The European pharmaceutical strategy: opportunities and threats

The European Commission is working on a new pharmaceutical strategy for Europe.

Two objectives are paramount. First, to preserve Europe's competitive position to maintain, and even strengthen, a solid and innovative pharmaceutical industry and thus be an attractive place for investment in research and development. Secondly, to ensure that pharmaceutical innovations benefit as many citizens and patients as possible in Europe. This is also a focus for Luxembourg. A comparative study shows that only about half of the new treatments approved by the European Medicines Agency are reimbursed in our country.??

The COVID pandemic has shown how vital the innovative pharmaceutical sector is for society. With the Luxembourg government's ambitions to turn our country into Europe's HealthTech Silicon Valley in Esch-sur-Alzette, it is essential that our policymakers follow European initiatives closely and help shape them. The possibilities are numerous. The regulatory framework can be adapted to the scientific progress of the last decades. We are thinking of faster, expertise-based registration procedures for indications with significant medical needs. In Luxembourg, we are also counting on an ambitious National Health Plan 2030. However, there are also threats to patients. The considerable investments in research and development and the time it takes for a new drug to go from the laboratory to the patient carry enormous risks. The industry can only bear these risks if the intellectual property rights of these innovations are adequately protected. Erosion of intellectual property rights will not benefit patients. It will slow down necessary and risky investments in research and development or lead to relocating these activities.?

Sonia FRANCK

Secretary-General