Promote innovation and improve knowledge transfer in health We need a reliable framework for promoting and protecting innovation in Germany and Europe. Before investing in development of new active substances and products, the health industry needs an adequate level of certainty regarding the regulatory environment. Against a backdrop of increasing international competition, the EU should create a coherent legal framework to remove structural barriers to innovation. This is essential for ensuring that scientific excellence is rapidly translated into economic benefits and industrial competitiveness. The mission letter to the new EU health commissioner highlights the need for the European health industry to remain an innovator and world leader. Europe therefore needs to develop a coordinated strategy for creating a framework that will enable a supportive business environment. This in turn can lead to development of sustainable innovation and digital change while facilitating the creation of start-ups and the growth of existing businesses. This necessitates close cooperation between EU Member States. Only by working together will Europe remain globally competitive in the future. Germany also needs to boost its innovation strategies. It has already taken steps to strengthen innovation partnerships with other countries. InnoHealth China, for example, is part of the fourth phase of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s International Research Marketing initiative. For the period 2019–20, it is being led by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Recommendations on Innovation Promotion in Europe and Germany: Support innovation and digital change: We need a coordinated strategy and coherent legislation in Germany and Europe for creating a business environment that will support sustainable innovation and digital change in the health industry.
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Boost knowledge transfer: To enable breakthrough innovations in the health industry, we need to strengthen the European Research Area and EU framework programs, and boost knowledge transfer between academic and industrial health research sectors.
Upgrade research funding: The EU’s Horizon Europe (2021–2027) research funding program needs to have at least EUR 120 billion available to make the European ecosystem globally competitive for research and innovation. Promote partnerships: Health undertakings within Horizon Europe should involve partners from the entire industrial health care sector and the pharmaceutical industry, following the example of the Innovation Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public private partnership (PPP). Involve industry: To enable risk-based, technology-adjusted measures rather than uniform solutions in the health industry, we recommend strong industry participation in the planned Digital Europe program. Protection of intellectual property is a critical factor in promoting investment in research and development both in Germany and in Europe, especially in the highly innovative field of health technology. The health industry should therefore continue to be closely involved in developing this system. Learn from one another: We recommend implementing institutions that observe and analyze health-related developments in China, as well as discussions of relevant insights with the European health industry.
Assess innovation capacity: We recommend that the European Commission’s revised impact assessment procedure should include regular assessments of the impact on innovation capacity.
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