European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) is a Brussels-based trade association founded in 1978 representing the research-based pharmaceutical industry operating in Europe.

Through its membership of 33 national associations and 40 leading pharmaceutical companies, EFPIA represents 1,900 EU companies committed to researching, developing and manufacturing new medical treatments.

Figures published in 2008 by the European Commission (Eurostat) show that the pharmaceutical industry is the industrial sector which invests most in research & development (R&D). In 2011, it invested an estimated € 27,500 million in R&D in Europe. It directly employed 660,000 people and generated three to four times more employment indirectly (upstream and downstream).

The key contribution of the research-based pharmaceutical industry to medical progress is to turn fundamental research into innovative treatments that are widely available and accessible to patients, with the goal of helping people live longer and be healthier. High blood pressure and cardiovascular disease can be controlled with anti-hypertensive medicines and cholesterol-lowering medicines, knee or hip replacements prevent patients from immobility, and some cancers can be controlled or even cured thanks to newer targeted medicines. Yet there remain huge challenges in many disease areas such as Alzheimer, multiple sclerosis, many cancers and orphan diseases.

EFPIA also includes two specialised groups focusing on vaccines and biotechnology respectively:

The industry's efforts are focused around four key areas - the AIMS - Roadmap of priorities Access, Innovation, Mobilization, Security [1] programme.

In 2010 the pharmaceutical industry invested about € 27,800 million in R&D in Europe. After a decade of strong US market dominance, which led to a significant shift of economic and pharmaceutical research activity towards the US during the period 1995-2005, Europe is now also facing increasing competition from emerging economies. Today there is rapid growth in the market and research environment in emerging economies such as Brazil, China and India, resulting in further migration of economic and research activities outside of Europe to these fast-growing markets. The geographical balance of the pharmaceutical market – and ultimately the R&D base – is likely to shift gradually towards emerging economies.

All new medicines introduced into the market are the result of lengthy, costly and risky research and development (R&D) conducted by pharmaceutical companies:

There is rapid growth in the research environment in emerging economies such as China and India. The current tendency to close R&D sites in Europe and to open new sites in Asia will show dramatic effects to maintain the pharmaceutical discovery expertise in the EU. The United States still dominates the biopharmaceutical field, accounting for the three quarters of the world’s biotechnology revenues and R&D spending.

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