US top, India bottom in biopharma innovation report

The US has been ranked as the country that contributes most to global biopharmaceutical innovation through the use of its policies.

It is closely followed by Switzerland, Taiwan, Singapore, and Sweden in the report “How National Policies Impact Global Biopharma Innovation: A Worldwide Ranking”.

The report was written by John Wu and Stephen Ezell at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a non-profit research institute.

Released on Thursday, April 7, the report examines the extent to which the public investment, intellectual property, and drug pricing policies of 56 countries proactively contribute to or detract from global life sciences innovation.

The top position of the US incorporated a ranking of seventh for government research and development allocated to health, first on the IP indicator, and joint first for price controls.

“Countries with robust life sciences innovation policies contribute disproportionately to the global stock of innovation in life sciences fields, as the benefits of this innovation exceed what is captured by the host country, spilling over into the global public commons,” said the report.

According to the report, India’s policies do the least to facilitate innovation, followed by South Africa, Thailand, the Philippines, and Australia, in that order.

India, the Philippines, and South Africa currently offer no biologics data exclusivity protection.

The countries which have invested little in life sciences research are branded as having “made the choice to free ride off the global stock of life sciences innovation by investing less in research and paying less for drugs”.

“These choices hurt all of humankind by slowing down biopharmaceutical innovation,” the report added.