New safe medicines faster: A proposal for a key action within the European union's 6th framework programme

The global competitiveness of the European pharmaceutical industry is under threat. Technology currently available for the development of new medicines is unable to match the pace of drug discovery and design; and the ever-growing demand for safety, efficacy and quality documentation has increased the cost and time involved in getting new medicines on the market. Although the pharmaceutical industry is one of the strongest in Europe in terms of research, innovation, exports and employment, there are severe restrictions on its ability to create wealth and launch safe drugs for the treatment of common and rare afflictions. The present situation should not be allowed to continue. For this reason, the European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences (EUFEPS) has proposed a key action under the title "New safe medicines faster" for the forthcoming EU 6th RTD framework programme. The key action has three main objectives: to seek new technologies capable of more effective selection of potential drug candidates for innovative medicines while accommodating safety demands; to use such technologies to speed up the pharmaceutical development process and eliminate bottlenecks created by initial exploratory drug research; and to cultivate a pan-European interdisciplinary network that bridges the gap between industry, academia and regulatory authorities. By involving regulatory authorities early on and fuelling research and innovation with EU money it should be possible to create a new set of recognised European standards whereby new safe medicines can be brought onto the market faster and cheaper.