Spain's drug R&D slows down, labor costs rise

Figures for R&D investment in 2006 by the Spanish drug industry association confirm a marked slowdown in the annual spending growth rate of recent years. A study by the Farmaindustria shows a shift from 20% in the early years of the decade to about 3.6% last year. Meanwhile, the latest Spanish labor costs index data show that health care was among the fastest rising sectors in first-quarter 2007. Costs per hour rose generally some 4.4%, but for health care a rise of 6.4% was recorded.