BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The European Union (EU) is taking significant steps to advance health security and economic resilience in the Caribbean, with an €8.9 million investment in local pharmaceutical production. This initiative will strengthen regional health manufacturing capacity through a combination of regulatory cooperation, research partnerships, and technology transfers, benefiting the region’s long-term health sustainability.
The initiative focuses on two major components that aim to improve the quality and accessibility of medicines, as well as support the local economy:
Joint Declaration on Pharmaceutical regulatory services
A joint declaration was signed by the governments of Guyana, Barbados, and Lithuania to cooperate in bringing drug regulators in the Caribbean to World Health Organization (WHO) Level 3 maturity, under the EU’s PharmaNext programme. The signing took place in the framework of the CARICOM Summit, attended by president Ali (Guyana), prime minister Mottley (Barbados), ambassador Rytis Paulauskas (Lithuania), and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. This cooperation aims to enhance the capacity of the Caribbean to regulate and produce medicines safely and efficiently, benefiting millions of people across the region.
BioMed X partnership in Barbados
The government of Barbados and BioMed X Institute have signed a letter of intent to establish an applied research project focused on cardiometabolic diseases in people of African descent. The collaboration, launched on 19 February 2025 in Barbados seeks to address a diversity gap in pharmaceutical treatments. Using artificial intelligence, the project will assess differences in treatment responses between Caucasian and Black cardiometabolic patients to ensure therapies are adapted for safety and efficacy across populations.
These efforts are part of the EU-Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) partnership, which is focused on manufacturing vaccines, medicines, and health technologies, while strengthening health systems across the region.