The pharmaceutical industry must respond to a number of key challenges over the next ten years in order to sustain recent levels of growth. Falling levels of R&D productivity and the exposure of an increasing amount of blockbuster drugs to generic competition as a result of patent expiries are among the most notable concerns for pharma players. Recent strategies have seen a rise in outsourcing and the restructuring of R&D processes, with a movement away from internally driven R&D organizations with Centers of R&D Excellence and Disease Focused R&D Centers. Turbulence in the global economy is also having a significant impact upon the biotech industry, where externally funded companies are particulary vulnerable to investment downturns.

‘The Pharmaceutical Market Outlook to 2018’ is a new report published by Business Insights that explores the key threats and opportunities facing the pharma industry over the next ten years. This report analyses how leading companies including Pfizer, Roche, GSK, and Merck & Co. are optimizing their approaches and growth strategies to succeed in the changing market landscape. The performances of the top 10 pharma companies over the past five years are also assessed and a proprietary Business Insights survey evaluates the views of industry executives as to future market growth, biotech M&A activity, personalised medicine and pipeline developments.

Identify key trends and developments in the global pharma landscape over the next ten years, compare the strategic responses of leading players and evaluate competitor sales, pipelines and prospects...

Some key findings from this report

• Global sales of biotech drugs rose by 12.5% in 2007 to over $75bn, despite the financial challenges faced by the pharma market. However biotech funding has been notably affected, having fallen to half of its 2007 level following investment of only $12bn in 2008 (YTD).
• Lilly saw the second highest sales growth in 2007 amongst the leading pharma companies, a 13% increase over 2006 revenues. This performance can be largely attributued to the steady sales of Zyprexa ($5bn in 2007), the 6th highest selling drug globally in 2007.
• Total pharma R&D spend has been increasing by 15% per annum to a total of $70bn in 2007, and is forecast to reach $85bn in 2009. Similarly, biotech R&D spend reached $13bn in 2007. Despite this increased spending, the number of NMEs being approved by the FDA has continued to fall, with only 18 NME approvals in 2007.
• Pfizer’s Lipitor achieved sales of $13.5bn in 2007, however revenues are forecast to fall below $7bn over the next five years following the loss of patent protection.
• Global expenditure on CRO services is forecast to reach over $26bn by 2010, accounting for 22% of the pharma budget. Much of this outsourcing will be focused upon Phase III and drug discovery.

Top reasons to order your copy today

• Discover the key threats and opportunities facing the pharma industry over the next ten years with this report’s detailed evaluation of R&D challenges, increasing generic competition, biotech developments, new technologies and emerging markets.
• Assess the competitive landscape of the global pharma market with this report’s analysis of the top 10 pharma companies based on total pharma sales, branded pharma revenues, product/therapy area mixes and a breakdown of leading developmental products.
• Compare how leading pharma companies are adapting to the evolving pharma market by examining the individual challenges, growth strategies, M&A initiatives and pipeline prospects of major players including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co. and Roche.
• Identify how the global pharmaceutical market is likely to change over the next ten years by using this report’s analysis of a Business Insights’ proprietary survey which reveals the opinions and expectations of industry executives in relation to the future pipeline, marketed products, business strategies and alliances.

Key issues examined in this report

• Restructuring R&D processes. Many leading pharma players have restructured R&D processes by establishing Centers of R&D Excellence and Disease Focused R&D Centers. In addition, there has been a drive to increase the utilization of CRO’s both locally and internationally to discover, optimize and clinically assess new candidates.
• Shift towards ‘nichebuster’ drugs. The ‘one size fits all’ approach to drug development is being replaced by a more targeted, innovative approach to develop treatments for small patient groups with complicated diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and immune disorders. Such ‘nichebusters’ are expected to exploit new technologies such as biomarkers and theranostics and will support the continued development of personalized medicine.
• Importance of developing (pharmerging) markets. Emerging markets such as China and India will stimulate significant growth in the pharma market over the next five years. These ‘pharmerging’ markets have grown more rapidly than the seven major markets in the past five years, with sales rising by 15.79% compared to 5.62% in the 7MM.

Your questions answered

• What are the key emerging opportunities for companies in the pharmaceutical industry?
• How did leading pharma companies perform over the last five years?
• Which growth strategies are being used by major pharma players including Pfizer, Gsk, Merck & Co and Roche?
• How has the current economic environment affected the relationship between biotech companies and pharma companies?
• To what extent has the therapy area mix changed amongst the portfolios of leading pharma companies?
• How is the therapy area mix likely to change in future?
• Which geographic areas will become integral to the future of the global pharma market?