Pharma CEOs warn EC President of “risk of exodus” to US

1 week ago 4

Jenna Philpott

Wed, Apr 9, 2025, 5:01 AM 3 min read

As commercialized tensions escalate and caller imaginable US tariffs loom implicit the pharma sector, Europe’s largest drugmakers are informing that the EU is astatine hazard of losing billions of euros successful planned concern to the US.

In a gathering with European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) called for urgent enactment to antagonistic what it described arsenic a “risk of exodus” successful R&D and manufacturing.

The radical said that unless the EU rapidly reforms its regulatory, intelligence property, and concern environment, drugmakers volition progressively displacement operations to the US.

The contented is further analyzable by caller US commercialized developments. Although the White House confirmed past week that finished pharmaceutical products are presently exempt from the precocious imposed 10% broad tariff, President Donald Trump stated connected 3 April that caller tariffs specifically targeting the pharma assemblage are connected their way. Yesterday (8 April), Reuters reported that Trump said this "major" tariff connected pharmaceutical imports volition beryllium announced soon.

“The US present leads Europe connected each capitalist metric from availability of capital, intelligence property, velocity of support to rewards for innovation. In summation to the uncertainty created by the menace of tariffs, determination is small inducement to put successful the EU and important drivers to relocate to the US,” said the EFPIA successful its 8 April statement.

EFPIA cited a caller interior survey of 18 ample and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies that identified much than €100bn successful planned superior and R&D investments astatine hazard betwixt 2025 and 2029. The survey showed that astir €50.6bn successful superior expenditure and €52.6bn successful R&D spending – representing 85% and 50% of planned investments respectively – whitethorn beryllium redirected extracurricular the EU. Within the adjacent 3 months alone, €16.5bn successful investments is considered perchance astatine risk, according to respondents.

While the database of companies was not disclosed, EFPIA’s enactment includes elder figures from large European pharmaceutical companies specified arsenic Novo Nordisk, Bayer, and Ipsen. Novo Nordisk is 1 of the galore that has started onshoring plans to bring much manufacturing to the US, with its $4.1bn enlargement successful Clayton, North Carolina.

According to the EFPIA, the US present outperforms Europe crossed aggregate metrics important to investors, including entree to capital, intelligence spot protections, velocity of regulatory approvals, and fiscal rewards for innovation.

“Europe needs to marque a superior committedness to put successful a world-class pharmaceutical ecosystem, oregon astatine best, hazard being reduced to a user of different region’s innovation,” added EFPIA.