Pharmaceutical industry and Covid-19

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• The pharmaceutical sector is one of the most solid and dynamic industries in the world, with revenues of US$1.2 trillion and an added value of around US$500 billion.
• Asia and Europe account for over 60% of global value added, while the US alone accounts for 50% of sales. About one third of global sales are accounted for by ten large multinationals with US and European capital.
• Italy boasts a leading position at European level with over €32 billion of production value and an added value equal to 0.6% of national GDP.
• Looking at the competitiveness indexes, the Italian pharmaceutical industry shows a higher added value per employee (+118% compared to the manufacturing average) than the manufacturing sector average; higher investments per employee (+313%) and a marked propensity to export (+246%).
• In the context of Covid-19 the sector has been a positive exception worldwide and growth prospects up to 2024 point to further growth.
• However, this is the moment in which to overcome some of the frailties that emerged clearly during the emergency: extensive and intricate value chains, strong interdependencies, excessive geographical and specialist concentration.
• In Italy it will be necessary to enhance the ability to create networks and promote flexibility, enhancing the connections within the country between pharmaceutical industries, research centres, universities, innovative and dynamic companies to create treatment ecosystems.
• Enabling factors for this change will be: additional growth in R&D expenditure, more extensive use of new technologies and significant investment in training.
• Up to US$1 trillion of investment worldwide is expected in the coming years. This is an opportunity that national industry can and must seize through systemic action involving companies, institutions and different levels of government.