Studies Show Eastern European R&D Gulf With Western Peers

Against a backdrop of falling R&D spending throughout Western Europe compared to the US and Canada, studies indicate that the newest European Union (EU) member states have even lower annual research spending.

While some exceptional EU member states such as Sweden report industrial R&D spending of 4.19% of GDP, well above the "Lisbon Strategy" target of 3%, countries including Poland, Slovakia and Latvia report rates around the 0.5% level. Further, while in the US the private sector accounts for 64.4% of R&D funding, in Poland this rate is only 31%.

In terms of the pharmaceutical industry, this comes as little surprise, in view of Eastern Europe's relatively less-sophisticated drug market. With much of the cost-conscious regional industry focused on generics, there is less incentive for innovation. Nevertheless, as the new EU member states become an increasingly attractive location for contract research, it can be assumed that Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic will move to catch up with leading EU rivals on R&D spending.