Francesco Mazza, Legal, Fiscal, Compliance, and Regional Regulation Director at Farmindustria, offered a critical perspective on the regulatory and legislative challenges faced by pharmaceutical companies in Europe during the event “Patents and Secrets: Technology Transfer in Life Sciences.” Mazza outlined the difficulties encountered by companies due to European regulations, emphasizing how these can negatively impact competitiveness.

Mazza highlighted the review of European pharmaceutical legislation: “The revision of European pharmaceutical legislation does not help pharmaceutical companies operating in Europe” and pointed out how the current regulations “can further distance European companies from their global competitors, such as those in the USA and Japan.”

Mazza also touched on the issues of data protection and marketing protection, which are crucial for the sector. “Losing six months of data protection or six months of patent has a fundamental and essential impact on our sector,” he clarified, underscoring the importance of these factors for the competitiveness of companies. The speech also focused on the need for a renewal of the European approach to research and development. “Europe must realize, not only in documents, that research is very important,” Mazza urged, hoping for a change that would promote greater support for pharmaceutical companies.

Finally, he reiterated the importance of dialogue and collaboration between the public and private sectors. “Public-private partnership is extremely important,” he said, highlighting how pharmaceutical companies are often the main funders of research. He also emphasized the need for balance and mutual protection in these collaborations, “the guidelines are already a first step in this direction,” expressing cautious optimism about the future of the sector in Italy and Europe.