Horber (Novartis): ‘We are still investing, but Italia and Europe are losing ground’
The President of International in Rome to discuss competitiveness: a further 63 million earmarked for research at the Ivrea plant; bureaucracy and regulations are weighing on the future
Patrick Horber is the International President of Novartis and will be in Rome tomorrow, where he will meet with no fewer than four Italian ministers – Schillaci, Tajani, Pichetto Fratin and Urso – to discuss how to ‘strengthen the competitiveness of the pharmaceutical sector in Italia and Europe’. This event – the Health & Innovation Forum, which will also be attended by Farmindustria President Marcello Cattani – was organised by the Basel-based group to discuss the potential of the Italian system, as well as the obstacles holding it back. “Italia is one of Novartis’s top ten markets, and we have around 1,900 employees and approximately 200 active clinical trials. It is also a major hub for innovation. Today, Ivrea,’ explains Horber, ‘is one of only four Novartis sites worldwide dedicated to the production of radioligand therapies, which are highly innovative for cancer patients globally. Ivrea is a concrete example of how investment in the life sciences can improve patient health outcomes, whilst creating skilled jobs and supporting the region’s economic growth.”
Will you be making further investments in research in Italia?
Alongside production and the €150 million already announced for research and development, we are investing a further €63 million in Technical Research and Development in Ivrea up to 2028. Italia possesses the talent, scientific expertise and industrial capacity to contribute to the development of next-generation technologies. To fully realise this potential, it is important to continue strengthening the national innovation ecosystem, fostering a stable, competitive and research-oriented environment. The forthcoming Consolidated Act represents a significant opportunity to establish clear and sustainable long-term rules capable of promoting innovation whilst, at the same time, improving patients’ timely access to new treatments.
Competition is intensifying, with the US and China gaining ground. What are Europe’s main shortcomings?
Europe has lost significant ground. The main shortcomings relate to the slow pace at which patients gain access to new medicines, a regulatory framework that is not keeping pace with scientific progress, and a focus that is centred more on short-term costs than on the overall value of innovation. The European Union’s share of global clinical trials has fallen by around 50 per cent over the last decade. As a result, around 60,000 European patients have been denied access to clinical trials that could have taken place in Europe.
