"Don't murder drug innovation," says LEEM

The president of France's drug industry trade association (LEEM) has set out the sector's concerns about threats to innovation. "Let us not murder Mozart," Christian Lajoux told a gatering of the Association of Pharmaceutical Industry Managers (ACIP), referring to the vital element that research genius brings to the development of new drugs.

Mr Lajoux noted that, although France is the leading exporter of drugs in Europe, there are signs of weakening, as the result of high taxes, new regulations and their associated costs, as well as the shift towards generic drugs. If one also takes into account price controls: lower reimbursement levels, price setting by the government and derimbursement of some drugs altogether, the "climate of instability" becomes a disincentive to invest. Mr Lajoux even described the complex and lengthy process of drug approval in France as a virtual "Stations of the Cross," between the various French and European regulators.

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