“They say health is priceless... but medicines have a cost.” — Karine Pinon

Welcome to Pharma Minds, in this mini-series “Who controls innovation?”, we explore this question in two parts: who controls innovation — and who actually makes it happen.

We often talk about healthcare access in terms of price. But access also fundamentally depends on availability. Today, mature medicines - the essential, everyday treatments that sustain public health - operate on low margins and rely on highly fragile global supply chains.

In this final episode of the mini-series, we explore the reality of production with Karine Pinon, Founder and CEO of the LXO Group. Karine defends a clear and urgent idea: pharmaceutical production must remain economically viable in Europe. Since this conversation was recorded, that commitment has crystallized into MedFrance, the professional organization she founded to defend local pharmaceutical manufacturing. Because bringing production back home is not just an industrial issue - it is a matter of absolute sovereignty.

In this episode, we cover:
◾️The Cost of Health: Uncovering the true economics of medicine and why mature treatments are essential to public health despite being often overlooked.
◾️The Supply Chain Crisis: Why drug shortages happen and the immense pressure placed on pharmaceutical SMEs by heavy taxation and shrinking margins.
◾️Sovereignty & Local Production: Karine's fight to make local, transparent, and responsible manufacturing economically viable in France and Europe.
◾️The Future of Manufacturing: Why integrating sustainability, job creation, and transparency into the pharma strategy is a necessity for European independence.

As we conclude this series, a clear pattern appears: Innovation is a global competition. Access is negotiated locally. Production remains economically fragile.

👉 Should Europe actively support local pharmaceutical manufacturing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Science creates hope. Reality decides impact. If you want to follow the whole series, don't forget to subscribe!

-

Timeline :

00:00 | Essential medicines & European pharma sovereignty
01:43 | Mature medicines: the 95% of drugs no one talks about
06:19 | Drug shortages: when margins break the supply chain
10:37 | Pharma manufacturing in France & Europe
15:17 | Transparency: where are your medicines really made?
17:31 | Reshoring pharma & local manufacturing in Europe
25:54 | Closing: why production is political
____________________________________________________________________

This episode has been translated with the help of AI tools.
Originally released on: 05/05/2025.
To listen to the original French version of this episode: https://smartlink.ausha.co/pharma-minds/36-medicaments-essentiels-la-strategie-de-lxo-pour-produire-local-et-durable-avec-karine-pinon

_____________________________________________________________________

✅ Don't forget to subscribe and show your support by hitting the like button! Your support helps us attract exceptional guests for our upcoming episodes 🙌