Addressing the medical challenges of our time

These life-saving and life-enhancing drugs are available to patients thanks to the work of our researchers. Biomedical research alone now generates about half of all of Europe’s scientific publications and these represent the largest world share, ahead of the US. New research in Europe is enabling progress in particular in the areas of personalised medicines, orphan drugs and biologics.

However gratifying the end results are, the research and development (R&D) process for drugs can be a long and expensive road. It can take up to 13 years to take a medicine from its origins as a molecule to a treatment with tangible benefits for patients. And, according to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, in 2012, the cost of researching and developing a new chemical or biological entity was estimated at a staggering EUR 1 172 billion.

There’s no doubt that answering the medical challenges of our time certainly involves dedication and investment. That’s why, during the first two years of Horizon 2020, the EU will invest some EUR 1.2 billion in research related to health, demographic change and wellbeing. It aims to keep older people active and independent for longer and supports the development of new, safer and more effective interventions.