European pharma leaders warn continent falling behind US and China in drug innovation

In a joint letter titled “Europe Is Losing the Pharma Investment Race - But the Comeback Is Within Reach,” the chairs of AstraZeneca, GSK, Novo Nordisk, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi group, Sanofi, Ipsen, Novartis and Roche appealed to Andy Burnham and other European heads of state for urgent action. They argue that Europe’s post-war pharmaceutical sector, which supports millions of skilled jobs and generates an EU trade surplus of more than €220 bn, is at risk as its share of global R&D fell from 43% to 31% since 1990 and its share of commercial trials halved to 9% over the last decade.

The letter highlights that $600 bn of pharma investment has flowed to the United States and China in the past two years, and that China now accounts for almost 30% of global clinical trials. It also points out that nearly half of newly approved therapies failed to reach European patients last year, with approval times ranging from a median of 56 days in Germany to 1,201 days in Romania. The signatories request that medicines be classified as vital infrastructure, that regulatory and budgetary hurdles be eased, and that Europe close its clinical-trial gap, which could generate €53 bn and create 82,000 jobs. The appeal follows a recent dispute with the UK government over drug pricing and NHS funding.