PhD Scientific Days 2025

Health Sciences II.

Rethinking Innovation Policy: A Strategic Roadmap for Building Resilient Biopharmaceutical Ecosystems in Central Europe

Name of the presenter

Fehervary Istvan Andras

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Semmelweis Faculty of Health Sciences

Authors

Istvan Andras Fehervary MSc¹

1: Semmelweis Faculty of Health Sciences

Text of the abstract

Abstract
Boston’s current status as the world’s most mature biopharmaceutical cluster obscures the fact that, in the early 2000s, it was underperforming. Despite its dense concentration of leading universities and hospitals, the region faced serious coordination failures: outdated infrastructure, fragmented institutional roles, weak translational funding, and a lack of public policy focus. The turning point came with the Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative (2008), a USD 1 billion policy commitment that addressed these gaps through long-term capital, institutional leadership via the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and targeted infrastructure to bridge research, investment, and commercialization. This paper revisits Boston’s trajectory through the lens of governance, drawing on theoretical models discussed in the author's broader research—Porter’s cluster theory, the National Innovation Systems framework, and mission-oriented innovation policy.

The analysis uses this framework to examine the structural obstacles faced by three ecosystems in Central Europe: Berlin, Hungary, and Poland. Each has strong scientific institutions and growing clinical capacity, yet all suffer from the same issues that once constrained Boston—fragmented policy environments, limited investment in translational infrastructure, and underdeveloped commercialization pathways. Germany’s delayed adoption of a national biopharma strategy, Hungary’s misalignment between education, health, and innovation ministries, and Poland’s lack of integrated governance mechanisms have left all three ecosystems struggling to scale.

The paper does not present Boston as a model to replicate wholesale. Rather, it distills core lessons about the role of governance in shaping biopharma performance. Chief among them: that excellence in research is not sufficient; without institutional alignment, deliberate public investment, and policy continuity, ecosystems will under-deliver. For Central Europe, the choice is not whether to act, but whether to build the kind of long-term institutional commitment required to compete.