Research and Development

Investment in Research and Development is a source of life
The pharmaceutical industry and the future of society in Europe and the world

Investment in Research and Development (R&D) is investment in people’s health, well-being and survival, while it is also a matter of the utmost national importance as it can be one of the key drivers of economic growth in this decade and the next.

New medicines save lives, eliminate and/or stabilise diseases, improve quality of life and increase life expectancy. At the same time, they help national health systems save resources by reducing public pharmaceutical expenditure and often avoid expensive surgeries, hospitalisation, or long-term care. In many cases, invasive treatment is ten times more expensive than pharmaceutical treatment.

The world community has pinned its hopes on the clinical research to deal with the current COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the protection against any future ones. SFEE, having fully understood the added value of Clinical Research, fights over time in the most dynamic way for its development in Greece.

In addition, new medicines boost the national economy with significant capital inflows from abroad and through transfer of research know-how. They create jobs, continuing education, and development of human resources in specialised fields, while ensuring the fast access of patients to new therapies, therefore better healthcare. But perhaps the most important feature of the pharmaceutical industry is its pivotal role in building a society of higher life expectancy.

Research for developing new medicines is a time-consuming and very expensive process, which can take even 20 years, and a very risky one: out of 10,000 candidate medicinal products, only five on average will enter the process of clinical trials, and of these one, at most, will finally make it to the market.

The cost of the discovery of each new, original, innovative medicine is estimated by the European Union at EUR 1 billion. Pharmaceutical companies specialise in applied research, which designs and evaluates new molecules as potential medicines and monitors these new treatments first in the laboratory and then, if proved suitable, in humans, in a manner fully controlled by international and national regulatory authorities. Without applied research, most discoveries of basic scientific research on the various diseases would never have reached the patient and would have remained in publications and laboratories.

Clinical Studies can be a great opportunity for Greece, but they remain largely untapped. At the same time in Europe, more than € 35 billion are invested annually, but unfortunately, Greece absorbs only € 40 million! Our country meets all the necessary conditions to attract an even larger number of research programs and multiply the investment within three years, reaching up to € 250 million per year. The strategic goal of SFEE and its member companies is to make our country a Hub for Clinical Studies with an international impact that will give new a breath and a boost to both the Public Health and the National Economy.