At least according to CEOs from Novartis, Sanofi and AstraZeneca. Reuters reports:
European drugmakers are urging the EU to allow higher medicine prices, warning that without stronger investment incentives, the bloc would fall further behind the U.S., where tariff threats have triggered a wave of pharma investment announcements.
AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said that just like Europe has stepped up its defense spending, it now must do the same and invest more to protect its health sovereignty amid a shifting world order.
“Europe spends a substantially lower share of GDP on innovative medicines than the U.S. and, as a result, is falling behind in attracting R&D and manufacturing investments, putting its ability to protect the health of its own people at risk,” Soriot said in a statement.
Soriot’s comments came after the CEOs of Swiss pharma giant Novartis and French drugmaker Sanofi wrote in a letter published in the Financial Times on Wednesday that European price controls on medicines hurt innovation and make the region less attractive, while the U.S. and China were incentivising it.
They proposed a Europe-wide list price for new medicines, pegged “within range of U.S. net prices” and adjusted via rebates, going further than a previous letter they signed with over 30 industry CEOs, including those from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
What do you think: Are Europeans just getting a good deal on pharmaceuticals? Or are they free-riding on US and Chinese efforts to fund incentives for innovation?
