Spanish pharma blames r&d fall on government

Spending on pharma r&d last year in Spain recorded its lowest increase since the turn of the century, according to Spanish industry group Farmaindustria.

A survey conducted among its members showed that the labs spent Euro 792m last year on r&d, just 3.6% up on 2005. In the first years of this decade, r&d outlay regularly rose by 20% each year but was up by only 5% in 2005 compared with the previous year.

Farmaindustria president Antoni Esteve blamed government pharma policies for the deceleration. He said that the continuing slowdown in r&d spending was the direct result of the new reference prices for medicines imposed by the health ministry in March, coupled with the government's apparent lack of interest in changing patent laws to protect the industry.

When the new pricing regimen was introduced, Farmaindustria warned it would cost the Spanish industry at least €560m a year in revenue losses.

The Spanish labs' other major issue with the government is the patent protection laws that allow generic manufacturers to copy medicines and put them on the Spanish market years before they can in the rest of Europe.

Farmaindustria recently offered to spend €300 over the next five years to research cures for rare diseases if the socialist government would boost patent protection. But officials at the health, economy and industry ministries have so far had a lukewarm reaction to the plan.

According to Farmaindustria, the sector is losing importance, not only economically but also in the national r&d effort. 'It's time for us to stop contemplating our navels and try to make Spain a competitive country regarding research and development,' Esteve added.