EU announces £1.5m of drug funding
02/05/2008(17:03)
The medical research industry has been given a boost as the European Union has announced £1.57 billion worth of funding into drug discovery.
In a bid to re-establish Europe as the "pharmacy of the world" the money has been awarded to bridge the gap between the US and Asia.
The European Commission will contribute one billion euros (£0.77 billion) over seven years, with the rest being supplied by large drug companies by supplying staff and equipment.
It marks the largest deal of this kind in the world and is a welcome boost for the European pharmaceutical industry.
A decade ago seven out of ten of the world's medicines were produced in Europe, with these days it being just three.
The chief executive officer of Bayer HealthCare and president of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, said: "We hope to send a very clear signal to the world that Europe is getting serious again about being the centre of biomedical research."
In related news, the British Medical Association has recently highlighted a shortage of medical doctors and healthcare staff.
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