Brussels, Belgium. Roche Chief Executive Thomas Schinecker warned that Europe risks falling further behind the United States and China in pharmaceutical research and innovation due to bureaucracy and government policies threatening jobs.
Warning on regulation and competitiveness
Schinecker told Reuters that “mind-blowing” bureaucracy and “illogical” regulation were holding back innovation and undermining one of Europe’s industrial strengths. He said Europe was behind and that “pharma is still one of the industries where they can still play,” but added that governments “have to make the right decisions.”
Impact of U.S. pricing policy
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 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, according to a GlobalData analysis.
Industry lobbying and policy responses
Europe’s pharmaceutical industry has been lobbying governments as U.S. pricing policies shake up the sector, with Trump critical of European governments for spending too little on medicines. AstraZeneca chief Pascal Soriot said Germany risked missing out on new drugs if it proceeded with plans to limit pharmaceutical spending, and warned Europe could become a “sales office” for the industry.
The European Commission said it was monitoring the U.S. pricing policy closely, while stating that patient access and affordability remained the priority. The head of the European Medicines Agency told Reuters that drug access in the bloc remained strong.
Roche’s plans for Europe and upcoming launch
Schinecker said Roche’s goal remained to launch its new drugs in every country in Europe and that it was in talks over pricing and incentives for innovation with governments in Germany, Britain, France and Italy. He said Roche is preparing to launch breast cancer drug giredestrant, which the company hopes could win U.S. approval by the end of this year.
How do you think European governments should balance drug affordability with incentives for pharmaceutical innovation?