EGA Press Release

Thursday, 3 June 2004

EGA urges increased EU research facilities to stimulate pharmaceutical innovation & competitiveness, and to enhance patient access to medicines.

Speaking today at a public forum organized by the European Commission’s G10 High Level Group on Medicines, Rory O’Riordan, president of EGA, called for the creation of an EU equivalent to the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) to ensure adequate funding for European research into the development of new pharmaceutical products.

The NIH, a well-coordinated grouping of major research institutions throughout the United States, is directly funded by the US government to the amount of $25-27 billion annually. These funds are coordinated by NIH headquarters near Washington, DC, which allocates the resources amongst its 27 member institutes and research centres.

In the EU, proposals are on the table to increase research funding for pharmaceuticals to €2 billion. While double the amount currently available, this figure falls far short of the levels necessary to make the EU a competitive centre for pharmaceutical research.

Emphasising the importance of R&D to both the originator pharmaceuticals and the generic medicines industry, Mr O’Riordan pointed out the mutual interdependence of the two sectors. New generic medicines of the future depend on a vibrant innovative environment for the originator industry today. Inversely, the competition from cost-effective generic products stimulates the drive to discover new medicinal treatments. Furthermore, the savings from prescribing lower-priced generic medicines frees up healthcare funds to make government reimbursement of the originator industry’s newer products easier for budget conscious health ministers.

He called on industry leaders to look beyond traditional competitive rivalry and to heed the example set in the US, and the UK where generic and originator pharmaceutical companies “work side by side in a mutually beneficial relationship to improve patient access to the best medicinal treatment.”

Mr O’Riordan declared:

“The future of both sides of the European pharmaceutical industry is inextricably linked to each other’s continued viability on the world market. The challenge now is to increase the synergies between generic medicines and originator pharmaceuticals so as to enhance competition and to improve the availability of effective and affordable medicinal treatment to patients throughout the EU.”

Further measures to stimulate pharmaceutical innovation that Mr O’Riordan called for include closer links between science and business, faster access to market for both generic medicines and originator products, and rapid implementation of the newly adopted revision of EU pharmaceutical legislation. Of particular urgency is the so-called “Bolar” provision, which will allow research and development of generic medicines before patent expiry.

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