The latest news from Spanish pharmaceuticals and healthcare, including national champion Esteve’s decision to sell of a quarter of its stock to German private investment firm Lubea; news of pharma’s increased weighting in Spain’s exports for 2022; and why – bolstered by EU recovery funds – the country has a real opportunity to position itself as one of the continent’s leading nations for health data.
Spanish pharmaceutical firm Esteve sells 26% stake to Germany’s Lubea (Reuters)
Spanish pharmaceuticals company Esteve has agreed to sell a 26% stake to German private investment firm Lubea, which will become a strategic partner, the family-owned firm based in Barcelona said in a statement on Wednesday.
It did not disclose the value of the deal.
“We are pleased to have Lubea on board as a strategic partner,” Esteve CEO Staffan Schuberg wrote.
“This investment will provide us with the necessary resources to accelerate our growth and expand our presence in international markets, while remaining true to our purpose of improving people’s lives through our innovative pharmaceutical products,” he added.
End of mandatory Covid face masks in Spain’s health care facilities and pharmacies expected to be approved by government today (Sur in English)
Cabinet ministers in Spain are today (Tuesday, 4 July) expected to approve the end of the mandatory wearing of Covid face masks in health care facilities, social care centres and pharmacies, the only places where the requirement remained. After its publication in the Official State Gazette, which will likely take place on Wednesday, its use will be required only in areas where there are immunocompromised patients, such as cancer units or in operating theatres and intensive care units.
Izabel Alfany (EIT Health Spain): “Spain is a superpower in the field of data” (Diario Medico – in Spanish)
“Spain has many advantages that place it in a privileged position to lead innovation in health, specifically in the digital field.” This is the opinion of Izabel Alfany , general director of EIT Health Spain, who adds that “it could be said that we are a superpower in the field of data; we are among the top 5 countries in Europe in digitalization of medical records, we have strategies and plans in place, and at the public level, we are receiving funding from Europe channelled through the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE), and we are at the global forefront in clinical research.
The pharmaceutical industry becomes Spain’s third largest exporter in 2022 (Farmaindustria – in Spanish)
Companies operating in Spain increased their overseas sales by more than 53% last year, reaching EUR 26.8 billion, due to the temporary impact of Covid vaccines “We have a powerful industrial fabric with a significant presence of both national and multinational companies for which Spain is a key part of their production chain,” affirms the general director of Farmaindustria, Juan Yermo.
The green shoots of pharmaceutical R&D in Spain (Diario Medico – in Spanish)
Although there is still work to be done to promote R&D by private companies in Spain, some in the biomedical sector have opted for innovation within our borders.
Catalonia and pharmaceutical policy in Spain (El Global – in Spanish)
There was a time when Catalonia was an indispensable ally for the design of health policies in Spain. The region’s health advisors were consulted by the health ministers of the different governments. Those were times when the extinct Convergence i Unió played a moderating and decentralizing role, in a Madrid (Central Government)-Barcelona (CC.AA.) axis that was assumed by the rest of the health ministries of other Communities. A preponderant role of Catalonia in health matters was accepted, and its constructive influence in agreements and policies that especially affected the pharmaceutical sector.
Now, Catalonia continues to exercise political influence by facilitating, together with other parties, the formation of the Government of the legislature that is ending. For this reason, some deputies from independent parties have given the necessary stability to the Government of Pedro Sánchez. However, healthcare is no longer at the center of the Generalitat ‘s political discourse, especially healthcare throughout the territory, as it has been in the past. The Government of the Generalitat has stopped caring about participating in crucial aspects of State pharmaceutical policy, despite the importance of the sector that it continues to have in Catalonia.
