The pharmaceutical sector, Spain’s big opportunity

July 21rd

One of the great revelations of the Covid pandemic has undoubtedly been the need to concentrate a strong pharmaceutical industry in Spain, capable of providing us with a certain degree of independence in critical times such as those we have experienced.

For cost reasons, Europe has delocalized this industry and has become dependent on the globalized world. It is time to reverse this situation and concentrate the manufacture of strategic equipment and drugs on the continent and, of course, in our country.

The Next Generation recovery funds are a golden opportunity. Taking advantage of part of the aid to achieve this objective in the shortest possible time should be a challenge for the Government. The industry has already presented a project with an investment of 1,700 million euros involving 40 companies, so it has its hopes in the Perte of the healthcare sector recently approved by the Government.

The healthcare sector must be a state strategy because it is present in a very important part of the economic activity of any country. We have all witnessed its enormous effort to deal with health emergencies, with the development of vaccines in record time and rapid and effective treatments against the coronavirus.

Because of the driving force of its companies, the pharmaceutical industry offers the opportunity to contribute to promoting the long-awaited new production model for Spain. A couple of facts: the 250 companies in the following ranking have a turnover of 72,000 million euros in Spain and generate direct employment for 306,000 workers.

According to industry data, just by increasing investment in healthcare by two points of GDP, Spain’s wealth would increase by 427,000 million euros in 2040. Therefore, the bet on this sector is safe. It would be the perfect complement, together with tourism and the renewable or automotive industries, to attract foreign investment linked to innovation.