European Union: Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences

At McDermott’s European Health & Life Sciences Symposium 2026, more than 350 leaders gathered in Paris from across the life sciences and healthcare ecosystem to discuss the trends that are defining the sector’s future.

The access conditionality under Article 56a has shifted from an incentive (“carrot”) to a penalty (“stick”) — Member States can request marketing authorization holders (MAH) to launch and supply products...

João Taborda da Gama continues to shape international discourse on psychedelic regulation, speaking at major European forums on the legal, ethical, and philosophical tensions surrounding controlled substances. His recent presentations in Ukraine and Portugal examine who holds authority over consciousness-altering therapies, whether existing frameworks reflect coherent principles or accumulated habit, and what risks and possibilities fall outside medicalization's reach.