New initiative: How to leverage the rich industrial heritage of Ukraine's pharmaceutical industry in partnership with the EU.
How to revitalize the rich industrial heritage of Ukraine? The Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich is making a scientific contribution to economic reconstruction: With its project "From Legacy to Leadership," funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, it is developing a playbook to rebuild Ukraine's pharmaceutical industry in Partnership with the EU. This will enable the country's heritage and expertise to be used to strengthen EU supply chains and boost Ukraine's economy.
From patents to supply chains: the industrial heritage of strong industrial sectors can be revived.
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The project is grounded in a striking observation: Ukraine was the dominant location of pharmaceutical production in the USSR, accounting for over 70% of the total Soviet pharmaceutical R&D and production capacity. Today, these capabilities remain still "in the ground and air". Economists refer to this legacy as the country's "industrial memory". These unique capabilities hold significant relevance for discussions on industrial policy and highlight Ukraine's potential to reclaim its position as a major player in the global pharmaceutical industry.
"Rebuilding Ukraine's pharmaceutical sector is a strategic win-win project. An EU-integrated Ukrainian pharma sector could strengthen Continental supply chain resilience," Dietmar Harhoff, Director of Max Planck Institute of Innovation and Competition in Munich says. The COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions exposed Europe's overreliance on Asian producers for medicine. Having a modern Ukrainian pharmaceutical base next to the EU would diversify supply sources and act as a buffer in times of crisis.
The project proposes developing a comprehensive playbook to support the rebirth of Ukraine's pharma industry. This playbook will help fill gaps in the EU's supply networks and create a high-value added component for Ukraine's economy by contributing to the country's economic growth and resilience.
Members of the project team working at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition are:
- Prof. Dietmar Harhoff, Ph.D. (Director at the Institute)
- Prof. Dr. Nataliia Mazaraki (Head of the Academic Department of International, Civil, and Commercial Law at the State University of Trade and Economics, Ukraine)
- Prof. Dr. Liudmyla Petrenko (Business Economics and Entrepreneurship Department at Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman)
- Senior Research Fellows Michael E. Rose, Ph.D., and Dr. Daria Kim.
The local team will collaborate closely with Ukrainian researchers and institutions, which will play a key role in shaping the project's research agenda and ensuring its relevance to the Ukrainian context.
Through this collaboration, a deeper understanding of the country's industrial capabilities and identify opportunities for growth and development will be fostered.
The Max Planck Institute is grateful for the VolkswagenStiftung's support, which once again recognizes the value of unorthodox research and its potential to drive positive change. The funding will enable the Institute to pursue the ambitious goals and meaningfully contribute to the revitalization of Ukraine's pharmaceutical industry.
