The Institute for Competitiveness presented a research which shows that, between 2001 and 2011, the weight of pharmaceuticals grew from 1.8% to 2.7% of production. D'Ambrosio Lettieri (Pdl) and Grillo (5Stelle): "We need simplification and new reward mechanisms".
21 JUN – Replacing the pharmaceutical sector at the center of Italian industrial policy and making it one of the vectors for building a new phase of growth. This is the appeal launched during the symposium held in Rome at the headquarters of I-Com, the Institute for Competitiveness. During the meeting a research of the institute was presented, edited by Stephen of Empoli and by Davide Intelglia, from which eloquent data emerge. Pharmaceuticals account for 1.5% of GDP, over 4% of exports and 6.5% of investments in research and development.
In the period 2000-2011, the weight of pharmaceuticals grew from 1.8% to 2.7% of production and from 3% to 3.5% of value added in the manufacturing sector. Italian pharmaceutical production, which in 2007 was in fourth place in Europe, rose in 2008 to third and in 2010 to second after Germany, first overtaking the United Kingdom and then France. And in terms of production and added value, the pharmaceutical industry was worth respectively 46.7% and 52.1% of hi-tech manufacturing in 2011.
A remarkable growth, materialized despite the investments in research and development being lower than the European average. According to an I-Com elaboration, linking R&D investments to the European average would lead to an increase in GDP quantifiable in 2 billion euros, an increase in tax revenues of 400 million and the creation of 36,000 additional jobs.
However, to generate new development opportunities, new investments must not be limited to research. A 10% increase in fixed investments, which would generate a proportional increase in production, would guarantee overall, indirectly and thanks to the greater expenditure activated, 1.1 billion of extra value added every year, 19,000 more employees and an additional tax revenue of almost 300 million euros.
However, the problems and issues in the field are many. In the period 2001-2011 the prices of medicines, set by the State, fell in nominal terms on average by 27.6%, marking the worst performance among European countries excluding Spain. TO
