Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) President and CEO John J. Castellani released the statement below following the President's State of the Union address. The video provides more details on his views on pharmaceutical innovation and the economy.
“We commend the President for offering an ambitious agenda that focuses on bolstering the economy, job growth and strengthening our education system to ensure that we attract and retain the world’s best and brightest talent.
“While innovation and American competitiveness were also central themes in the President’s address, we believe that medical innovation specifically will continue to play a crucial role in advancing patient health and spurring economic growth in the U.S. The President recognized this crucial point tonight, as he stressed the need for investments in biomedical research. The good news is that this important research is already taking place – with more than $65 billion invested in R&D by the biopharmaceutical industry in 2009 alone.
“There is no doubt that innovation is a critical building block for growing the U.S. economy. For this reason, it is important that the Administration and Congress view the biopharmaceutical research sector – one of the most innovative, technology-driven sectors in America – as a national health and economic asset. Our global leadership in medical progress, and the domestic jobs and economic output that goes along with it, is ours to lose if our nation’s leaders don’t support policies that help preserve and nurture future medical innovation.
“We will continue to work with the Administration and members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, on bipartisan solutions that can help spur growth in the U.S. economy, preserve timely patient access to new medicines, maintain market-based competition and foster future development of life-enhancing and life-saving treatments.”