains and regulatory cooperation, as well as the need to avoid divergence and provide the scale and predictability required to sustain Europe’s position as a leading destination for life sciences investment.

Meta’s open-source Canopy Height Maps helped the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre improve its 2020 Global Forest Cover map, demonstrating how artificial intelligence can strengthen Europe’s ability to monitor forests and advance climate and biodiversity goals. Developed with the World Resources Institute, the maps use Meta’s DINO self-supervised computer vision model to estimate tree height from satellite imagery. This helped researchers apply the five-metre threshold used in many international forest definitions and better distinguish forests from other tree-covered land, including agricultural tree crops. The resulting product, available through the EU Forest Observatory, provides one of the most comprehensive open views of global forest cover. Read more on Invested in Europe.

Pfizer selected Denmark as the site of the largest vaccine registry study ever undertaken, demonstrating how Europe can attract world-leading life sciences investment when the right conditions are in place. Beginning in 2024, Pfizer partnered with researchers at the Center for Translational Cardiology and Pragmatic Randomized Trials at Herlev-Gentofte Hospital in Copenhagen to assess whether its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine could reduce hospitalisations in adults. Denmark’s innovation-friendly environment, national digital mailbox eBoks and world-class health registries enabled researchers to invite almost the entire adult population to take part, helping recruit more than 500,000 participants. Study materials were made available online, allowing participants to provide informed consent from home, while health registries supported comprehensive tracking and analysis. This milestone shows how strong public-private collaboration and a supportive policy framework can help Europe deliver clinical research at scale and improve health outcomes for citizens. Read the full story on Invested in Europe.