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Spain has been an international benchmark in clinical trials for years. It has talent and infrastructure, which makes our country attractive for the pharmaceutical industry. Nevertheless, the sector calls for new measures to attract more investment.
“Spain has a clear appeal, but we have a long way to go to create a terrain that is more favorable for these investments. Other countries have developed legislative frameworks that have fostered their attraction.”
This has been pointed out Juan Carlos Gil, general director in Spain and Portugal of Moderna, during the round table The pharmaceutical industry: strategic pillar of the recovery held within the framework of the ‘II Symposium Observatory of Health: The Lessons of Covid-19’, organized by EL ESPAÑOL and Invest.
3. Round table. The pharmaceutical industry: strategic pillar of the recovery
“We have a very high quality that facilitates the development of clinical trials. We need a little more basic research, greater support for R&D and more public-private collaboration,” he added. Sergio Rodriguez, president and CEO of Pfizer Spain.
These are, in Rodríguez’s opinion, the pillars that “will make us grow and attract talent, science and innovation. And the pharmaceutical industry can contribute a lot when it comes to valuing talent so that it becomes innovation.”
Too Ricardo R. Suarez, country president AstraZeneca Spain, has valued Spanish talent. In fact, the company he leads has more than 200 clinical trials underway in Spain. And not only that. “For AstraZeneca, Spain is the fifth country where we invest the most in R&D”, he specified.
For its part, Nuria Sabate Franch, Managing Director, Head of the Pharmaceutical Industry at Accenture, endorsed the words of the previous speakers. “There are many large pharmaceutical companies with centers of excellence in Spain. Our country is a great pole of attraction that we must expand.”
And the European funds they will be an opportunity to further promote that Spain is a pole of attraction for investment in the pharmaceutical industry.
In this sense, Rodríguez pointed out that “it is essential that these funds have an impact on R&D and that they support the development of the pharmaceutical industry because it will generate wealth and a future.”
More production centers
Another issue that has been addressed during the round table is the need to increase drug production plants around the world. An issue that the pandemic has put on the table, because currently the manufacture of drugs is located “in four parts of the world”, as Gil has recalled.
“And it is not against globalization. It is in favor of guaranteeing the best supply of medicines for the whole world and in favor of progress,” added the Pfizer spokesman.
Sergio Rodríguez, Arturo Criado and Juan Carlos Gil.
For Suárez, “it is important to maximize technologies to bring more and new solutions to the market.” However, from his point of view, “we remain focused on price and not value and the pharmaceutical industry is only seen as a solution in critical moments. “
In this sense, Sabate Franch has encouraged “to be transparent and explain what the sector does and what its value is”. And it is the moment for it: “We must reinforce the image of the companies that bet by the society more than by the benefits”, has added Gil.
Collaboration
During the pandemic, public-private collaboration has been key. And the pharmaceutical industry hopes the cooperation will stay “to keep advancing“said Rodríguez.
“The bonds of trust that have been generated are more intense and will be maintained over time. Furthermore, it is a necessity to move in the right direction,” added the representative of Moderna in Spain.
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Reference-www.elespanol.com