OECD urges integrated policy approach to boost biopharma innovation

An OECD report on biopharmaceuticals innovation recommends national governments to co-ordinate their various policies related to the innovation chain to boost competitiveness and innovation of the biopharma sector.

A recent OECD report on the biopharmaceutical innovation systems identifies many ‘systemic imperfections’ hampering the functioning of the national biopharma innovation systems. The problems are said to be related mainly to the exploitation and commercialisation of knowledge and to innovation framework conditions such as regulatory framework and intellectual property rights. 

As the main policy recommendation to boost biopharma innovation the report calls the governments to close the ‘co-ordination gap’ within their different departments dealing with specific aspects of the innovation chain and R&D and health care policies to improve coherence and consistency of the innovation policy on the sector.

The report also compares the biopharmaceutical innovation systems in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain as to their openness, market-related factors and innovation and industrial developments. 

Belgium and the Netherlands win the cross-country comparison for innovation and industry development when measured (per million population) by patent applications, the number of drugs in the pipeline, venture capital invested in biotechnology and the number of new biopharma firms. Germany is described relatively good in innovation and industrial development, less in science. France does not get good notes in either of them.

In June 2005, the Commission announced a new strategy to boost pharma innovation in the EU and to close the gap with the US on innovation and R&D. The strategy includes more research money to bioharmaceutical sector in the FP7 and the launch of a European Technology Platform on Innovative Medicines, which will aim to accelerate the development process of medicines and to ensure rapid application of scientific breakthroughs.

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