We are strongly focused this week on the implications of US tariff policy on jobs in Irish-based pharma companies. However, US policies may have broader implications for the research that underpins development of new drugs, and for the pharmaceutical sector worldwide.
To date, the US has been the leading country for research in human health. US discoveries have been central to curing or preventing certain conditions, and to management of chronic diseases. A key enabler of this work has been a US Federal government institution, the National Institute of Health (NIH). This body employs thousands of scientists across 27 centres dedicated to treating disease. It has also been a leading funder of medical research by some 300,000 scientists working at more than 2,500 universities across the US.
The research undertaken by the NIH has been responsible for vital improvements in healthcare. Its researchers played a key role in deciphering the human genetic code, they discovered hepatitis C, and isolated the Aids virus. They helped develop the first drug to treat Aids. Because of this research, many of those who would otherwise have died are living normal healthy lives.
It is no accident that many of the top pharmaceutical companies are US owned. They have been able to leverage their own research off the work of the NIH. Without access to this US scientific community, they would not have been able to develop and produce the huge range of pharmaceuticals the world relies on today.
Since January, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has implemented major cuts in the work of the NIH. According to the New York Times, in February DOGE banned NIH scientists from publishing their scientific results in academic journals. All scientific research builds on the results of others, and peer review and publication in academic journals are key processes in the research ecosystem. A particularly petty cut means there is no funding to transport blood samples that have been collected to laboratories where they could be analysed, which is a vital part of any medical research.
Funding for health research by major universities has also been cut, or in some cases ended.
In addition, any scientists who are not US citizens are feeling vulnerable. The snatching of a number of university researchers for deportation because they demonstrated against the war in Gaza or for other political views has shocked many in the scientific community. One of the strengths of US research has traditionally been that it attracted the best and the brightest from around the world.
If this war against science continues, we could see a dramatic fall off in US medical research, and the resulting pipeline of new drugs developed by US pharmaceutical companies.
This crisis in the US scientific community is an opportunity for Europe. European universities are waking up to the large pool of US-based researchers potentially interested in crossing the Atlantic for a more secure academic home. By active recruitment of such scientists, Europe could rapidly strengthen its capacity to generate world-beating research.
To attract many of those on the US “transfer” list, Europe would firstly need to allocate major funding to allow research programmes, now being disrupted in the US, to continue here. While the cost could amount to billions of euro, it would produce a big economic return in the development of new intellectual property and it would continue to drive progress in improving human health.
Top researchers want to work in stimulating intellectual centres. A critical mass is needed to create that research environment. We need to have major European academic centres, with a track record in medical research, to attract and host large new health research teams.
Europe also needs to make it easy for researchers – and their families – to relocate. A simplified and speedy process for issuing visas for scientists relocation would be required. As research collaborations across different universities are important, researchers will need a visa that will allow them to travel and work across the EU. Because Ireland is outside the Schengen travel area, that might make it more difficult to attract people here.
This is a once in a generation opportunity for the EU to become the world centre of excellence in health research. This could stimulate economic growth, in line with the ambitions of the Draghi report. Fostering scientific inquiry in the health field will also improve health outcomes across the globe.
Ireland could use our forthcoming EU presidency to accelerate the measures needed to attract talent and build up Europe’s health research capacity.
