Pharmaceutical industry delivers value proposition to Finnish Government: billions to be invested by 2030

ORION CORPORATION
PRESS RELEASE
21 MARCH 2025 at 13:00 EET

In 2023, pharmaceutical companies invested more than EUR 460 million in Finland, half of which went into R&D and the other half into production.

On Friday 21 March, representatives of the pharmaceutical industry submitted the sector’s value proposition to Riikka Purra, the Minister of Finance. The industry wants to play its part in contributing to the Finnish Government’s plans for growth and is prepared to increase total investment in the pharmaceutical sector to EUR 1 billion by 2030. At the same time, the operating environment must be improved and it must be made easier to introduce new treatments.

“The global pharmaceutical industry invests in countries with high standards of competence and research excellence. In Finland, health and well-being have been identified as one of the sources of social renewal, productivity, economic growth and fiscal sustainability,” says Anne-Mari Virolainen, the Managing Director of Pharma Industry Finland (PIF).

To complement the final report of the Room for Growth project led by Risto Murto and the R&D strategy of the Research and Innovation Council, led by the Prime Minister, the health and well-being sector is in the process of forming its own growth programme.

“The health and pharmaceutical sector is one of the few industries that has increased its investments in Finland and its exports in recent years. According to preliminary data, the biggest increase in the value of exports in 2024 came from chemical industry products. Of these, exports of pharmaceutical products increased most, by 23.4%. Therefore, we believe that the pharmaceutical industry can play a key role in achieving Finland’s goal to increase R&D expenditure to 4% of GDP. This, however, requires a stronger strategic focus and continuous improvement of the operating environment,” says Liisa Hurme, President and CEO of Orion.

A key area for improvement is the number of clinical trials, which has been declining for years. Both the final report of Murto’s working group and the RDI Growth Programme for Health and Wellbeing identify national coordination of research as an important measure to boost R&D investment in the sector.

Globally, the pharmaceutical industry invests around EUR 300 billion annually in R&D. In Europe, the sector’s R&D investments were about EUR 47 billion in 2023. Finland is well placed to increase its R&D investment from the current EUR 230 million closer to the EUR 1 billion mark of its neighbours Sweden and Denmark. Strong R&D provides conditions for increasing investment from research all the way to production.

The sector expects the Government’s plans for growth to support the sector’s historic investment outlook. While it is important for growth-enhancing measures to be taken, it is also important to refrain from new austerity measures that would stifle growth in the sector.

Contact persons:
Liisa Hurme, President and CEO, Orion Corporation
liisa.hurme@orion.fi, tel. +358 10 426 2874

Anne-Mari Virolainen, Managing Director, Pharma Industry Finland
anne-mari.virolainen@pif.fi, tel. +358 50 512 1941

Publisher:
Orion Corporation
Communications
Orionintie 1A, FI-02200 Espoo, Finland
www.orionpharma.com

Orion is a globally operating Finnish pharmaceutical company – a builder of well-being for over a hundred years. We develop, manufacture and market human and veterinary pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Orion has an extensive portfolio of proprietary and generic medicines and consumer health products. The core therapy areas of our pharmaceutical R&D are oncology and pain. Proprietary products developed by Orion are used to treat cancer, neurological diseases and respiratory diseases, among others. Orion's net sales in 2024 amounted to EUR 1,542 million and the company had about 3,700 employees at the end of the year. Orion's A and B shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.