Europe risks “slow death” in innovation unless it builds its own Silicon Valley, argues digital health investor Laurent van Lerberghe. With Macron pushing Anglo-French tech sovereignty, the UK and France have the talent, capital, and healthcare ecosystems to lead. By linking their world-class clusters, aligning regulation, and pooling investment, they could create a trans-Channel powerhouse to rival California or Shenzhen – keeping breakthroughs, jobs, and medicines closer to home.
During his recent state visit to London, President Emmanuel Macron set a sharp agenda for UK‑French innovation. He warned that Europe faces “the risk of a slow death” if it fails to invest together in AI, quantum technologies, space, biotech, decarbonised energy and defence.
The only antidote, he argued, is for the United Kingdom and France to build shared value chains that de‑risk both economies from over‑dependence on the United States for capital and on China for manufacturing capacity. In framing technological sovereignty as the new battleground, the visit transformed protocol into purpose: either we construct a trans‑Channel Silicon Valley, or we consign the next generation to strategic irrelevance.
New golden era of Anglo‑French collaboration in life sciences and health innovation
If the UK and France act boldly, they can lay the foundations for Europe’s very own version of Silicon Valley.
Both countries are recognised as leading hubs in life sciences and digital health in Europe and beyond, home to world‑class research and vibrant start‑up communities. Yet Europe as a whole remains fragmented: start‑ups face a patchwork of languages, healthcare systems, and regulatory hurdles that stifle cross‑border growth and scale‑up opportunities, unlike the more unified US market.
Recent debates about Europe’s supposed decline in innovation and economic growth miss the point. The reality is that Britain and France have the talent, infrastructure, and investor appetite to drive a renaissance in European tech and health innovation.
Now is a great moment for Britain and France to join forces. The US is handing out big subsidies to attract green-tech and biotech firms, and China is investing heavily so it can make its own biotech products. A big, visible UK-France agreement would tell the world that Europe plans to compete in its own way – by relying on its commitment to public healthcare, strict data-privacy laws, and strong ethical rules. Together, the UK and France account for a combined population of around 135 million and are among Europe’s leading hubs for digital health innovation – raising nearly $1 billion and $695 million in venture funding respectively in 2024. With this scale and track records in healthcare, a UK-France agreement will be especially beneficial for digital health, where local patient data can be generated easily and technology innovation is the strongest in Europe.
Potential for an interconnected ecosystem that could rival California or Shenzhen
The rise of “Silicon Valley” clusters, such as the tech triangle between London, Oxford and Cambridge in the UK, and France’s Paris‑Saclay is a unique opportunity. These “Silicon villages” work by harnessing the concentration of top universities and business ecosystems in cities that attract high levels of investment, to drive future growth.
The London-Oxford-Cambridge triangle and the Paris‑Saclay-Grenoble axis are already world leaders in quantum, synthetic biology and AI diagnostics, and the Eurostar route ties them together. A researcher can travel from King’s Cross to Gare du Nord in the time it takes to cross San Francisco at rush hour, and with no jet‑lag.
Hubs built on these ideas act like magnets. Drug company Neuro-Nova raised €220 million by selling shares in both Paris and London. That money lets it keep its factory in Tours, its AI team in Cambridge, and its regulatory office in Lyon – and it still attracted top US investors.
What this means for medicine makers
A joint UK-French tech zone would give Europe’s pharma sector a huge lift. Today our labs, factories and data sit in silos, and many firms still run their biggest trials in the United States. If we link London’s AI drug-discovery start-ups with France’s modern biomanufacturing plants, a new compound could move from computer screen to laboratory without leaving Europe. Regulators on both sides of the Channel could agree on one shared fast-track, cutting months from first-in-human studies. Pooling NHS records with France’s national health data would give researchers a larger, more diverse patient pool, letting them run smaller, quicker trials.
Making active ingredients in Normandy or the North-East would also ease Europe’s heavy reliance on Asian suppliers and shorten supply chains. For the industry this means patents, high-skill jobs and launches stay closer to home, and new medicines reach European clinics sooner. The next mRNA vaccine or gene-editing therapy shouldn’t have to fly to Boston before patients in Paris or Birmingham can try it – a UK-French corridor can keep that breakthrough here.
Britain and France are uniquely positioned to drive forward this agenda
Due to their powerful combination of world‑class universities and research institutions, status as global financial hubs (with London and Paris at the forefront), and thriving ecosystems of innovative start‑ups and scale‑ups.
Whenever Paris‑trained AI ethicists sit alongside Oxford oncologists, algorithms emerge that can not only diagnose tumours but also withstand the most stringent regulatory peer review. Through joint PhD programmes, co‑supervised post‑docs and seed grants that require mixed‑nationality teams – policymakers can turn philosophical diversity into a daily operational advantage.
Long‑standing scholarly cross‑pollination is the precedent. Diderot translated Newton’s optics; Darwin corresponded with French naturalists; Rosalind Franklin refined X‑ray crystallography at a Paris laboratory. The twenty‑first‑century version of that exchange is sharing synthetic‑biology protocols over encrypted cloud platforms and coding bilingual consent forms that allow federated AI models to learn from data on both sides of the Channel.
Delivering growth at scale demands concrete action and financing
We’re already seeing a renewed national commitment to UK business, but we can go further. The recent Government’s Spending Review saw an additional £6bn in capital allocated to the British Business Bank to back UK innovators and entrepreneurs. This is a great first step, but in order for British businesses to thrive on the world stage, it is crucial that this funding prioritises cross‑border partnerships and initiatives. The UK and France have already shown what’s possible through landmark partnerships in genomics and digital health, such as the work between Genomics England and the French “Médecine Génomique 2025” project. We must learn from these success stories.
Early‑stage life science start‑ups are now reaching a point where scaling beyond national borders is essential to realise their full commercial potential. One of the key ways this could be achieved is for national and sovereign funds to prioritise cross‑border projects and collaboration, rather than focusing solely on domestic initiatives. This approach would enable the creation of larger, more impactful ventures and foster a truly pan‑European innovation ecosystem.
The next step is to multiply those resources. A rule that any ticket over £20 million must be co‑led by investors from both nations would instantly deepen every cap table, align governance expectations, and show founders they can stay European without sacrificing late‑stage fire‑power.
Regulation is the other half of the investment coin. A joint agreement could mean not only regulatory simplification and faster adoption of technologies, but also the creation of common funding frameworks and more open financial markets between the UK and EU. For example, if Britain’s ILAP fast-track and France’s Accès Précoces programme joined forces, they could create one “Euro-Green-Lane” that lets a new drug reach 140 million patients very quickly. Coupled with coordinated funding schemes and freer capital flows – such as cross-listing opportunities for scale-ups or pan-European venture funds – such a system would replace red tape with real incentives: companies would need to meet high standards from the outset, but would be rewarded with faster approvals, broader access to financing, and earlier, larger launches across the continent.
Driving a pan-European version of Silicon Valley
Together, our two nations can transform Europe’s innovation landscape and compete with market leaders like the US. With the right political will, the UK and France can drive a pan‑European innovation ecosystem that is globally competitive, attracts top talent, and delivers groundbreaking healthcare solutions. Anglo‑French collaboration can do more than just imagine Europe’s version of Silicon Valley; they can build it together, starting now.
Public trust and robust ethics must anchor any Anglo-French partnership. By embedding sustainability, patient-centred decision-making, and genuine diversity in every boardroom, the UK and France can set a global standard. The UK’s tradition of universal access and data-driven innovation, combined with France’s deep commitment to bioethics, puts us in a unique position to lead on the very issues the world now prizes. A visible, well-funded UK-French alliance would signal that Europe intends not to follow politely, but to shape the future of global health.
The pieces are on the board – complementary philosophies, the right geography, and a generation of scientists eager to build the next Silicon Valley scale. All that remains is for leaders in London and Paris to give the signal. When they do, the Channel will become, quite literally, Europe’s most powerful pipeline of ideas.
