Health activists call for greater public return on EU health R&D spending and a turn to needs-driven innovation

In a Policy Paper published yesterday, Health Action International (HAI) Europe and the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) call on the European Union to spearhead the adoption of new R&D models which strive for more openness and needs-driven innovation to ensure affordable access to biomedical knowledge and goods.

The EU new policies for R&D - Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework - provide the EU with the perfect opportunity to lead the way towards new models of health innovation. The Policy Paper, Time for the EU to lead on innovation: EU policy opportunities in biomedical innovation and the creation of public knowledge goods, underlines that the present model of health innovation results in high prices for medical products that threaten the economic sustainability of global healthcare systems, while neglecting the needs of the world’s poor.

EU must become a “wiser investor”