German government’s Pharma Dialogue focuses on technology transfer and translation

On 4 November, the German government held the third round of top-level discussions as part of its Pharma Dialogue. At the beginning of the meeting, Sabine Weiss, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), announced that this would be last meeting at this level during the current legislative period and that the issues discussed would now be followed up at the technical level. She then opened the discussions by saying that the pharma and biotech industry was very innovative and dynamic, and that Germany ranked as one of the world’s most important locations for research and innovation. She then pointed out that the deep regulatory expertise needed to effectively move early ideas forward was, however, often lacking in academia and basic research, and that other regions were catching up. In conclusion she stated that it was therefore crucial to create and support well-functioning translation processes.