Brussels, 28/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - Under the title “Delivering Patient-Centred Innovation in Medicines - The Role of a Competitive European Pharmaceutical Industry”, the UK Presidency of the European Union will hold a semi-confidential meeting to which it has invited a number of people from the medicine industry, ministers and the European Commissioners for Industry, Gunter Verheugen, and Research, Janez Potocnik on 1 December in central London.
Chaired by MP Jane Kennedy, Secretary of State, the meeting will deal with innovation and competitiveness and wants to see a contribution to the activities started by the European Commission as part of drawing up a European industrial policy, in particular through the creation of a new pharmaceutical forum, which should meet for the first time in 2006, and the next mid-term review of the strategy for life-sciences and biotechnologies. Innovation, the price of medicines and information to patients are due to be at the heart of the discussions, in which notable participants will be the UK's Science Minister David Sainsbury, Italian Health Minister Francesco Storace and the French External Trade Minister François Loos.