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Issue link: https://lifescienceleadermag.epubxp.com/i/118943
Protecting U.S. Medical Innovation A Call To Action From Celgene's CEO By Rob Wright THERE IS A LONG HISTORY OF INNOVATION IN THE UNITED STATES. EVERYDAY PRODUCTS SUCH AS THE TELEPHONE, LIGHT BULB, MICROWAVE, AND PERSONAL COMPUTER ALL ORIGINATED IN THE STATES. THIS CULTURE OF INNOVATION HAS TRANSLATED TO HEALTHCARE AS WELL. For example, in the last 10 years the United States has been responsible for producing more than half of the world's new medicines. But the U.S. culture of medical innovation is at risk, and that risk is coming from within. Domestic regulatory and tax policies have opened the floodgates for other countries to offer various incentives to boost private investment in new medicines and medical devices in order to lure research facilities and jobs away from the United States. This doesn't sit well with Celgene Chairman and CEO Bob Hugin, who ascribes to the notion that the ultimate value of medical innovation is derived from where discovery and development take place, not just where the resulting innovation is distributed. Take Europe as an example. "Thirty years ago Europe produced more than 50% of the intellectual property around new medical compounds," he states. Today, the EU represents less than 25%, a decline Hugin attributes to Europe's lost opportunity to aggressively support early-stage research with policies that allow for good reimbursement and a reasonable return for companies developing drugs. This failure to recognize the inextricable link between medical innovation and economic progress and prosperity has contributed in a cycle of decline that has rippled throughout the EU economy as evidenced by the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs forecasting a weak 0.1% growth rate across the 27-member nation economy for this year. Hugin does not want to see the same thing happen to the U.S. R&D; engine of medical innovation, which supports approximately 4 million total U.S. jobs and creates an economic output in excess of $900 billion annually. "If we don't recognize that the whole system has to be successful, these innovations are going to be made elsewhere, and the economic benefit is going to accrue in other countries," he says. In order to prevent this, Hugin is asking life sciences industry leaders and constituents to take action. "We need spokespersons advocating for an environment of collaboration, pro-innovation policies and regulations, as well as IP protection laws which support the U.S. medical innovation ecosystem," he states. April 2013 LifeScienceLeader.com 25