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Pandemic Action Network

PAN

Pandemic Action Network is a network of global multi-sector organizations driving collective action to ensure the world is prepared to respond to outbreaks and prevent the next pandemic.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Patricia Reilly (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen)

20 Oct 2025 · to follow

Meeting with Patricia Reilly (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen)

20 Oct 2025 · Meeting to discuss governance elements of biotechnology

Meeting with Giulia Del Brenna (Head of Unit Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs)

30 Sept 2025 · Issues/concerns related to biosecurity

Meeting with Cathrin Bauer-Bulst (Cabinet of Commissioner Magnus Brunner)

5 Sept 2025 · Exchange of views on the nucleic acid (NA) synthesis screening as a way to prevent hostile actors from perpetrating a malicious act. This in the broader context of the EU security policy and a potential new CBR

Meeting with Boriša Falatar (Cabinet of Commissioner Hadja Lahbib)

5 Sept 2025 · Biosecurity

Response to Towards a Circular, Regenerative and Competitive Bioeconomy

23 Jun 2025

Pandemic Action Network welcomes the European Commissions initiative to advance a competitive bioeconomy. As a network dedicated to strengthening global health security and pandemic prevention, we recognize the transformative potential of the bioeconomy for Europes sustainability, resilience, and economic growth and competitiveness. As this transformation continues, we urge the Commission to ensure that bioeconomy growth is matched by robust and appropriate safeguards particularly in the area of biotechnology and nucleic acid (NA) synthesis screening. The EUs bioeconomy strategy rightly aims to harness biotechnology and biomanufacturing to drive innovation, sustainability, and economic growth. As outlined in the Commissions background, the sector already generates significant value and employment, with strong potential for further expansion. Yet, this rapid innovation also brings new biosafety and biosecurity challenges which must be addressed. Advances in technology including synthetic biology and the increasing accessibility of DNA/RNA synthesis lower the barriers to engineering biological agents, including those with pandemic potential. Without appropriate oversight, the same technologies that enable breakthroughs in health, agriculture, and materials, can also be misused for harm accidentally or deliberately. Mitigate risks to secure competitiveness long term The stakes are high: As NATO states, the next revolutionary technology cycle will be driven by synthetic biology. While the potential benefits from increased biotechnology use are substantial, especially for healthcare, the risks of harmful uses are also enormous. (1) Concurrently, the convergence of AI with biotechnology, along with increased access to powerful AI and biological tools, creates novel dual-use risks that existing oversight cannot adequately address. (2) Current regulatory frameworks remain fragmented and ill-adapted to this new reality. (3) Nucleic Acid (NA) synthesis screening is one actionable solution to mitigate these risks across the EU. Why NA synthesis screening? Preventing misuse: Screening orders for synthetic DNA/RNA sequences against databases of pathogens and toxins can prevent the accidental or intentional creation of dangerous organisms. Level playing field: A harmonized EU approach avoids regulatory arbitrage, where companies relocate to jurisdictions with weaker oversight. Enabling innovation: Clear, predictable standards give industry confidence to invest, while protecting public trust in biotechnology. Recommendations EU NA synthesis screening should be mandatory. Require all providers of synthetic nucleic acids to screen orders against up-to-date databases of regulated pathogens and toxins. Ensure the system covers both DNA and RNA synthesis, and includes both commercial and academic providers. Integrate screening into the broader bioeconomy strategy. Embed biosecurity and biosafety as foundational principles in all bioeconomy initiatives. Align screening requirements with other EU and international standards to ensure coherence and facilitate trade. The EU has a unique opportunity to lead globally in safe, secure, and sustainable bioeconomy development. By making NA synthesis screening a core component of its new strategy, the Commission can foster innovation while protecting citizens and the environment from emerging biological risks. Pandemic Action Network stands ready to support the Commission and its partners in advancing these critical safeguards and has joined the Bioeconomy Community of Practice in view of providing such support.
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Response to Biotech Act

10 Jun 2025

In our rapidly changing technological environment, we welcome the Commissions initiative to advance an EU Biotechnology Act. We urge Europes ambition to lead in biotechnology be matched by a robust, integrated approach to innovation and security, seizing a unique opportunity to emerge as a leader in both biotechnology and biosecurity. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the strategic importance of sovereign biotechnology capabilities for crisis response and resilience. Beyond national security, biotechnology has the potential to help create important health and economic gains for the EU. Within this field, synthetic biology, or the capacity to engineer biological components of life, is evolving the biotechnology landscape bringing both tremendous potential for scientific advancements as well as significant risks that new technologies could be misused to cause harm, deliberately or inadvertently. As AI and machine learning also transform the technology landscape, with applications to facilitate rapid and more democratised access to ever larger datasets, its convergence with biotech offers still more potential for rewards and risks. Seizing the potential of biotechnology is critical for the EU. Current rules, however, have not kept pace with scientific advancement, leaving Europeans vulnerable. Harnessing the potential of this new biotechnology landscape requires Europe to strengthen its collective biosecurity capacity through strategic monitoring.
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Meeting with Elena Nevado Del Campo (Member of the European Parliament)

6 Jun 2025 · EU Biotech Act

Meeting with Jessica Polfjärd (Member of the European Parliament) and Johnson Johnson

5 Jun 2025 · Health Policy

Meeting with Martin Seychell (Deputy Director-General Directorate-General for International Partnerships)

28 May 2025 · Global Health Financing and Cooperation

Meeting with Hildegard Bentele (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and European Environmental Bureau

14 May 2025 · Surface water and groundwater pollutants

Meeting with Hildegard Bentele (Member of the European Parliament) and Considerati Holding B.V.

21 Apr 2025 · EU Development Policy

Meeting with Eszter Lakos (Member of the European Parliament)

24 Feb 2025 · Biosecurity

Meeting with Victor Negrescu (Member of the European Parliament)

27 Jan 2025 · Biosecurity and research funding

Meeting with Hildegard Bentele (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

15 Jan 2025 · Biosecurity

Meeting with Pierre Delsaux (Director-General Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority)

23 Feb 2022 · Discussion HERA/CEPI

Meeting with Per Haugaard (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen) and Global Citizen

1 Jun 2021 · Global Health Summit follow-up

Meeting with Per Haugaard (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen) and The ONE Campaign and Global Citizen

28 Jan 2021 · Global Health Summit

Meeting with Anthony Whelan (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Bjoern Seibert (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Fernando Sampedro Marcos (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Mary Veronica Tovsak Pleterski (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Nicole Dewandre (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Olivier Smith (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Per Haugaard (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Sonia Vila Nunez (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Valeria Miceli (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen) and

31 Jul 2020 · High-Level Roundtable Discussion on: Resilience: How to better protect, prepare and transform the European Union? - [Via Webex]

Meeting with Kurt Vandenberghe (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Per Haugaard (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen)

22 Jun 2020 · COVID-19

Meeting with Kurt Vandenberghe (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen)

2 Jun 2020 · COVID-19