Lauterbach wants to bring pharmaceutical production to Germany
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wants to bring significantly more research to Germany to intensify the fight against cancer, infections and other serious diseases. A new medical research law should be introduced before Christmas, Lauterbach said in Berlin.
Germany had fallen far behind in pharmaceutical innovations in recent years. In the UK, for example, there are ten times as many patents as in Germany and 20 times as many actual production sites. The aim is now to "reindustrialize Germany" in this area. "We have fallen behind here." Increased research should also bring more subsequent production of new medicines to Germany. "Where there is research, there is also production," said Lauterbach.
Fast approvals
The legislative plans now provide for a whole series of innovations. Lauterbach said: "We will be playing catch-up with clinical trials." Specifically, a reduction in bureaucracy is planned: Among other things, certain clinical trials will in future only have to be applied for at one office at the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). The approval process is to be completed within 25 days. In particular, prescribed tests on questions of ethics, radiation and data protection should be simplified.
The aim is also to give researchers more access to health data. According to Lauterbach, three laws that are currently being drafted should work together to achieve this - in addition to the medical research law that has now been announced, a law on the broader use of health data and the planned digital law for the introduction of an electronic patient file for all insured persons. These laws would "significantly strengthen" Germany as a pharmaceutical research location, said the Minister.
More data and more funding
Lauterbach said that data generated during the billing of treatments would be pooled nationwide in future. In this way, research should be able to make better use of it. To this end, there are collaborations with the USA and Great Britain, for example.
"Targeted funding instruments" should also be used to establish new production facilities in Germany, the Ministry of Health writes in a strategy paper. These would be examined together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs. For example, start-up companies should be attracted to set up in Germany with tax incentives. Lauterbach was optimistic about this despite the current budget crisis. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has "clever ideas here".
The plans for strengthening the pharmaceutical industry are in line with the results of a top-level meeting with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) the previous day. The so-called pharmaceutical summit was attended by top representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP), among others. No results were communicated.
Federal Government's strategy includes implementing targeted funding instruments to encourage the establishment of new medicine production facilities in Germany, with potential tax incentives for start-ups. Karl Lauterbach, the Federal Health Minister, emphasized that where there's research, there's production, and the aim is to bring more subsequent production of new medicines to Germany.
The forthcoming medical research law, as suggested by Lauterbach, aims to simplify certain clinical trials processes, reducing bureaucracy and accelerating approval times for new medications, with clinical trials only needing to be applied for at one office at the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM).
Source: www.dpa.com
