Farmindustria: exports have soared by 248 per cent in ten years, and spending is not out of control

“Pharmaceutical expenditure is not out of control; it is growing at a natural rate in line with the population’s changing needs and with pharmaceutical innovation, which is contributing to an increase in life expectancy.” The president of Farmindustria, Marcello Cattani , speaking at the General Meeting that re-elected him as president for a third term until 2028, is prepared to repeat this “ad nauseam”: pharmaceutical expenditure grew by 7.2% between 2014 and 2019, by 7% between 2021 and 2024, and by 5.2% in 2025. “The truth,” he explained, “is that needs are changing in an ageing society, whilst research is accelerating in the development of innovative medicines.”

Today, the United States and China are driving innovation, whilst Europe looks on from the sidelines. Yet the pharmaceutical industry is one of the most dynamic drivers of economic growth, particularly in Italia, where, against an increasingly complex international backdrop, exports have risen by 248 per cent over the last 10 years. For this reason, in an international geopolitical context offering many opportunities but also many risks, according to Cattani, “we need an alliance between all stakeholders in the system to maintain investment and manage rising costs and health risks”.

According to Cattani, there are four priorities for the pharmaceutical industry “to be addressed in the spirit of constructive dialogue that has characterised our relationship with the institutions for years, and with the same sense of urgency: from payback to US policy on drug pricing, from the proposed revision of the formulary to reducing the time it takes to access treatment”. “Whilst the US and China are stepping up their efforts to attract investment,” explained the president of Farmindustria, “Europe risks becoming less competitive. We are already seeing worrying signs: in the 10 months following the US announcement of its Most Favoured Nation policy, there has been a 40 per cent reduction in new drug launches across Europe.” In response to the global competitive challenge posed by the MFN policy, “we need an agreement to compensate for investment in Italia and the burdens on companies, pursuing a win-win approach, modelled on the US-UK agreement,” proposed Cattani. In this context, “it is essential to tackle and resolve the issue of pharmaceutical payback, which is set to reach a value of around 2.4 billion euros by 2025”.

According to Farmindustria, the second issue requiring urgent attention is to intervene in the process of revising the therapeutic formulary initiated by AIFA, expressing “concern regarding the proposals received from companies”. “Personalised care is one of the great achievements of modern medicine,” explained Cattani. “Medicines with different clinical profiles that meet the needs of different patients cannot be treated as comparable simply to reduce costs for the National Health Service.”

The Minister for Health, Orazio Schillaci, spoke on this issue. “We will discuss the revision of the formulary in the interests of citizens, who must have rapid access to medicines – including innovative ones – without having to pay more for them, and regardless of where they live or their income.” Schillaci acknowledges that there is an issue regarding the sustainability of the National Health Service “but we need a new vision: to understand medicines not just in terms of cost but within their context, and to collaborate with those who develop them – namely, the pharmaceutical industry”. Schillaci also spoke about community care homes. “We are in talks with the trade unions and the regions, so we hope to have a solution shortly,” he said. “We are very keen for general practitioners to be based within the new local facilities, because they are the ones who know the patients best.”