PRESS RELEASE: National investment agenda aims to position the Netherlands as a global leader in industrial biotechnology

The Hague, 7 July 2026 – The Netherlands is among the world's leading countries in biotechnology research, yet many promising innovations ultimately scale up abroad rather than at home. To address this challenge, seven organisations from the Delft biotech ecosystem have presented the national investment agenda Biotech op Schaal (‘Biotech at Scale’) to the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Heleen Herbert.

The agenda comprises thirteen investment projects with a combined value of €335 million. Commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the proposal was developed by dsm-firmenich, Centrient, ASR Dutch Science Park Fund, Planet B.io, Delft University of Technology, the Municipality of Delft and the Province of South Holland. More than half of the total investment will be financed by the participating organisations themselves, while support from the Dutch government is sought for the remaining amount.

The ambition is to make the Netherlands a more attractive location for both the development and large-scale manufacturing of industrial biotechnology.

The investment agenda was presented on behalf of the consortium by Meindert Stolk, Deputy for the Province of South Holland.

The Netherlands has the knowledge, but lacks scale-up capacity

The Netherlands excels in biotechnology research, but struggles to fully capture its economic value. Startups and innovative companies frequently encounter barriers when scaling up their technologies due to a shortage of pilot and production facilities, specialised expertise and growth capital. As a result, many innovations are commercialised abroad.
According to the consortium, this represents not only a missed economic opportunity, but also a threat to the Netherlands' long-term earning capacity and strategic autonomy. The need for investment in industrial biotechnology is also reflected in the Dutch Government's Biotechnology Vision 2025–2040 and the Wennink Report.
"The Netherlands has everything it takes to remain a global leader in industrial biotechnology," says Cindy Gerhardt, Managing Director of Planet B.io. "What we are missing is the infrastructure to manufacture these innovations at industrial scale here in the Netherlands. With Biotech at Scale, we aim to build that missing link."

Delft as the national hub for industrial scale-up

The investment agenda builds on the unique position of Biotech Campus Delft, where more than 150 years of scientific research, industrial manufacturing and entrepreneurship come together. Global companies such as dsm-firmenich and Centrient have decades of experience in large-scale biotech production, while Planet B.io supports a rapidly growing ecosystem of biotech startups and scale-ups.
The ambition is to make this infrastructure, expertise and network accessible to companies and knowledge institutions across the Netherlands, enabling more Dutch innovations to be successfully commercialised and manufactured domestically.

Investing in the Netherlands' competitive position

The investment agenda is built around four interconnected pillars: new scale-up infrastructure, strengthening the national knowledge base, creating an attractive business climate, and expanding an open innovation ecosystem. Together, these investments will address the missing links in the Dutch biotechnology innovation chain.
According to the accompanying impact assessment, the programme could generate approximately €500 million in additional annual economic value from 2040 onwards. It is also expected to strengthen the Netherlands' attractiveness for new companies, private investment and high-quality employment in one of the world's fastest-growing industries.

Collaboration between government, academia and industry

Biotech op Schaal is a joint initiative of dsm-firmenich, Centrient, ASR Dutch Science Park Fund, Planet B.io, TU Delft, the Municipality of Delft and the Province of South Holland. The partners see the agenda as a national investment programme and invite companies, knowledge institutions and other biotech regions to contribute to its further development.
Biotech op Schaal sets out a long-term vision for 2040, supported by an investment agenda running through 2030 to strengthen the Dutch industrial biotechnology sector. Its objective is to accelerate the journey from scientific discovery to commercial-scale production while reinforcing the Netherlands' international competitiveness in industrial biotechnology.