The European movement to industrialize biotechnology started in the United Kingdom, and British companies still lead European industry. Within the past two years, however, Germany has started to become a significant force in commercializing biotechnology. Other nations that have created an environment for entrepreneurship include the Benelux countries, France, Scandinavian countries, and Switzerland. The activity is already paying dividends. According to the British Department of Trade and Industry, industrial sectors that use biotechnology account for 17 percent of all employment in the European Union, as well as 9 percent of gross added value and 20 percent of European industrial production.
Insiders see several reasons for the rapid creation of new biotechnology companies.
For a start, the traditional suspicion between academic and industrial life scientists has dwindled significantly in recent years. Not only do the two no longer avoid talking to each other, they have taken positive steps to work together on projects. Individual academic departments are even asking industrialists' advice on the type of training they should give their students. Such collaborations stem in part from budgetary problems. As governments have reduced their funding of academic research, universities have had to seek funds elsewhere.