Diesen Newsletter in Deutsch anzeigen. March 28th, 2012
	To whom it may concern scienceindustries, the Swiss business association for the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotech industries, keeps you informed about the position of our industry on current economic and societal themes. Topics in this edition - Fairer regulations for foreign price comparisons of pharmaceutical prices are necessary - Free trade negotiations with India: substantial improvements in the protection of intellectual property are required - Research and production site Switzerland are inseparable - ERI dispatch 2013-2016: at least 6% growth per year - Position paper of the most important industrial electricity consumers on the Energy Strategy 2050 - Framework training plan for a vocational diploma: a suggestion supported by scienceindustries will presumably be implemented - BiobasedWorld at ACHEMA 2012. Industrial Biotechnology: innovation made in Switzerland - Nominations for election to the Board of scienceindustries Fairer regulations for foreign price comparisons of pharmaceutical prices are necessary On March 21, 2012, the Swiss Federal Council and the Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) agreed upon revisions to the regulatory foundations for the foreign price comparison (FPC) for pharmaceutical products covered by the statutory health insurance. Due to the extreme volatility of currency exchange rates, the application of the FPC has led to severe distortions. The pharmaceutical industry is now criticizing the measures that are passed as insufficient and say they are in fact worse than what was suggested earlier in the hearing. With these, the bandwidth for exceptions from the FPC will be raised from 3 percent to only 5 percent (instead of 6%, as originally intended). As a result, all pharmaceutical companies will suffer from unfair losses that are due solely to currency exchange rate distortions and are no longer in accordance with the original idea of having as fair an FPC as possible. scienceindustries is calling for the economic efficiency assessment of the drugs to be improved in the near future so that distorting external influences that do not appropriately reflect purchasing power in particular can be compensated for in an appropriate and timely manner. Free trade negotiations with India: substantial improvements in the protection of intellectual property are required The negotiations for the conclusion of a free trade agreement with India faltered at the end of 2011. As was the case previously, there continued to be significant differences of opinion regarding the extent of the customs reductions, agricultural concessions, protection of intellectual property as well as the opening of the market for services. scienceindustries continues to prominently call for improvements to the protection of intellectual property. In particular, importing should count as an exercise of the patent. Research and production site Switzerland are inseparable As a new study, internally available on «Membernet» shows, research and production cannot be arbitrarily separated from each other. The research process is closely connected with the production platform on a technological basis and the research must be financed by exports. In addition, local production has an important sociopolitical significance in Switzerland. As a result, scienceindustries is dedicated to the framework conditions for research as well as for production in Switzerland. ERI dispatch 2013-2016: at least 6% growth per year With the ERI dispatch 2013-2016, the Swiss Federal Council is proposing to increase the funds for the fields of education, research and innovation in the years 2013-2016 by an average of 3.7% per year. The Council of States will deal with the dispatch in the summer session as the first chamber. The advisory committee for science, education and culture will conduct hearings in this regard in April of 2012. scienceindustries will advocate for increasing the ERI funds by at least 6% per year, that the funding for the entire ERI period be bindingly agreed to, that the primary focus in the basic research be placed in the MINT field and that the higher education institutions be given the autonomy to set their own priorities. Position paper of the most important industrial electricity consumers on the Energy Strategy 2050 With regards to the Swiss Federal Council's Energy Strategy 2050, scienceindustries, in collaboration with two additional industry associations, is elaborating a position paper that is based upon the scienceindustries position paper on the electricity market from March of 2011. This joint position from the most important industrial electricity consumers (roughly half the industrial electricity consumption will be represented) is intended to be published prior to reaching a decision regarding the consultation procedure. Framework training plan for a vocational diploma: a suggestion supported by scienceindustries will presumably be implemented The suggestion for compromise supported by scienceindustries, regarding the regulation of the study "Chemistry and Life Sciences" in the vocational diploma ordinances, was decided upon by the steering committee "Framework Training Plan for a Vocational Diploma" in December of 2011 in a 12:1 vote. The highest authorities responsible for this issue, the Swiss Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology (OPET) as well as the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (CCME) agreed to this decision at the end of January 2012. The official consultation procedure for the new framework training plan was opened at the end of February 2012. Looking at things today, the chances are good that the suggestion of scienceindustries will be realized. BiobasedWorld at ACHEMA 2012. Industrial Biotechnology: Innovation made in Switzerland. scienceindustries, in collaboration with the Swiss Biotech Association, participates with a series of lectures on industrial biotechnology at the BiobasedWorld congress at ACHEMA 2012 (19th June 2012, Frankfurt, Germany). Experts from academia and industry report on the latest research developments, and discuss potential and opportunities for a successful implementation of industrial biotechnology in Switzerland. Nominations for election to the Board of scienceindustries The Board recommends that the following persons be elected as Board members of scienceindustries at the General Assembly on June 15, 2012. - Pascal Brenneisen, Head Novartis Switzerland - Dr. David R. Ebsworth, CEO Galenica Group AG - Dr. Toralf Haag, CFO Lonza AG The new Board members will replace those leaving their posts at the 2012 General Assembly, Michael F. Plüss, Stefan Borgas and Dr. Rolf Nyfeler. Would you like to know more about any of these issues or do you have any questions? If so, please contact our specialists at scienceindustries. Kind regards Dr. Beat Moser Director Marcel Sennhauser Communication scienceindustries Business Association Chemistry Pharma Biotech Nordstrasse 15 - P.O. Box CH-8021 Zurich Phone +41 44 368 17 11 Fax +41 44 368 17 70 E-Mail info@scienceindustries.ch Internet www.scienceindustries.ch Wenn Sie den nächsten Newsletter in Deutsch erhalten möchten, antworten Sie uns bitte mit "Sprache wechseln". unsubscribe | update profile | forward to a friend