The global pharmaceutical industry is undergoing a consolidation phase in order to combat price pressure, competition and patent cliffs. Innovation is of vital importance for steady growth of pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceutical companies have been mainly dependent on a few blockbuster molecules. However,with rapid decline in research and development (R&D) productivity and non-conducive regulatory environment, companies need to find different avenues of growth. The patent expiry of blockbuster drugs is expected to pave way for generics. Due to difference in genetic composition of varied individuals, innovation is becoming more complex.This is influencing players offering complementary products and services to collaborate for new product development.
There are four major factors that are impacting the value creation in pharmaceutical industry:
Demand for personalized medicines is increasing in order to ensure effective treatment of various diseases
Investments in R&D for oncology and NCDs are increasing globally in order to provide cost-effective solutions available to ailing patients.
Market Challenges
The industry is facing certain challenges such as patent cliff, cost pressure and regulatory uncertainties across the globe. This is hindering market growth to a certain extent. Moreover, regulatory authorities are becoming more stringent with the drug approval process. However, with respect to drugs for rare diseases, the FDA has offered a fast-track approval process. Moreover, demand for cost-effective treatment for chronic and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, thyroid disorder, obesity, and cancer is increasing. However, there is a dearth of strong products in the pipeline that offer better treatment option with fewer side effects. The fear of side effects and long-term treatment costs is encouraging patients to shift to alternative therapies.
Combating Challenges
Market players need to combat these challenges and keep their pace with the industry to sustain their market share. Mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures of products, companies or business division is a rapidly emerging trend in the market to combat prevalent challenges in the market.Companies are more focused in terms of therapy areas and hence, are divesting less focused therapy businesses. A good example is the swap deal between GSK and Novartis in 2015.
Moreover, pharmaceutical companies are investing in consumer health products,with increasing consumer’s health awareness and emerging trend of self-medication. These trends are encouraging pharmaceutical companies to enter the OTC market and leverage their brand equity among the doctors, chemists and consumers. Companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Cipla, Pfizer, Merck, Sun Pharma, and Abbott have a focused division or subsidiary for consumer healthcare products and markets.
Moreover, to combat increasing cost pressure, companies are evolving their distribution channel. Establishing facilities or presence through collaboration in regional markets has helped companies meet local demand with reduced costs and delivery time. Emergence of e-pharmacy has resulted in creation of a separate team in the organization to service consumers ordering medicines online. Moreover, companies are connecting with consumers through social media, which helps improve brand visibility. The distribution channel has thus evolved significantly from the decade old channel consisting of only wholesalers and physical retail shops.
Patient-centricity
Patients are increasingly becoming well informed and organized, sometimes demanding for a particular product from prescribers. Therefore, companies need to be more patient-centric in their approach and provide quality care to consumers. Pharmaceutical companies are focusing on established direct to consumer distribution channels and establishing a more strong relationship with them. Moreover, companies are creating a good purchase experience for consumers through different offerings such as post-purchase medical services, engaging the patient through social media and events, and providing regular product alerts and refilling services.
Growth in Emerging Economies
The pharmaceutical industry is rapidly expanding in emerging economies such as Asia Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. These regions possess immense potential for growth of pharmaceutical companies, owing to inadequate access to medicines, growing population and increasing incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Besides, demand for contract research and manufacturing is also high in these regions. China and India are the largest emerging markets for CRO and CMO. Companies are highly dependent on China for API supply owing to low purchase cost. Overdependence on a single country can pose a challenge for the pharmaceuticals sector in the near future. Therefore, other emerging countries such as India, Brazil and South Africa are encouraging investments in their country. Besides, global companies are establishing their facilities in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Latin America regions to enable close monitoring and servicing of lucrative regional markets.
Conclusion
Pharmaceutical companies need to focus on an integrated, patient-centric, value-driven approach along with technology integration and strategic partnerships in order to capitalize on lucrative growth opportunities in the market. Major global players in the market include Pfizer Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc., Sanofi, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, AstraZeneca plc. and Novartis AG.
There is a paradigm shift in process in the global pharmaceutical industry from product to a ‘Prodice’ (Product and Service) model, to offer affordable, accessible and quality care to patients.
According to the Journal of American Pharmacist Association: August 17, 2020, 'Pharmacy compounding describes the act of combining, mixing, or altering of the ingredients of a drug to create a new medication according to the needs of an individual patient'. Compoundin... View more
In the field of pharmacy, compounding is preparation of a custom formulation of a medication to fit a unique need of a patient such as medicine dose, which cannot be met with commercially available pharmaceutical products. In the U.S., conventional compounding pharmac... View more
Infertility is a global health issue as its affects both men and women. Female infertility is defined as the condition wherein a female cannot get pregnant even after one year of unprotected sexual activity. Infertility in females occur due to rising age, polycystic o... View more
Clinical nutrition products are aimed at maintaining a nutritional balance in patients, by providing sufficient amount of nutrients such as vitamins, proteins, and minerals. The clinical nutrition products are specially formulated to nourish and improve the quality of... View more
Mucormycosis (previously called as zygomycosis) is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes. Moreover, inhaling fungal spores from the air can affect the lungs and sinuses. The fungus also invades the skin through wounds such ... View more
Urea cycle disorders (UCDs) are a group of inherited defects of six enzymes and two transporters that constitute the urea cycle in the periportal liver cells. The age of onset symptoms vary between the different types o... View more
Cholangiocarcinoma is a type of cancer that forms in the slender tubes (bile ducts) that carry the digestive fluid bile. The specific reason for the cause of cholangiocarcinoma is not known as of yet. The malignant tumor may arise from any portion of the bile duct i.e... View more
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that gets activated by a traumatic event either experiencing or witnessing such as natural disaster, serious accident, sexual violence, a terrorist act, etc. PTSD can occur in people at all ages. Some of the ... View more
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the gradual loss of kidney function over a period of several years. Due to kidney failure, the organ’s function is severely impaired, which leads to accumulation of dangerous levels of waste and fluid in the body. Early detection ... View more
Delirium is commonly associated with myriad conditions and requires variety of medications. Early recognition and on-time treatment can help to reduce morbidity, length of hospital stay, health care costs, and mortality in patients. According to the Marie Curie, a reg... View more
Lymphomas are blood cancer which occur when the white blood cells grow abnormally. Lymphomas are categorized into three main types: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (CLL/SLL), Hodgkin Lymphoma (Hodgkin's disease), and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL).... View more
Nutrition supply human beings with the essential amount of carbohydrates, proteins, water, fats, vitamins, and minerals for proper cellular functioning and physiological activities and to maintain energy balance in the body. Clinical nutrition is recommended for patie... View more
Urinary incontinence means losing control of bladder due to which there is an involuntary leakage of urine. In this condition, control over the urinary sphincter is weakened or completely lost and due to this, a person urinates even when they do not want to. This is a... View more
Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) type 2 is a rare genetic disorder that has no curative medication. Key players in the market only provide symptomatic treatment drugs. Thus, the rising R&D activities for the development of new drugs for PFIC ty... View more
Alagille syndrome (ALGS) is a rare, genetic condition that can affect different parts of the body including liver, heart, kidneys, eyes, face, and bones. Moreover, liver problems results from having fewer small bile ducts than normal in the liver. This leads to bile b... View more
Therapeutic proteins are proteins that are engineered in the laboratory for pharmaceutical use, including non-covalent binders, therapeutic proteins such as enzymes and albumin are having properties such as breaking of covalent bongs and therefore has wide application... View more
Minoxidil, an antihypertensive topical formulation, promotes hair growth. Minoxidil is majorly prescribed for treatment of androgenetic alopecia and it is also used as an off-label treatment for other hair loss conditions. Minoxidil is U.S. Food & Drug Administrat... View more
Hair loss is caused due to systemic androgen and genetic factors. It may occur in both genders. The increasing incidence of alopecia or hair loss is expected to boost the market growth. For instance, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI... View more