Europe, despite excellent science, lost its co-equal status in drug development to the U.S. due to restrictive pricing and lack of growth capital. These same challenges are now emerging in the U.S., threatening its innovation leadership as China accelerates its efforts.

Prosus's CEO expresses frustration with European regulators who, while claiming to want local tech champions, actively block European companies from consolidating. He was forced to divest from Delivery Hero, knowing it would likely be sold to an American or Chinese firm, directly undermining the goal of creating a powerful European tech player.

Recent billion-dollar successes in the French biotech ecosystem, such as Abivax and Medincel, are largely credited to their management teams. These leaders often have significant experience working in the US and other countries. This global perspective enables them to develop assets for a worldwide market, navigate different regulatory environments, and attract international funding, breaking the mold of previously localized French biotechs.

Bill Ackman's plan for Universal Music Group shows that simply changing a stock's listing to a major market like the U.S. can unlock immense value. Access to indexes like the S&P 500 forces automatic buying from funds, tapping into a huge investor base without altering the company's core operations.

Venture capitalist Bruce Booth explains that bankers, lawyers, audit firms, and VCs all have strong financial incentives for a company to go public. This creates systemic pressure that may not align with the company's best long-term interests.

NervGen's new CEO identified that being on the Toronto Stock Exchange kept the company in "anonymity." A key strategic move was uplisting to NASDAQ to gain visibility with U.S. analysts and institutional investors, recognizing that being on the right exchange is a critical marketing and fundraising tool.

Expanding a European company to the U.S. is not just a CEO's project; it requires explicit, long-term commitment from the entire board and investors. The journey will inevitably have "good and bad surprises," so full alignment on timeline and expectations is critical for survival and success.

The coalition's core mission is to prevent the exodus of successful biotechs to the US. By building a stronger capital market, they aim to keep champion companies like Argenx headquartered and operating in Europe, ensuring economic value, market capitalization, and tax revenues benefit the region, not the US.

Despite discussions of European self-reliance, its capital markets remain inadequate for scaling biotech companies. Over the past 10 years, only three biotechs managed to raise over €100 million in an IPO on a European exchange, compared to 27 European biotechs that achieved this on NASDAQ in the same period.