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Areas of excellence

Wallonia stands out for its deep scientific expertise and industrial strength across high-impact segments of the life sciences sector. Three key areas, in particular, offer a comprehensive value chain, from research and discovery to clinical development, manufacturing, and scale-up.

Biopharmaceutical Innovation

While global pharma companies -such as GSK, UCB, Takeda, Zoetis- provide strong industrial foundations, a significant share of Wallonia’s breakthrough innovation is driven by agile biotech firms. The region stands at the forefront of innovative therapeutics and vaccines, spanning small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, antibody–drug conjugates, nucleic acids, and cell & gene therapies.

This breadth reflects a biopharma ecosystem aligned with evolving market modalities — enabling biotech companies to scale rapidly to global standards, supported by the expertise of the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP).

Medical Technology

Rooted in a long-standing engineering tradition, Wallonia is home to global medtech leaders such as Ion Beam Applications (IBA) — a world reference in proton therapy — alongside innovative medical device startups, and a high density of in vitro diagnostics players.

Major distribution hubs operated by Johnson & Johnson, Mölnlycke, Baxter, and CooperVision reflect the region’s highly trained workforce, central European location, and reliable logistics. This strength positions Belgium as the fourth-largest medtech exporter in Europe.

Specialized research centres and close collaboration between industry and hospitals further reinforce product development and clinical deployment

Nuclear Medicine

With more than 10 million patients worldwide treated each year using Belgian-produced radioisotopes, Wallonia plays a central role in Europe’s medical isotope supply.

Beyond isotope production, the region designs and exports radiopharmaceutical technologies and systems used by hospitals and research centres worldwide — one in three nuclear medicine services globally relies on Belgian-developed equipment and solutions.

Building on this leadership, Wallonia is advancing the next generation of targeted therapies and theranostics, scaling isotope and radiopharmaceutical capabilities within Belgium’s trusted regulatory framework, supported by the expertise of its Federal Agency of Nuclear Control (FANC).