France promises to increase pharmaceutical R&D investment
The French Government and pharmaceutical industry have pledged to do what is necessary to increase spending on medical research and development (R&D) by 10% over the next three years. The announcement was made by health and industry ministers Xavier Bertrand and François Loos, following a meeting of the Strategic Health Industries Council on 5 February. With the new target, the ministers say they hope to see France's pharmaceutical industry rival that of the UK in the terms of money invested in R&D. Currently the pharma industry worldwide spends on average 15% to 20% of its turnover on R&D, compared to just 12% in France. A number of initiatives are already in place to encourage industry to increase spending, said the ministers. They include recently doubled tax breaks for companies investing R&D, as well as a specific tax break for the pharmaceutical industry. The ministers also encouraged industry to take advantage of the funds available through programmes of, among others, the Agency for Industrial Innovation, the National Agency for Research, and research foundations. They also pointed to the benefits to be had from participating in the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) European Technology Platform (ETP) and the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
Countries
France