Brexit hardly the medicine for a Europe craving innovation

Anyone unfamiliar with pharma might be puzzled by how often the word ‘innovation’ comes up in dialogue, campaigning and marketing messages.

But in pharma, it is a word that stands for a lot more than just a new idea. It not only represents change that can enhance and save lives through the arrival of a new medicine that outshines what is out there already, but is also a way of tacitly saying that this is a medical advance that should be paid for appropriately - partly to ensure that further innovations can in turn be developed and brought to market.

With respect to innovation in Europe, it is possible to speak of two shortages: firstly, in the commercialization of new medicines by European companies, despite the fact that these products often result from research undertaken within the continent’s labs; secondly, in the ability and willingness of governments to pay for new treatments.