Europe falling behind US and China in pharma innovation, warns AstraZeneca chief

• Published date: 25 April 2024
• Author: Ian Johnston
• Publication title: Irish Times: Web Edition Articles (Dublin, Ireland)

"Innovation in our industry is driven by the US and China; Europe is unfortunately falling behind," said Pascal Soriot, who himself secured a controversial pay rise earlier this month. "Investments in life sciences are taking place in the US and, as a consequence, lots of the talent is based in the US."

The US's lead in the pharma industry means that European companies are in a battle for talent with rivals that pay much higher salaries.

The warning came as UK-listed AstraZeneca posted a 19 per cent increase in revenues in the first quarter of 2024, and after Mr Soriot secured a bumper potential pay rise of £1.8 million (€2.1m) earlier this month to earn a maximum of £18.7 million this year.

While the pay package is high by European standards, Mr Soriot said the goal was to make the AstraZeneca chief executive role appealing on a global level, to attract candidates in the US once he steps down from the role he has occupied since 2012.

"I intend to be here for a while still but there will be a successor. Our internal candidates, but also external candidates, will have to be offered a role that is attractive," he said. "This industry is a global industry and a lot of the talent is based in the US."

Mr Soriot's comments come amid an ongoing debate over European competitiveness, with political and business leaders across the continent stressing the need for Europe's industries to challenge the US and China more effectively.

Nicolai Tangen, chief executive of Norway's $1.6 trillion oil fund, said on Wednesday that Europeans were "less hard-working" than Americans, leading to US companies outpacing European rivals in innovation.

According to a European Commission analysis of the world's 2,500 highest spending companies in research and development published in 2023, 12 per cent of leading companies investing in health research are based in Europe, compared with 55 per cent in...