The announcement of the forthcoming closure of the GlaxoSmithKline Research Center in Verona is part of a profound reorganization of the organizational models of pharmaceutical companies at an international level due to the expiry of important patents and the ever-increasing costs of R&D. A process that has been underway for some years, which has accelerated due to the economic crisis that has also affected the sector. GlaxoSmithKline can rightly be considered an Italian company, albeit with foreign capital, given its almost centuries-old roots in the country and the huge investments made in production and research in recent decades. Farmindustria is therefore asking for the immediate start of a Round Table with the Government and the Trade Unions to address the problem in the interests of the highly qualified employees, the economy and the country's capacity for innovation. It will also be an opportunity to analyze the more general situation of pharmaceutical and research companies in Italy, which to date, despite important progress made, lack an overall vision and the necessary guarantees for the maintenance and development of a sector that realizes 53% of exports, which boasts 200 projects in development and which invests around 2.3 billion a year. We are firmly convinced of the need for a holistic approach for the enhancement and maintenance of the most important Italian sector for the knowledge economy.
