Farmaindustria Sets Out Ten Strategic Lines to Make Spain an International Biopharmaceutical Hub

Farmaindustria, the association representing innovative pharmaceutical companies in Spain, has set out ten strategic lines designed to turn the country into a large international biopharmaceutical hub. The plan is addressed to the next government, which the association says it wants to work with as a strategic ally on health, innovation and growth.

According to redaccionmedica.com, the proposals arrive at a decisive moment for the sector: the early election call has suspended the passage of key reforms, among them the draft Medicines Law and other regulations. Farmaindustria describes pharmaceuticals as the only sector in Spain with a fully developed national strategy drawn up jointly with five ministries, and frames the industry as a driver of innovation, competitiveness and high-quality employment, with social and economic returns alongside health outcomes.

Faster and more equitable access to innovative medicines

The first two lines concern the national health system (SNS). The association wants health and innovation integrated within the SNS, with stronger prevention and therapeutic adherence, measurement of value in health, coordinated action with the autonomous communities, new payment models, precision medicine and public-private collaboration. The second line calls for reinforced public investment in innovative medicines and faster, more equitable access: compliance with financing deadlines, early access, price confidentiality, security of supply and dispensing that is quicker and closer to the patient.

Tax incentives, Profarma and industrial resilience

On competitiveness, Farmaindustria asks for fiscal incentives similar to or better than those available elsewhere in the European Union, new financial instruments for clinical trials and for biotechnology companies in the scale-up phase, and support for productive infrastructure, venture capital, qualified talent and industrial property.

The association also wants a more stable and predictable Profarma programme, under which companies receive a rating: higher incentives, recognition of strategic projects, a link between the rating and the pricing and financing of medicines, more flexible scoring routes, and use of the rating as a lever to cut administrative obstacles. On resilience, it proposes protecting critical medicines, activating strategic medicine reserves and public procurement based on resilience. The same publication reports that Spain's Court of Auditors has recommended creating a national reserve of essential medicines and medical products.

Clinical trials, health data and turning science into companies

Farmaindustria notes that Spain is already the European leader and a world reference in clinical trials, and argues that the next government should consolidate that position through greater administrative efficiency, stronger early-phase research, decentralised and networked studies, research in primary care and active patient participation, with greater diversity among trial populations.

A further line targets a leading digital scientific ecosystem, using health data and artificial intelligence under the European Health Data Space to position Spain as a reference in real world evidence, digital biomedical hubs and regulatory sandboxes. The association says Spain generates excellent science but needs to improve its ability to convert it into new medicines, innovative companies and economic growth, citing its own Farma-Biotech programme and preclinical and translational research projects as existing vehicles for technology transfer.

Sustainability, red tape and international promotion

The ninth line covers environmental and social sustainability and good governance, with work on decarbonisation and the circular economy, and a request that environmental policy produce proportionate rules that preserve competitiveness, productive capacity and strategic autonomy, alongside measures on inclusion and diversity. The tenth seeks an administrative framework without bureaucratic barriers: lighter reporting burdens, use of artificial intelligence, replication of the European Union's Omnibus approach, wider use of single windows and single contact points, a once-only principle for submitting information and generalised electronic documentation and signatures.

Taken together, Farmaindustria says the ten measures are intended to:

• accelerate patient access to innovation;
• boost research and the manufacturing of medicines;
• attract new investment;
• generate highly qualified employment;
• strengthen collaboration between the health system, the scientific community and business.

The association adds that achieving this requires a coordinated international promotion strategy, alliances with global hubs, active biopharmaceutical diplomacy, institutional participation in national and global forums, and strategic agreements with other biopharmaceutical ecosystems.