Pharmaceutical companies reached a record R&D investment in Spain in 2023. The figure, which reached around 1.4 billion, was 10% higher than the previous year's figure. This is one of the most important sets of data announced by Farmaindustria's President, Jesús Ponce, at the Association's Ordinary General Assembly held in April.

With these figures in hand, Ponce said, “We have the unique opportunity to make Spain a world leader in biomedical innovation, which will guarantee the country's health and economic and social future.” He added, “Few industries can boast having such a motivating purpose as ours: to promote research, innovation and production of medicines to improve people's lives”.

Leading research in Spain
According to the information shared by the President, around half of the investment was made in research projects implemented together with hospitals, universities and public and private centres throughout the country, which led him to affirm, “The magnitude of this contribution, a true paradigm of public-private collaboration, positions us as one of the leading industrial sectors in R&D, contributing one out of every five euros of the total investment in research in Spain”.

As Farmaindustria reminds us, pharmaceuticals is one of the four strategic industrial sectors that the European Union considers a priority, along with energy, food and digital technologies. The increase in investment consolidates the weight of the pharmaceutical industry in Spain and Europe. In fact, medicine is Spain’s third most exported product and generates “quality and equal and highly productive employment, with a commitment to youth employment and to training talent”.

Ensuring access to innovations
Ponce used his speech to highlight the Strategic Plan for the Pharmaceutical Industry, which, in collaboration with the Government of Spain, aims to ensure access to innovations, consolidate Spain's leadership in biomedical R&D and strengthen the productive fabric, with a commitment to employment, growth and less dependence on foreign countries.

70%of the 100 plants that produce medicines for human use in Spain manufacture branded medicines. According to Ponce, this is another fact that positions Spain “as one of the European countries with the greatest production potential at a time when medicines have proven to be a strategic and security asset for countries”. He emphasised that this is an opportunity for Spain and Europe to strengthen their role as a global hub for R&D and production. 

^{Photo: Farmaindustria}