Biotechnology, a new perspective for Romanian development

Development of research and innovation in biotechnology could create new working places and draw important investments in Romania

2016-05-19 15:56:41

"A predictable, coherent and transparent business environment to encourage investments and to stimulate innovation, a stable legislative framework, as well as the allocation of funds for research are just a series of actions that could contribute to the development of research and innovation locally and that could turn Romania into a research and innovation hub, as it is at present an IT hub" stated Gabor Sztaniszlav, Country Director Amgen Romania, during the debate "DeCODing the DNA future"

The development of innovation incubators in universities, stimulating education in medicine and programs thanks to which young people with potential, interested in research, would be encouraged to work in the country are other examples of the measures that have been discussed during the debate.
"Such initiatives are solid arguments thanks to which innovative medicines manufacturers would choose to invest in Romania, to develop research programs or to build local production units. Amgen has invested at global level, in 2015, USD 4 billion in research and development, out of which USD 600 million were directed towards supporting innovative programs and to developing next-generation manufacturing. An amount of this could be invested in Romania, if we developed a medium and long-term strategy", continued Gabor Sztaniszlav.

Last year, innovative medicines producers, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) members, invested nearly USD 58.8 billion in research and development, i.e. more than 10% from 2014 and more than double compared to the 2000. The constant growth of the invested amounts led to the development of unprecedented biologic medicines. In 2015, Food and Drug Administration approved a record number of 56 new drugs as 7,000 innovative molecules are currently in the pipeline1.
Present at the debate, Andrew Harwood, Deputy Head for the Diplomatic Mission of Ireland in Romania, offered an example of good practice in his country: "The innovative medicines industry invested nearly USD 8 billion in developing production sites in Ireland and most of the capital was drawn in the past 10 years. This is close to the largest investment in new biotechnology facilities in the world."
Counting 4.5 million inhabitants, Ireland hosts almost 120 plants of the international medicines manufacturers and it is at present the largest net exporter of pharmaceuticals in the EU-nearly 50 per cent of all the country's exports.

In Romania, the IT sector is an example of good practice, as it is a predictable and supported economic segment, in full development, a growing engine of the Romanian economy. According to the data of the Employers Association of the Software and Services Industry, the IT contribution to the economy is higher than 6 per cent of the GDP. The IT registered a growth of 11 per cent from last year and it is expected for the growing trend to continue the same during the next years. This sector employs approximately 140,000 professionals, out of which an estimated 90,000 work in the software industry. The industry's turnover for 2015 is estimated at EUR 2.74 billion.

The participants at the event stressed the need for the success model that created an IT ecosystem to be transferred to research in the field of biotechnology. If the IT sector was the priority of Romania in the last 20 years, biotechnology should be the priority for the next 20.

"The government representatives and of the Presidency as well as the other authorities communicated a common message: that there is a clear intention to incentivize investors to build more research and development in Romania. For that, we need a coherent strategy and we have seen how a national program on biotechnology, as the one of Ireland, could gain billion of dollars in couple of years. Next to a good strategy we need more dialogs but, more than that, we need a good execution. To beneficiate from research and innovation development, Romania needs, in the future, a good and in time execution of the strategy. " concluded Gabor Sztaniszlav.

The debate "DeCODing the DNA future" was organized by Amgen Romania with the participation of United States Embassy and Ireland representatives, decision stakeholders at national level, representatives of the medical community, patients associations, members of the academic field and of the pharmaceutical and IT business environments.

Set up in 1980, Amgen is worldwide leader in biotechnology and personalized therapies, as the company specializes in the research, development and production of medicines for the patients who suffer of severe illnesses, that have limited or no treatment options. Amgen is present in more than 75 countries worldwide and has a 15 products portfolio for oncology, osteoporosis, hematology, nephrology, cardiology, neurology and rare diseases. For 2015, Amgen reported a USD 21.7 billion turnover, out of which USD 4 billion were allocated to the research and development of new medicines. Last year, the company launched 6 innovative molecules, 3 of them being nominated by the European Medicines Agency among the 11 revolutionary therapeutic innovations of 2015.

Biotechnology refers to any technology based on living organisms or biologic systems in order to develop other products. With reference to health, biotechnology refers to the means in which human biology at cellular level is employed to develop medicines.

Biologic medicines are versions of the proteins in the human body, that are basically identical in composition to the natural ones; biologic medicines have significant clinical benefits and, most of the times, are efficient treatments that had no precedent.

Biosimilar medicines are biologic medicines that are not, or will not be protected by patents any more. Biosimilars are as safe and as efficient as the original biologic medicine. Biosimilar medicines can be less expensive alternatives to the biologic medicines that have lost their exclusivity rights.