Expanding drug pipeline will be compromised by funding crisis says France Biotech

Product Pipeline Review 2008 shows that the number of drugs and medical devices in late-stage development rose markedly, thanks to significant levels of investment over the period 2005-2007, but France Biotech says today’s poor investment climate is prompting concern for the future.

The 3rd edition of the annual Drug Pipeline Review was part-funded by the French Ministry of the Economy, Industry & Finance.

The study summarises and analyses data collected in 2008 on 227 healthcare products under development, including 158 drugs at 51 life science companies, 41 in vitro diagnostics at 22 companies, and 28 medical devices at 17 companies. In all, 85 French life sciences SMEs developing healthcare products participated in the survey. Most were incorporated fairly recently – 45 per cent in the last 5 years, half of which are developing drugs.

“The dynamic growth of France’s life science industry, as revealed by the increasing number of very innovative products in the pipeline, may well slacken off,” said Philippe Pouletty, Chairman of France Biotech. “In fact, with a 79 per cent drop in investment in 2008, our innovative SMEs are going to have trouble funding all their drug development programs because they are very resource-intensive.”

On February 5, France Biotech joined in its counterparts in Norway and the UK in calling for government help to steer the sector through the funding crisis.