Swiss pharma R&D climbs almost 14%

In 2006, the pharmaceutical sector raised its R&D expenditure in Switzerland by a significant13.8%, reaching 4.4 billion Swiss francs ($3.66 billion), according to figures released by Interpharma, the Swiss research-based drug industry association. The data is included in the group's annual publication: the Swiss Drug Market in 2007.

With two of the world's drug majors based in Switzerland, Novartis and Roche, Interpharma argues that the strength of the sector is not only due to the amount of R&D spending, but also the number of patents recorded locally. From 2000 to 2003, 19 patents per 100,000 working population were awarded in Switzerland. However, the slow annual growth rate of the domestic drug market, 1.9% versus 6.3% worldwide, is a sign of growing generic penetration, up 46.4% in 2006.