engleski

Innovative Pharmaceutical Industry: Global Trends and the Development Prospects in the European Union

Innovation in pharmaceutical industry represents a precondition for healthcare progress. Its main goal is to turn research into innovative therapies widely available and affordable to patients – final consumers. The demand for pharmaceutical products increases in parallel with population ageing and the related rise in chronic diseases. Less healthy lifestyles also generate a part of the increase in demand. Patients are fully informed and have increased knowledge of options and now want better and quality services more than ever before. However, the trend of productivity of investments in research and development is worrisome. Pharmaceutical industry in the European Union contributed enormously to the wellbeing of its citizens and patients. Many companies in pharmaceutical industry have reduced their research and development bases in the European Union due to rapid market growth and research in emerging economies like Brazil, China and India, which led to a gradual migration of business and research activities outside the European Union to these markets. The fragmentation of the pharmaceutical market in the European Union led also to the increase of a lucrative parallel trade. This is not beneficial either to social security or patients and weakens the industry itself because of fewer resources for financing research and development. The European Union still accomplishes trade surplus in pharmaceutical industry. Because of the scarce resources there is a need to encourage the production and consumption of generics. The paper underlines that pharmaceutical industry in the European Union can and should capitalize on collaborations between healthcare institutions, itself and other related industries, small and medium sized enterprises, academia and other stakeholders in the healthcare system. The potential for open innovation and collaboration is still not fully exploited. Besides these, specialisation is crucial: focusing on specific illnesses because of the large costs of medical development. An efficient system of innovation protection is required, especially intellectual property, since some of the newer European Union countries historically have lower levels of intellectual property protection.

European Union; Pharmaceutical Industry

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