Bosses at nine of the world's biggest pharmaceutical firms, including British giants GSK and AstraZeneca, have warned that billions of pounds, jobs and cutting-edge treatments are heading to the US and China unless European governments act fast to stop investment fleeing overseas.
In an open letter to European leaders, they declared: "Europe's alarm bells are ringing." They warned that unless countries make themselves more attractive to drug firms, "our future will be built elsewhere".
Investment and research shift
More than £450bn of pharmaceutical investment has been announced in America and China in the past two years alone. Europe's share of global drug research and development has plunged from 43% in 1990 to 31% and is continuing to plummet.
Commercial clinical trials have also halved in a decade to just 9%, with China now overtaking Europe in trials, pharmaceutical patents and the development of new medicines.
Patients already paying the price
The bosses claim patients are already paying the price, saying around 40% of newly approved treatments never reach Europeans. They said the continent's once-mighty pharma industry faces a "slow agony" of decline without urgent action.
The letter was signed by GSK chairman Sir Jonathan Symonds and AstraZeneca chairman Michel Demaré, alongside chiefs at major European drugmakers including Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Roche and Novartis. They want governments to spend more on new medicines and create better conditions to encourage firms to invest in research, trials and manufacturing in Europe.
Britain bucking the trend
Britain has recently shown signs of bucking the downward trend. An industry report this month said a trade deal with Donald Trump's administration in April, coupled with around £2bn of investment commitments, had begun reversing years of decline in the UK pharmaceutical sector.
