AstraZeneca, GSK Warn Europe's Pharma Industry 'At Risk' as R&D Share Falls to 31%

Europe's largest pharmaceutical companies warned on September 22, 2026, that the continent's drug industry faces a "slow agony" of decline as it loses ground to the US and China in medical research and development. AstraZeneca, GSK, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Roche and Novartis said in an open letter that Europe's share of global pharmaceutical R&D has fallen to 31% from 43% in 1990. China now leads Europe in clinical trials, pharmaceutical patents and new medicine development, the executives wrote. The companies said up to 40% of newly approved therapies never reach European patients, while patients wait nearly 600 days for drugs that do. Europe's €220 billion ($190 billion) drug trade surplus is at risk, they added, estimating that closing the clinical-trial gap would unlock €53 billion and create 82,000 jobs. AstraZeneca has announced plans to invest $50 billion in the US, and completed a US direct listing earlier this year.