BRUSSELS, Nov 6 Reuters A major pharmaceutical rules overhaul, proposed by the European Commission in April, could see Europe39;s share in global research and development contract by a third to 21 by 2040 translating to 2 billion euros 2.15 billion per year in lost investment, industry group EFPIA said on Monday.

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations EFPIA says the Commission has not conducted a competitiveness impact assessment and if the new rules become law, they would accelerate the negative innovation trend in the EU and hit small and mediumsized enterprises the hardest.

Any changes to our incentives system would equally affect EUbased and foreignbased companies which bring medicines to the EU and, therefore, it would not put EU firms at a disadvantage, an EU Commission spokesperson said.

Medication was the single biggest contributor to the EUs trade surplus, with 235 billion euro 252.13 billion worth of exports in 2021.

The EFPIA said small biotech companies have already moved to the United States and China.

The Commission has proposed shortening the time a new medicine remains patented in a bid to reduce the cost of medicines for its citizens with a faster shift to cheaper generics.

The Commission said its proposal would reduce new medicine approval times to 180 days from 400 days. It also includes boosts for small and mediumsized enterprises such a longer period to get data protection in all 27 member states as well as fee…