Pharmaceutical companies are seeing blue! If you don’t believe this then read on. In the year 2008, for the first time in the history of pharmaceutical industry, the spending done on prescribed drugs touched $1000 billion. This amount is significant because the growth has reached this far in spite of the growth rate in North America and Europe being on the slower side. Growth in emerging markets like China, Brazil and India will play a key role in current times for the pharmaceutical industry. Companies need to consider how they increase the speed of change by prioritizing, allocating resources effectively and exercising rigor in project management. The finance function and risk and control functions will take a more prominent role and will be tasked with driving more sophisticated financial strategies more specifically targeted on value creation.
A global survey of senior executives from 15 major pharmaceutical companies, improving new product flow was the top priority among the pharmaceutical executives. Seventy two percent o executives indicate that the “thinness” of their pipelines is a chief concern. Pharmaceutical industry trends indicate that HIV drugs are going to dominate the scene in years to come. The HIV market is dominated by a few companies such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Merck, and Gilead. New efficacy in the production of drugs is further intensifying the competition. Factors such as the rising emphasis on cost containment, combined with patent expiries of key drugs could inhibit future expansion. At the same time, newly launched drugs and the greater number of patients accessing treatment will counteract these effects, thus contributing to the growth of the market.
