State of RNA in Europe: Companies, patents and funding (Jolt Capital)

Summary

• Over 10 billion doses of mRNA vaccines have been deployed globally with an estimated efficacy rate of 90%.p.3
• Healthcare & Biopharma represents 79% of RNA company verticals, followed by Agriculture at 18% and other applications at 3%.p.3
• The UK leads Europe with 147 RNA startups, followed by Germany with 121 and France with 89.p.9
• North American RNA companies raise 10 times more capital in their first two years and six times more overall than European peers.p.11
• EU regulatory approval for agricultural RNA products takes 96 months, compared to 24 months in the US and 12 months in Brazil.p.15

Key insights

1. 4. Europe's share of high-quality RNA patents declined to 11% in 2021 due to the persistent private funding gap.p.12
2. 5. Between 2008 and 2021, close to 30% of European-founded unicorns relocated their headquarters abroad, predominantly to the US.p.11
3. 6. Regulatory bottlenecks and capital market shallowness constitute the primary barriers preventing European RNA startups from scaling.p.14