EFPIA study warns of R&D shift to the USA

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations has launched the 2008 edition of Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures, at the group's annual general meeting in Paris, France.

Among the headline figures from the new EFPIA publication: 15% of all private sector R&D in the European Union and 5.8% of manufactured exports are accounted for by the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, 107,000 of the sector's 643,100 personnel are employed in R&D. Although these numbers are impressive, the background trend is ominous. Brian Ager, the EFPIA's director general, said: "our contribution should not be taken for granted. For over a decade now, Europe has gradually lost ground as a research base, with a steady transfer of its R&D to other parts of the world, in particular the USA - where the government is more supportive of pharmaceutical innovation."

R&D investment in the USA grew 5.2-fold in the 1990-2007 period compared with a more modest 3.3-times increase for the EU. The EFPIA warns of "dramatic effects in the next few years if nothing is done to maintain the pharmaceutical discovery expertise in the EU."