Commenting on the announcement, Richard Bergström, Director General of EFPIA, said: “The European Commission should be commended for their intention to further develop public-private partnerships (PPP). There is shared understanding that private companies and public bodies must collaborate more and to think about new business models which allow us to work much more quickly to meet unmet needs”.

He added: “EFPIA confirms industry interest in continuing public-private collaborations which will enable game changing biopharmaceutical research projects that address scientific and technological bottlenecks in areas with grand societal challenges, such as antimicrobial resistance. Such PPPs in life sciences will clearly contribute to the three cornerstones of the Commission proposal: Excellent Science Base, the Industrial Leadership and Competitive Frameworks and Tackling Societal Challenges.”

Mr Bergström continued: “EFPIA members are already committed to the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). In IMI the EU Commission contributes 1 Billion Euro in cash and EFPIA member companies add an equal 1 Billion Euro as in-kind contributions. This is a unique and first of its kind public-private partnership where cooperation between academia, SMEs and the industry has changed the understanding and perspective of public private partnerships within life science. There is therefore a desire to build on the success and positive learnings from IMI to develop a new Partnership Framework with the European Commission focused on pharmaceutical R&D. He concluded: “We are excited about the possibility to work further with the European Commission under Horizon 2020 - a new model for developing and sharing knowledge”.

Horizon 2020 will be the EU’s funding instrument to implement the Innovation Union. It responds to the conclusions of the 4th February 2011 European Council. This framework is part of the European Commission’s proposed European Union budget for the period 2014 to 2020. Horizon 2020 is designed to last until the end of this decade. It will now be discussed by the European Parliament and by Member States.