ABPI worries over decline in UK-based r&d spend
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has warned that 'the boom in medicines research in the UK is under threat'.
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has warned that 'the boom in medicines research in the UK is under threat'.
The Association points to figures showing that total expenditure on r&d of new medicines by the UK-based pharmaceutical industry slid by two percent in real terms to £3,244m in 2004, marking the second successive annual decline in real terms.
Capital expenditure on r&d has also shown signs of decline since reaching a peak of £532m in 2000, with 2003 to 2004 figures doing nothing to buck this trend, exhibiting a 13.5% fall from £490m to £424m. Overall capital expenditure by pharmaceutical companies in the UK has also been declining since its peak of nearly £1.0bn in 2001.
'While these are not massive drops in expenditure, they are nevertheless highly significant, said Dr Richard Barker, director general of the ABPI. 'Instead of steady - sometimes spectacular - growth, we are now looking at a trend of declining investment in real terms.
'In an era in which there is global competition for the industry's research base, this country must not follow the paths of so many other European nations in creating barriers to innovation, whether through over-regulation or through concentration on the price of medicines rather than their value.'
Barker voiced similar concerns on January 24 when the ABPI welcomed a £75m investment in the UK by Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai, saying that 'no company can be expected to invest in the UK if the environment here is not sufficiently welcoming' and calling for the government to pay heed to the threat to investment posed by over-regulation and emerging economies such as India, China and Singapore.
Eisai is developing a strategic European base that will include its European headquarters, basic research and clinical development and manufacturing and UK sales and marketing.
According to the ABPI, the UK re-invests around 34% of its turnover in researching new medicines and is second only to the US in terms of pharmaceutical r&d, with a quarter of the global top 100 medicines originating in Britain.