The European Commission's FP7 Programme to Boost the Life Science R&D Funding in Europe, Finds Frost & Sullivan

LONDON, April 27, 2010 - Europe is moving towards becoming a knowledge-based economy. Keeping in
line with this objective, the European commission has instituted the
Framework 7 (FP7) programme. Launched to support the re-launched Lisbon
strategy, FP7 focuses on research themes rather than the framework programmes
of the past. It has been designed to meet some of the persisting challenges
of raising Europe to match global excellence in research, thereby benefiting
the European life science funding.

(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO)

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.pharma.frost.com), Life
Sciences Funding - 2008, finds that the budget allocated in the FP6 was euro
2.51 billion and it witnessed a tremendous increase of 143 per cent, while
the budget allocated for FP7 was euro 6.10 billion towards health from 2007
to 2013. The markets covered in this research service are Europe, the United
Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

"The key to a knowledge-based economy lies in research, education, and
innovation and this is what the European commission is targeting in order to
reach the Lisbon goals," says Frost & Sullivan Consultant Shabeer Hussain.
"The FP7 programme has incorporated European technology platforms and joint
technology initiatives along with developing regions of knowledge and
risk-sharing finance facility to nurture private investment in research."

The EU member states have committed to increase their R&D spending from
the current 2 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to 3 per cent by
2010. The increase in FP7 budgets convey this message towards the 3 per cent
GDP goal and, in turn, urge the member states to tackle their research
insensitivity.

Innovation-driven growth can be achieved through superior human capital
and increased competitiveness on a global scale. Scientific publications and
patents that are generated out of Europe are still fewer when compared to the
United States and Japan. Research personnel with higher skill-sets will
contribute more towards innovation and productivity. Therefore, investment in
this area is of prime importance.

However, as Europe has several policies to promote research, innovation
and entrepreneurship in the EU member states, the EU countries vary
significantly in their abilities to develop technology and knowledge
transfer. This deters growth prospects of the EU countries, thereby retarding
the growth of Europe as a whole.

"The move towards innovation-based growth is very crucial to raise the
European research level on the global arena and innovation is possible only
with better partnerships among the private and public sectors," concludes
Hussain. "Therefore, it becomes pivotal to form innovation clusters at the
region level."

If you are interested in more information on Frost & Sullivan's research
'Life Sciences Funding - 2008', please send an e-mail to Katja Feick,
Corporate Communications, at katja.feick@frost.com, with your full name,
company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company
website, city, state and country.

Life Sciences Funding - 2008 is part of the Pharmaceuticals &
Biotechnology Growth Partnership Services programme, which also includes
research in the following markets: Mergers and acquisitions in Biotech
Industry, Opportunities in Drug Delivery: Opening the doors to
macromolecules, and Emerging therapeutic segments in the European
Biopharmaceutical Markets. All research services included in subscriptions
provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been
evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to
accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation
and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and
the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to
drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth
strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in
partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment
community from 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership,
please visit www.frost.com.

                    Life Sciences Funding - 2008 (M48F)

    Contact:
    Katja Feick
    Corporate Communications - Europe
    P: +49(0)69-7703343
    E: katja.feick@frost.com
    www.frost.com
    Twitter: twitter.com/frost_sullivan

Katja Feick, Frost & Sullivan, Corporate Communications - Europe, +49(0)69-7703343, katja.feick at frost.com