The Netherlands has made one of its strongest statements yet in support of homegrown biotech innovation. In early July, the National Growth Fund confirmed an investment of €196.4 million into the Biotech Booster programme, an ambitious national initiative aimed at helping researchers and early-stage ventures commercialise life sciences research.
The decision follows years of lobbying by academic institutions, industry groups and investment bodies who believe the Dutch biotech sector is under-leveraged despite its scientific pedigree. With the new funding, Biotech Booster aims to support more than 100 biotech projects across the country in areas ranging from immunotherapy and diagnostics to sustainable bio-based production.
The programme focuses on removing one of the key friction points in the Dutch innovation pipeline: the gap between academic breakthroughs and real-world commercialisation. By offering funding, expert mentoring and market validation tools, Biotech Booster intends to reduce the time it takes for lab-stage ideas to reach licensing, spinouts or Series A rounds.
At the heart of the initiative is a new consortium structure, featuring Dutch universities, incubators and private-sector backers working together to select and guide promising biotech concepts. Among the early recipients is Constellate, a therapeutic antibody platform spun out of Utrecht University. Several other preclinical projects in oncology, neurology and industrial biotech are also in the pipeline.
The €196 million allocation is part of the National Growth Fund’s third investment round, in which the Dutch government earmarked a total of €4 billion for innovation and infrastructure. Alongside biotech, areas such as quantum computing, energy transition and digital education received significant backing.
Sector body HollandBIO welcomed the decision, calling it a major boost for the Netherlands' global competitiveness. “This funding gives biotech talent the runway it needs to build the future. It’s not just about science - it’s about jobs, resilience and health,” a spokesperson said.
The announcement comes at a time when other European countries, including Germany and France, are ramping up their own biotech support programmes. With this injection of public capital, the Netherlands positions itself to keep pace - not only in research but in the ability to scale and retain scientific ventures onshore.
The first cohort of projects is expected to launch in Q4 2025, with reporting and impact tracking embedded into the programme from the outset. The hope is that, by 2030, the Netherlands will have a significantly larger pipeline of biotech companies progressing from the lab bench to the global market.