All Annotations of Pharma in Europe: Going from Heartburn to Heart Attack? — AMERICAN.COM: A Magazine of Ideas, Online[Preview]

saved byJonathan Macagba on 2007-03-21

• France was once a true leader in pharmaceutical R&D, but the nation of Pasteur “has seen its contribution of new drug launches fall from around 50 in 1985-89 to just 12 in 1990-94.” Since 1994, the picture for pharmaceutical innovation in France has not improved much and the French government finally took note: in 2004, it began seeking advice on ways to make France more receptive for bio-tech investment.
• The European pharmaceutical industry is moving its research and development activities almost wholesale from continental Europe to the United States. Though most Europeans seem unperturbed, the shift has been momentous: “in 1990, the . . . pharmaceutical industry still invested 50% more in Europe than in the US . . . today, the same industry is investing 40% more in the US compared to Europe.”