Pharma urges leaders to reverse Europe’s declining competitiveness
An open letter from the chairs of AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi Group, Ipsen, GSK, Novo, Novartis, Roche, and Sanofi has urged European governments to create conditions that attract investment in next-generation medicines.
They argue that Europe is losing ground to global competition, with over $600 billion in pharmaceutical investment announced in the US and China in the last two years alone.
The letter states that in 1990, Europe accounted for 43% of global pharmaceutical R&D, yet today it is 31% and falling. It also says that Europe’s share of commercial clinical trials has halved in a decade to 9%.
The authors say that around 40% of newly approved therapies never reach European patients and even when they do, patients wait nearly 600 days for treatment. This results in cancer survival in Europe trailing the US, as patients are treated with medicines that fall short of the standard recommended by medical guidelines.
Europe should set the pace of global innovation
The letter states: “This is the result of decades in which Europe treated medicines as a cost to suppress rather than one of the best investments a government can make. Government policies send a powerful signal about how innovation is valued and the priority placed on ensuring that patients can access it. The message to innovators has been stark: Europe does not value what you do.”
They say that European leaders must recognise the danger and act, but the cooperation of national governments is also essential.
“We ask national leaders to work with us to reverse Europe’s declining competitiveness, unleash a new era of medical discovery, and secure health sovereignty,” the letter concludes.
“Europe’s story does not have to be one of decline and dependency; it can be one of renewal and resilience. If we fail to act with ambition, our future will be built elsewhere. But if we choose to invest in health and medicines as strategic assets, Europe will not merely catch up – it can set the pace of global innovation once again and enable Europeans to live longer, healthier lives.”