Press Release: An innovative pharmaceutical industry which meets the needs of society

On the occasion of the Belgian Presidency’s ministerial conference on innovation and solidarity in the field of pharmaceuticals held on 24 September 2010, Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani announced the launch of a process on corporate responsibility in the pharmaceutical industry. A distinction is made between three platforms – (1) ethics and transparency (2) access to medicines in Africa and (3) access to medicines in Europe – and will examine the major challenges of access to medicines in Europe and Africa in the light of the issues of price and reimbursement. There are many opportunities for innovative partnerships here, and, for the first time at European level, issues of ethics and transparency in the sector are also to be addressed.