Europe Risks Falling Further Behind in Medicine Race, Warns Roche CEO

Europe Risks Losing Ground in Medicine Innovation, Warns Roche CEO

By Maggie Fick and Bhanvi Satija

Europe's Position in Global Pharmaceutical Innovation

BARCELONA, April 23 (Reuters) - Europe risks falling further behind the United States and China in pharmaceutical research and innovation because of "mind-blowing" bureaucracy and government policies threatening jobs, Roche Chief Executive Thomas Schinecker warned on Thursday.

Impact of U.S. Policies on European Drug Launches

His comments come as drugmakers weigh the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “most-favored-nation” pricing push, which aims to tie some medicine prices in the lucrative U.S. market to lower prices elsewhere, including in Europe. Since the policy was launched in May last year, new drug launches in Europe have fallen by around a third, a GlobalData analysis found.

Regulatory Challenges and Innovation Barriers

"Europe is so far behind and in most industries, I'm sad to say, they've lost the race," Schinecker told Reuters, adding "illogical" regulation was holding back innovation and undermining one of the region's few industrial strengths.

"Pharma is still one of the industries where they can still play, but they have to make the right decisions."

Industry Response and Government Policies

Europe's pharmaceutical industry has been lobbying governments as U.S. pricing policies ​shake up the sector, with Trump himself critical of European governments for spending too little on medicines.

Concerns from Industry Leaders

AstraZeneca chief Pascal Soriot said this week Germany risked missing out on new drugs if it pressed ahead with plans to limit pharmaceutical spending, and warned Europe could become a mere "sales office" for the industry.

European Commission's Stance

The European Commission has said it was monitoring the U.S. pricing policy closely, but patient access and affordability remained the priority. The head of the EMA told Reuters this week drug access in the bloc remained strong.

Commitment to European Drug Launches

Roche's Strategy for Europe

Despite the warning, Schinecker said Roche's goal remained to launch its new drugs in every country in Europe, adding it was in talks over pricing and incentives for innovation with governments in Germany, Britain, France and Italy.

Upcoming Drug Launches

Roche is readying to launch breast cancer drug giredestrant, which it hopes could win U.S. approval by the end of this year.

Fair Pricing and Access

He added rich countries needed to pay their "fair share" for innovation so drugmakers could keep funding research while preserving access in less affluent markets, and said he thought the Trump administration's logic in this regard was reasonable.

Sanofi's Approach

Sanofi Chief Financial Officer Francois-Xavier Roger said on a media call the French drugmaker would also launch its new medicines in Europe, but U.S. policies would "push us to revisit a little bit the way we do it" and bump up some prices.

"Our intention is to launch any product that will be launched in the U.S. or elsewhere in Europe as well," he said.

(Reporting by Maggie Fick and Bhanvi Satija in Barcelona; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Elaine Hardcastle)