The Government concluded a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the French pharmaceutical company Servier Hungary which was signed by Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga and Servier CEO Michel Eschenbrenner at the company’s pharmaceutical chemistry research facility in Budapest.
In his speech, the Minister highlighted that the Hungarian Government highly regards the role which Servier has been playing in the field of Hungarian pharmaceutical research. The company conducts a significant share of research activities at their Hungarian headquarters and they also operate a regional clinical research centre. This provides the opportunity for highly skilled Hungarian specialists to have a successful professional career in their home country.
Mihály Varga added that Servier Hungary also engages Hungarian higher education institutions and research centres in their research, development and innovation activities. The conglomerate has been attached to the country in various ways and through its investment it has significantly contributed to Hungary’s economic performance.
The Minister stressed that it has been one of the key objectives of the Government to transform Hungary from a production centre into an important R&D hub of Europe. In addition to Government efforts, the European Union’s intentions are also aiming to realize this goal, as they are aspiring to utilize available resources for improving competitiveness in general and boosting innovation in particular.
He explained that in the coming EU fiscal period grants of HUF 520bn and refundable resources of HUF 200bn will be made available for research, development and innovation through the fund of the Economic Development and Innovation Operative Programme. In addition to that, Hungarian applicants are expected to win funding of as much as EUR 300-350 million from the total amount of EUR 77bn of the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.
As Michel Eschenbrenner said the Servier Group spends an outstanding amount each year on R&D: in 2013 the company devoted 27 percent of revenues to this end. Thus far, the company has developed 50 thousand synthetic molecules, obtained 25 thousand patents and they are currently working on the development of 25 molecules.
The main research fields of the enterprise are neurology, metabolism-related diseases, diabetes, cardiology and oncology. He also pointed out that the three most significant products stem from the discoveries of Hungarian researchers; Dr László Beregi, the acclaimed scientist and friend of company founder Jacques Servier, also worked for the company as a director. The CEO emphasised that for the enterprise Hungary is the second most significant country following France and they have been strategic partners of the country for two decades.
Dr Gábor Blaskó, Academician and CEO of Servier Research Institute of Medicinal Chemistry Ltd, said that the Servier Group has four enterprises in Hungary, among them Egis Pharmaceuticals Ltd. He added that in addition to state funding of R&D, 40 percent of industrial R&D spending is financed by the pharmaceuticals industry. Within that, the largest contributors are Richter, Egis and Servier.
(Ministry for National Economy)
