BERLIN, July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — John C. Lechleiter, Ph.D.,
chairman, president and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and
Company (NYSE:
LLY), today urged that biopharmaceuticals be included in
transatlantic trade and economic discussions. Lechleiter
participated in the American Council on Germany’s conference on
“The Transatlantic Partnership in the 21st Century,” joining U.S.
Fed Chairman Paul Volcker; German State Secretary in the Federal
Finance Ministry Jorg Asmussen; and Handlesblatt
editor-in-chief Gabor Steingart in a panel discussion.
“Biopharmaceutical innovation has enormous global economic and
social benefits,” said Lechleiter. “New medicines are one of the
most cost-effective investments we can make to improve health care
and enable more efficient use of health care budgets. The whole
world has a stake in policies in Europe and America that promote
innovation and trade to address the vast unmet medical needs of
growing and aging populations.”
Even with these benefits, biopharmaceutical innovation is very
susceptible to the political environment – both nationally
and internationally. Lechleiter explained that responses to
short-term cost pressures by government payers are hampering the
sector, citing recent reforms in Germany as an example.
“We must ensure that health care reform in our countries will
help promote biopharmaceutical innovation and not undermine it,”
said Lechleiter. “Health care reform should focus on creating
value through the system — and that means promoting
innovation and efficiency. Even the absolute requirements of
our sector in global markets – intellectual property
protection, supply chain security and anti-counterfeiting measures
– are far from secure.”
To spur trans-Atlantic trade in pharmaceuticals and
maintain medical in
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