Catalonia consolidates leadership in health innovation: record investment, industrial strength and excellence in science and clinical research

The data in the 2025 BioRegion of Catalonia Report, compiled by Biocat and presented on February 19 at Auditori l’Illa in Barcelona, shows an ecosystem that is no longer simply growing: it is consolidating its position as a European hub capable of attracting large volumes of investment, retaining and generating talent, exporting pharmaceutical products and leading in scientific and clinical research. The top headline is the record breaking €517 million investment in health startups and scaleups. However, the underlying message is more nuanced: the BioRegion is maturing, but the next leap will be to turn these advances into innovation adopted by the healthcare system and into real impact. 

This is the interpretation put forward by Biocat CEO Robert Fabregat: “The health innovation ecosystem in Catalonia continues advancing in its maturity phase: it is attracting more private and competitive investment, accelerating its clinical pipeline and strengthening its leadership in science and clinical research. The challenge now is to continue scaling up so that these advances translate into greater adoption of innovation in the healthcare system and greater impact for patients and society.”

The BioRegion: from emerging ecosystem to strategic economic driver

Before delving into investment details, one key fact provides context: the BioRegion has reached the scale of a structural industry. The ecosystem has 1,650 companies (+8.3% from last year) and 94 research institutions, and is highly significant in macroeconomic terms: 7.6% of the Catalan GDP and the country’s third largest economic activity in added value and employment. Turnover stands at €48.691 billion and employment exceeds 306,000 jobs (7.3% of the working population). At the same time, the sector maintains its characteristic structure: 90% SMEs and still highly concentrated in Barcelona (93.4%), despite a gradually emerging decentralization. 

This combination explains why, in healthcare, the ecosystem cannot be understood solely through startups: it needs industry, research and hospitals. It also helps explain developments in investment in 2025.  

The year of major rounds: €517 million and more concentrated investment

In 2025, the sector reached a new milestone: €517 million invested in healthcare startups and scaleups, up 43% from 2024 and surpassing the previous record in 2022. Venture capital remains the main driver, with €327.6 million, but the pattern has shifted toward a dynamic typical of ecosystems entering the scaleup phase: fewer operations, but significantly larger ones. In fact, 47% of the total raised came from the three largest rounds. 

These include operations by SpliceBio (€118 million), DeepUll (€50 million) and Qida (€37 million), which explain much of the year-on-year increase. At the same time, the ecosystem maintains an active entrepreneurial base (464 startups) and a steady flow of research derived projects, with 168 spinoffs created since 2016. 

However, the record is not explained by private capital alone. The report highlights an all-time high in grants: €124.3 million, mainly in European funds. This component is particularly critical in healthcare, where the path to market —validation, regulation and clinical evidence— is long and expensive. The ecosystem’s funding mix is rounded out with venture debt (€31 million) and the stock market (€30 million), with crowdequity dropping to €3.8 million, the lowest level since 2018. 

One of the most telling figures of the year is that 82% of venture capital raised included participation from international investors, present in all the major operations. According to the report, this growth can be explained by co-investment operations involving national and international firms, with the former playing a key role in attracting foreign capital. 

In 2025, the relative weight of the subsectors also shifted. Biotechnology regained leadership with €347 million, driven by large rounds and accounting for 68% of the annual total. Between 2021 and 2025, biotech raised a cumulative €998 million, which is 54% of investment in the three segments. Meanwhile, medtech fell to €92 million and digital health rebounded to €71 million, despite still being the smallest subsector.

Montserrat Vendrell, partner at Asabys Partners, notes: “A significant portion of the investment jump in 2025 can be explained by the multiplier effect of public co-investment instruments, especially the CDTI matching facility (as well as the ICF), which mobilize private capital deal by deal and amplify VC ticket sizes. At the same time, the market clearly continues to operate through syndication: co-investment with international partners accounts for most of the volume, while domestic-only rounds are marginal.” 

In this context, Joël Jean-Mairet, managing partner at Ysios Capital, states: “This year’s figures confirm a pivotal moment for the ecosystem: for the first time we have surpassed €500 million in investment, mainly thanks to private capital. The major challenge remains early stage funding and, above all, technology transfer, where the gap is still very apparent. Initiatives like FITA and support from CDTI and the European Investment Fund are strengthening this phase with more targeted, higher quality instruments. Looking ahead to 2026, the goal is for this to translate into more projects funded and more companies created.” 

Precisely to ensure that these figures can be sustained over time, focus is shifting toward the innovation funnel: guaranteeing that public and private capital continues to reach the stages where risk is highest and technology transfer remains fragile. Lluís Pareras, founder and managing partner at Invivo Ventures, explains: “We must focus on a clear risk and opportunity: Europe needs to protect early stage funding. The EIC is a seal of excellence, but if the program continues shifting toward clinical phases and higher TRLs, the preclinical gap —where the ecosystem needs instruments the most— will widen. If we want to sustain and grow these investment figures in the coming years, we have to ensure that capital, both public and private, continues to reach the stages where the market does not yet cover the risk: the earliest phases.”

The other pillar of the model: exports, foreign investment and technology hubs

The BioRegion wouldn’t be a European hub without a solid industrial base and international projection. Catalonia is once again ranked first in Spain in exports of healthcare products, with €9.165 billion (45.7% of the Spanish total), primarily to Switzerland, Germany, France and the United States. 

Regarding foreign direct investment, despite a decline in 2025, the cumulative total for 2021–2025 was €2.382 billion and 5,567 new jobs, significantly influenced by AstraZeneca’s strategic commitment in 2023 and 2024. The report also highlights that Catalonia maintains its leadership in Spain, with a strong share of investment focused on R&D. 

This industrial and investment attraction pillar is bolstered by human capital: 26,000 graduates each year in fields of science and more than 18,000 research professionals have attracted more than 30 health-related technology hubs in recent years.  

Scientific excellence and clinical research: the great differentiating asset

The report ranks Catalonia among the leaders in competitive European funding, with participation in 297 Horizon projects in the life sciences and healthcare (2020–2024) and per capita leadership in projects and funding per million inhabitants. In the prestigious ERC grants, the region has secured 64 projects. 

Scientific output is also strong: 54,521 publications (2020–2024), nearly 35% of the Spanish total and particularly high quality with 1,791 Highly Cited Papers, making Catalonia a European leader in the percentage of high impact articles. 

This excellence translates into clinical research. In 2025, Catalan centers took part in 5,768 active clinical trials (92% of national activity). Catalonia ranks fourth in Europe and seventh worldwide, up one position from 2024, with annual growth above the national average. Oncology continues to be the main driver, followed by immune and respiratory system research. 

The pipeline is also maturing: 71 assets in clinical development (51 molecules and 20 advanced therapies), nearly twice as many as in 2020, with a significant share in phase II and III, concentrated in areas like oncology, the central nervous system and dermatology.

The missing step: better connecting research, industry and the healthcare system

With indicators at this level, the conclusion is inevitable: the challenge is no longer to show our potential. The challenge is to execute. Silvia Labé, director of the BioRegion of Catalonia Report, sums up this core message of the benchmark report on the sector: “The next major leap no longer depends solely on increasing activity, but on better connecting research, industry, the market and the healthcare system to accelerate translation and innovation adoption.” She also added the European context: technological competition and geopolitical challenges open up opportunities, but they also require “more coordination, more speed, more policies and more investment.”