With the general elections of 29 November already on the near horizon, health is beginning to carve out space on the agenda of the parties, and the pharmaceutical industry wants to ensure that it does not end up as a secondary matter. Farmaindustria, the employers’ organization of innovative pharmaceutical companies, is bringing to the various political formations a document with three proposals for the next legislature. Its declared goal is for Spain to win in health, innovation, and competitiveness.
The proposal starts from a known diagnosis: the aging of the population and the rise of chronic diseases are putting pressure on the health system. The association argues that the next Government must tackle those challenges and, at the same time, take advantage of biomedical innovation, health data, and new technologies.
One more point of GDP for public healthcare
The first proposal is the most ambitious in budgetary terms. Farmaindustria proposes progressively increasing by one point the public investment in Health, in coordination with the autonomous communities, which are the ones that manage the system.
According to the organization, that additional effort would allow strengthening prevention, with more screening tests, early diagnosis, and immunization. It would also allow planning the arrival of new treatments, measuring health outcomes, consolidating value-based financing, and strengthening healthcare resources and infrastructure.
The additional effort would make it possible to strengthen prevention, with more screening tests, early diagnosis, and immunization
The employers’ organization supports the proposal with an economic argument. A sustained increase of one point of GDP, until reaching 7.5% in 2035, would increase Spain’s GDP by more than 200,000 million euros in that period, according to the calculations it cites.
Innovative medicines, no matter where you live
The second proposal points to one of the system’s weak points: the time it takes an authorized medicine to reach the patient. Farmaindustria calls for meeting European deadlines to resolve financing for new drugs, 180 days with a fast track of 90 for priority innovations. It also asks to eliminate regional differences, so that the place of residence does not condition treatment options, and to increase effective access to medicines approved by the European Medicines Agency.
The association recognizes that Spain is a leader in clinical trials, but admits that this leadership has not yet translated into the availability of medicines. In doing so, it emphasizes that there is still a path to be covered.
R&D and strategic autonomy as a matter of State policy
The third block asks that biomedical research and strategic autonomy be treated as matters of State policy, that is, above election cycles. Among the specific measures are:
- Strengthen leadership in clinical trials, with more technology and greater participation from primary care.
- Create strategic reserves of critical medicines.
- Recognize the industrial and research footprint in public policies.
- Position Spain as a benchmark in the secondary use of health data to investigate new treatments.
With this, the industry assures that the country would gain in supply security, qualified employment, and responsiveness in the face of future health crises.
The figures of economic potential
Farmaindustria insists that the benefit would not be only health-related. In a context of geopolitical uncertainty and legislative changes in the health and pharmaceutical sphere, the employers’ association estimates that a competitive and predictable framework, with regulatory stability and clear signals for investment, would have a notable impact:
- Investment: 21.5 billion euros between 2027 and 2030.
- Exports: 30.0 billion euros.
- Employment: 81,000 direct jobs in 2030, with 4,600 new hires each year.
The organization recalls that the sector already contributes more than 27.4 billion euros per year to the State, between savings in other public budget items and tax revenue. It cites an report on how innovative medicines contribute to the sustainability of the health system. That study indicates that the weight of medicines in public spending fell from 4% in 2003 to 3.4% in 2024, and that their share of GDP remains stable at 1.6% for more than two decades. From this, the employers’ association concludes that investment in innovation can be strengthened without compromising the system’s sustainability.
"Health must be a priority for the country"
The managing director of Farmaindustria, Juan Yermo, defended the proposals in his LinkedIn profile. On that platform, he recalled that the political debate focuses, "as is logical," on the priorities of the next Government, and he argued that among them there should undoubtedly be guaranteeing the health and well-being of people and promoting science and innovation.
Yermo assured that the measures represent an opportunity not only for health and quality of life, but also for the economy and for "a leading industry in productivity and quality employment". He added that consolidating Spain as a benchmark in science, innovation and pharmaceutical production requires "long-term vision, stable policies and the commitment of all".
"Health must be a priority for the country, beyond electoral cycles," he concluded, and pledged to contribute to that goal through dialogue and collaboration with all political forces.
What remains to be seen
The proposals arrive in the middle of the campaign and it remains to be seen which ones are taken up in the programs (which are already being made known) and to what degree of commitment. It is also worth bearing in mind that the figures on investment, exports and employment are estimates from the industry itself, which thus defends a regulatory and financing framework favorable to its interests. Any increase of one point of GDP in healthcare would additionally require an agreement with the autonomous communities and a decision on how to finance it.