All the numbers of the Italian pharmaceutical sector. Reports

6 July 202310 months ago babelfish

Farmindustria rattles off all the data from the pharmaceutical sector: 49 billion euros of production in 2022, 47.6 billion of exports, 20,000 drugs under development, the total related industries are equal to around 2% of GDP

Pharmaceuticals is a booming sector and the numbers are there to prove it: 49 billion euros of production in 2022, of which 47.6 billion in exports (+ 176% in 10 years), 3.3 billion invested in production and R&D , 68,600 employees, of which women represent 44% of the total. These are the data that emerged during the Farmindustria assembly which took place in Rome at the Auditorium della Conciliazione . “Italy is now a protagonist in Europe. Also with the pharmaceutical industry”, says Marcello Cattani , President of Farmindustria . The Assembly was attended by the Minister of University and Research Anna Maria Bernini, the Minister for European Affairs, the South, Cohesion Policies and the PNRR, Raffaele Fitto, the President of the Campania Region, Vincenzo De Luca, the Minister of Salute, Orazio Schillaci, and the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso. The speeches were moderated by Corriere della Sera columnist Antonio Polito.

FARMINDUSTRIA: IMPROVES THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF SICK CITIZENS

During the Assembly, the results achieved by the sector in relation to the quality of life of citizens were pitted off. “We respond to the demand for health with our very diversified innovation, which uses new platforms for research, and has made it possible to reach the historical record of over 20,000 drugs in development in the world, including many innovative medicines and vaccines”, continues Marcello Cattani , President of Farmindustria. Compared to ten years ago , there are 1 million more people who survive a cancer diagnosis and today two out of three people diagnosed with cancer survive after five years, 30 years ago they were only one out of three and 83% of this progress is due to new drugs. In the last 20 years, mortality has decreased by 28% and for chronic pathologies by 41%. It also improves the fight against serious diseases, such as hepatitis C: people treated with innovative drugs against hepatitis C , and therefore cured, are 260,000 . Added to this is that vaccinations have made it possible to eradicate diseases and to control others, the available orphan drugs have increased from 7 in 2007 to more than 120 , innovative antibiotics make it possible to combat resistant infections and that advanced therapies have allowed many treatments more for acute and chronic pathologies.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR IS EQUAL TO 2% OF GDP

“The contribution of pharmaceuticals directly and with the total induced is equal to about 2% of the GDP . With measures in favor of investments, over the next 5 years it will be possible to achieve equally ambitious objectives: to contribute to the increase in GDP up to 1% , increasing employment by 20,000 direct and indirect workers ", said the President Marcello Cattani . Investments will reach $1.6 trillion globally between 2023 and 2028. Italy specializes in biotechnological and synthetic chemical drugs, advanced therapies , rare diseases , vaccines and plasma derivatives . However, as emerged during the Assembly, our country must grow and quickly recover the competitive gap with other countries. “The pharmaceutical industry is strategic because it responds to health , growth , national security and public spending efficiency needs, avoiding costs in other health and welfare services. The Made in Italy pharmaceutical industry is a development asset – which must be considered as such in the projects of new industrial policies – for the country and the territories ”. Furthermore, in our country the pharmaceutical industry is the first sector for Open Innovation/Network Innovation .

EUROPE MUST LATCH UP WITH THE USA AND CHINA

It's not just Italy that has to do more. “Europe must reverse a trend that for 20 years has seen it lose global shares of investments compared to the USA and China, which instead are gaining ground – added Cattani -. In addition, today there is also strong competition from emerging countries , such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, which are offering very attractive measures. A competition to which Italy and Europe must respond as a nation and as a continent. In global competition we need more Europe in the world and more Italy in Europe to attract investments , innovation, secure and rebuild strategic supply chains and reduce the dependence on active and intermediate ingredients from abroad". The suggestions coming from Farmindustria are: review the proposal for the revision of the European pharmaceutical legislation , review the legislation, the payback mechanism and "as early as 2023 include drugs with conditional innovation in the innovation fund". The proposal of European pharmaceutical legislation , according to Farmindustria, weakens intellectual property, reduces data protection from 8 to 6 years and market exclusivity for orphan drugs from 10 to 9. "Objectives that can also be achieved with rapid completion the reform of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA), which will make it possible to modernize the assessments of value-based therapies to further improve availability and to manage spending in a way compatible with the industrial presence".

PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR: EMPLOYMENT INCREASED BY 9% IN 5 YEARS

The employment rate in the sector has improved, in particular quality employment which has grown by 9% in 5 years ( 90% of graduates and diploma holders ), especially among young people ( +16% ) and women (+13%) reaching 44% of the workforce and reaching 53% in R&D. Pharmaceutical companies have also worked to implement new welfare/wellbeing tools with the aim of affecting work-life balance and supporting parenting . The most relevant measures are:

smartworking: over 91 % of companies have been applying it for years together with part-time work, flexible hours on entry/exit , and paid leave for additional medical visits to the CCNL;
100 % of employees are covered by social security and supplementary health care ;
73 % benefit from education and assistance services;
43 % can benefit from forms of assistance for elderly or non-self-sufficient family members .

MEASURES TO SUPPORT FEMALE WORKERS AND THE BIRTH RATE OF COMPANIES IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR

If the national political debate is focusing on the theme of falling birth rates, a scourge from which our country is afflicted, the pharmaceutical sector records a number of employees with children 45% higher than the national average . It is no coincidence that 47% of companies in the sector offer longer maternity leave and expectations than the law and the CCNL, 58% nursery schools/expense reimbursements for education and domestic assistance, 55 % screening campaigns, prevention , vaccination, check-ups and psycho-physical well-being and 59% post-pregnancy psychological counselling.

PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES HAVE REDUCED ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY 37%

Welfare is not the only sector in which the Italian pharmaceutical industry is engaged. In ten years, pharmaceutical companies have reduced energy consumption by 37% and considering those relevant to atmospheric emissions by 34% and almost all companies are equipped with environmental impact monitoring systems with specific indicators. Investments in environmental protection per employee are equal to 180% of the national average, a figure which rises to 200% for those in technologies aimed at preventing pollution. In terms of waste reduction, 88% of companies expect to reduce it in the next three to five years, and 55% are already committed to reducing or eliminating the use of plastic at every stage of the production process.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/tutti-i-numeri-del-settore-farmaceutico-italiano-report/ on Thu, 06 Jul 2023 09:01:30 +0000.