Industry faces talent crunch and regulatory strain, according to third Global Biopharma Index from Cytiva

Cytiva, a Danaher company and a leader in the life sciences industry, has launched its third Global Biopharma Index. Every two years, Cytiva surveys 1250 biopharma executives across 22 countries and asks them to rate, on a scale of 0 to 10, the biopharma ecosystem across six pillars: supply chain resilience, talent pool, R&D ecosystem, manufacturing agility, government policy and regulation. Sustainability is a new pillar in the 2025 survey.

The global average fell to 5.96, down from 6.08 in 2023, and 6.60 in 2021. Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and South Korea are the top three ranking countries in the 2025 Index. South Korea moved from twelfth place in 2023 to third. This improvement reflects the investment in digital innovation, clinical trial capacity, and its R&D output. Regulatory uncertainty and policy disruption moved the United States from second to fifth place.

Pierre-Alain Ruffieux, Chief Operating Officer, Cytiva says: “As a leading global life sciences company, we must understand the challenges and opportunities our customers experience in every corner of the world. The Global Biopharma Index provides us with the insights needed to create the partnerships our customers need to bring the next generation of medicines to clinic.”

Compared with 2023, economic strength is less predictive of biopharma resilience. The 2025 data shows that some upper-middle-income countries are gaining ground, particularly if they focus investments on advanced manufacturing, regulatory reform, and innovation incentives.

Michael May, President and CEO, Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), says: “The world is shifting from globalization to more regional perspectives, partly due to politics, economics, and the diminished focus on COVID. But to bring sophisticated products to market, we need to be as collaborative as we’ve ever been.”

Pierre-Alain Ruffieux says: “Continued evolution and collaboration, particularly between government agencies and industry partners, is essential to ensuring the biopharma industry can meet global demands.”

The full report and media assets are available here.