Spanish pharma R&D dips below 1 billion euros

In 2011, investment in R&D in the Spanish pharmaceutical industry fell below 1.0 billion-euro ($1.3 billion) mark for the first time since 2007, according to information published by the country’s pharma trade group Farmaindustria. This was a result of the strong impact on companies stemming from cost containment measures adopted in 2010 and 2011.

Specifically, in the last term, R&D investment in the pharmaceutical sector in the country amounted to 974 million euros, which implies a drop of 5.3% compared to previous year.

These data confirm the slowdown of R&D investment in the pharmaceutical sector, which has culminated with the first drop of such investment in recent years. The strong adjustments suffered by the pharmaceutical market are ending up affecting the companies’ efforts with regards to R&D, as well as the employment devoted to these tasks. Thus, in 2011, 4.490 people worked in R&D in pharmaceutical companies and this is lowest level registered since 2006. Precisely, it is employment in R&D that has been the first variable affected by the drop in turnover of pharmaceutical companies, a decrease for the second time in a row, which is something unheard of over the last several years.