EFPIA response to the publication of the EU Industrial Strategy
10.03.20
EFPIA notes the publication of the Industrial Strategy by the European Commission including a reference to the roadmap to the EU Pharmaceutical Strategy, which will be published tomorrow.
EFPIA points to the urgent need for the Industrial Strategy and Pharmaceutical strategy to contain the necessary levers to support the innovative European pharmaceutical industry to ensure that it “remains an innovator and world leader”, an aspiration outlined in President von der Leyen’s Mission letter to Commissioner Stella Kyriakades.
The pharmaceutical industry invested an estimated € 36,500 million in R&D in Europe in 2018. It directly employs some 765,000 people in Europe and according to a report released by PwC in June 2019, supports around 2.7 million jobs in the EU. The same report highlighted that the activities of pharmaceutical companies contributed over € 100 billion directly to the EU economy, with an additional € 106 billion provided through the supply chain and employee spending[1]. However, Europe is losing ground to its competitors such as China and the US. Sadly, we no longer lead the world in medical innovation and are concerned about the lack of specific innovation drivers included in the Industrial Strategy.
In addition, Europe has a long history of vaccine manufacturing, and benefits from a strong industrial infrastructure with 76% of the major innovative global vaccine manufacturers production in Europe. With the right industrial strategy, we believe Europe has the core capabilities to build on this base.
Earlier this week EFPIA published EU Industrial and Pharmaceutical Strategy: An Opportunity to Drive Europe’s Health and Growth which outlines the steps we believe Europe can take together, to compete with other regions like China and the US in the development of new medical technologies, bringing real innovation to meet the challenges faced by patients and our health systems. This includes having an IP framework that protects investments in medical research, and a regulatory framework that is stable, fast, effective and globally competitive.
EFPIA Director General, Nathalie Moll commented. “Following the publication of the Industrial Strategy, we hope for an open and constructive dialogue to find shared and concrete solutions to help Europe re-establish itself as a world leader in bringing transformative treatments to patients. Focusing only on Europe’s manufacturing capacity cannot be considered as sufficient”.
[1] https://www.efpia.eu/media/412939/efpia-economic-societal-footprint-industry-final-report-250619.pdf