SMEs’ involvement in medical innovation reaches ‘record’ level

European Medicines Agency hails small companies as “major driver of innovation in the pharmaceutical industry”

European efforts to encourage small businesses to thrive in the competitive pharmaceutical sector appear to be paying off, with the European Medicines Agency reporting record levels of innovation from such firms in 2020.

Concerns about barriers to small and medium-sized enterprises working in the research-intensive medical sector led the EU to adopt a package of measures, called the SME Regulation, in 2005 to assist them.