Cancer makes no difference… Children, elderly, healthy, disabled, black, white, etc… the disease randomly selects its targets. One of the biggest challenges of the Biotech industry today, is to lead groundbreaking innovations capable of treating cancer, which also encompass each individual’s biological specificity. So who are the leading champions?
Recently, Thomson Reuters listed the 5 top Cancer Innovators in Europe
Now, let’s take a closer look! Unsurprisingly, the major European players, such as the Swiss companies Roche and Novartis, or the French firm Sanofi, can all be found in the table. Yet, you probably noticed that not only do both French Institutes Inserm and CNRS figure in the top 5, they also rank higher than Novartis and Sanofi.
Don’t be fooled! With an 11% increase in innovation activity each year, academic and other non-corporate organizations are behind the most innovative breakthroughs regarding cancer. A trend, which is by no means symptomatic to Europe, as Thomson Reuters also listed the Universities of Calfornia, Texas and John Hopkins and the US Department of Health in the top 5 Cancer innovators in the USA. Same goes to Asia, as the Seoul, Fudan, Yonsei and Tokyo Universities also made the top 5.
Cancer is just one of the many research topics, in which Biotechnology is involved with. In reality, the scientific community is much broader and is backed by influential research institutes. The most well-known being in the US such as the Broad Institute or Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, Europe shouldn’t feel ashamed or impressed, as two of its Institutes, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the European Molecular Biology Laboraty also rank amongst the most influential worldwide.