While the number of clinical trials worldwide is increasing by 38%, the proportion of clinical trials conducted to develop new medicines in the European Economic Area (EEA) has halved.
According to the one published today Bericht „Assessing the clinical trial ecosystem in Europe“ The number of clinical research projects in the European Economic Area (EEA) fell from 22% to 12% between 2013 and 2023. This means that today 60,000 fewer patients have access to a drug development study in an EEA country. The report, which was carried out by IQVIA on behalf of the European pharmaceutical association EFPIA and Vaccines Europe, clearly shows that the EEA has lost its attractiveness as a research location over the last ten years and has therefore also lost its competitiveness, to the advantage of the USA and China, for example . Alexander Herzog, Secretary General of PHARMIG, comments on the publication of this report as follows: “Clinical research is a very central part of drug development. If less and less of this happens in Europe, fewer and fewer patients will be able to benefit from it. There is also a risk that therapeutic innovations will only find their way to European patients with a delay. Because where research takes place, the products are usually the first to be available.”
Clinical research projects generate valuable know-how in medicine and among treating specialists, and patients in clinical trials have access to new medications five to ten years before they are launched on the market. In addition to this early access to often life-saving drugs, clinical trials also relieve the burden on the healthcare system, as the costs of the study medication are borne by the pharmaceutical industry.
Expressed in numbers, clinical trials provide the following added value: In Austria alone, clinical trials relieve the domestic healthcare system by 100 million euros per year. In addition, an overall economic value creation of 144 million euros is created per year. According to one Study by the Institute for Pharmaeconomic Research (IPF)which analyzed the added value of clinical trials between 2012 and 2017, every euro invested generates 1.95 euros for the Austrian economy.
For Europe, the IQVIA report demonstrates the high added value of clinical trials using figures from Great Britain that have been extrapolated to the EEA: European healthcare systems benefit from 1 to 1.5 billion euros annually, which companies benefit from when conducting clinical trials Provide examinations to cover the costs of the study participants.
“Unfortunately, despite these positive effects, the number of clinical trials is stagnating, not only in Austria, but throughout the EU,” says Herzog. According to the industry representative, in order to counteract this, a corresponding commitment to research is needed, specifically an Austria-wide research strategy and funding. Herzog says: “In order to reverse this trend, there must be a much greater awareness at the political level of what research does and what negative effects its decline has. In order to improve the situation in the future, we urgently advocate a reduction in bureaucracy, rapid and consistent approval procedures and also stronger networking between research centers. Last but not least, we urgently need measures to make it easier to carry out cross-border clinical trials.”
About PHARMIG: PHARMIG is the voluntary interest group of the Austrian pharmaceutical industry. The association currently has around 120 members (as of October 2024), who cover a good 95 percent of the medication market. PHARMIG and its member companies stand for the best possible security of supply of medicines in the healthcare system and ensure social and medical progress through quality and innovation.