Some of Europe’s biggest pharmaceutical companies have said the continent is “losing ground” to rivals including the US and China in developing new drugs and attracting investment. The chairs of nine companies, including Britain’s AstraZeneca, GSK and Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, wrote to Andy Burnham and the national leaders of other European countries on Tuesday to call for action to “safeguard our companies’ future”. The letter, entitled Europe is Losing the Pharma Investment Race – But the Comeback is Within Reach, called on governments to treat medicines as strategic infrastructure, secure…