Key Challenges & Opportunities: Big Pharma& Bio tech The pharmaceutical industry has shown remarkable structural stability as majority of its key players have been in existence for almost a century now. However, it has not been an exception to unpredictable times of the 21st century as it is grappling with quite a number of challenges. The most urgent issues include termination of manufacturers’ rights, importation risks, pricing problems and the infiltration of counterfeit drugs, the cost of R&D and political and administrative constraints notwithstanding. Most of these challenges have existed over a long period and the rate at which they are escalating presents a big threat to the industry. Pharmaceutical companies have come under intense political and social criticism owing to their extraordinary surpluses and their supposed share in the escalating health care expenditure. State administrations all over the world are attempting to accommodate the ever increasing costs of production as health care allocations incorporate a large percentage of government expenditures. This has made drug costs a major political discussion in America. In the United States, President Clinton began a critical evaluation of the healthcare system and proposed federal controls on this industry and price controls of prescribed drugs (Bradley and Weber 3). This threat did not materialize but there still prevails the likelihood for other restrictive measures targeting pharmaceutical products. Furthermore, with many companies rivaling over few various therapeutic divisions, the industry has become highly disintegrated. The cross border disparities serve to increase the pharmaceuticals predicament (Bradley and Weber 3). Many countries have government ... ... middle of paper ... ... time concentrating on adults’ vaccines and methods of increasing vaccine production. Developing new drugs has been a major challenge since returns from these new medicines are not sufficient to cover for the costs of research and development. An early involvement and front-loading strategy is required to address the challenge associated with the commercial launching of a new drug. Works Cited Bradley, Stephen P., and James Weber. “The Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century.” Pharmacia 70.698 (2004): 1-32. Print. Dyer, Geoff, “Testing Times for the Pharmaceutical Industry.” The Financial Times 15 Feb. 2002. 12-15. Print. Federsel, Hans J. “Chemical Process Research and Development in the 21st Century: Challenges, Strategies, and Solutions from a Pharmaceutical Industry Perspective.” Acc. Chem. Res 42.5 (2009): 671–680. Print.
In order to sustain the market share in this highly competitive industry, the pharmacies have to establish and maintain strong working relationships with PBMs that have power to divest particular clients from a pharmacy by denying reimbursement privileges to their customers. Buyer Power Strong It is not hard to obtain the same drugs from different sources, so the customer loyalty is virtually non-existent and the pharmacies have to try extremely hard to sustain their consumer base. Threats of substitutes Weak There are very few alternatives to drugs. Alternatives are practically limited to traditional medicine.
Abramsons points are well taken, and it truly is a shame that the medical industry has become a business. In my opinion, if the pharmaceutical industry was taken out of the hands of the capitalist marketplace and given the to the government, it would become less of a business. Prescription drugs are not ordinary consumer goods; they are products that can ultimately save lives. If a money-oriented company controls these products, it is inevitable selling the drug would become a greater priority than actually creating a beneficial drug. Which as a result, will to the creation many well-marketed yet ineffective
...s: each was licensed to a much larger firm because the originator firm lacked the capability to market the drug. the larger analysis of blockbuster drugs showed that this thread is common across blockbusters that originated with smaller firms. The largest firms appear to hold a significant advantage in commercialization—they are highly effective at extracting the value of innovative drugs . The study suggests some qualified reasons for skepticism that the end of the blockbuster era will bring a major upheaval in the industry. Large firms’ advantage in commercialization suggests that they may maintain their dominant position. Marketing of pharmaceuticals may move from broad-based to targeted approaches, but a company with a broad reach may still have an advantage in identifying markets for niche drugs and commercializing the drugs within those more narrow market
Lehman, Bruce. 2003. “The Pharmaceutical Industry and the Patent System”. International Intellectual Property Institute. Pages 1-14.
Has anyone noticed that there seems to be a drugstore being built on every corner these days? Revco, Walgreens, and Rite Aid seem to be just a few of the drug store chains that are expanding. One has to wonder if this has anything to do with the possibility of including medicine under coverage by healthcare systems. This means that they may become part of a capitated payment system to the pharmaceutical providers. "By capitation, we mean a prospective payment to physicians or providers - either individually or as a group - of a fixed amount of money to care for each patient (Pearson, 1998)." In other words, every physician is provided a set sum of money whether they see any patients or not and every pharmacy would be given money whether they prescribe any drugs or not. Drug costs will rise.
Why are the prices so high? Some critics of the drug companies argue that the larger firms are ripping off the American public, are dishonest and, in some cases, unsafe. On the other hand, there are health care workers such as doctors and their supporters who claim that research and testing for drugs costs money. This supposedly justifies their prices for their products. Also, as an argument to their side, they say that their practice is a benefit to the improvement to mankind. It is a life saving business, but are these prices justified? As one can see, this is a very important issue in medicine today. It affects everyone involved with medicine, which is much of the American public. It also affects the physicians and drug makers.
From 1970 to 1998, the inflation-adjusted revenue of major pharmaceutical companies more than quadrupled to $81 billion, 24 percent of that from drugs affecting the central nervous system and sense organs. Sales of herbal medicines now exceed $4 billion a year. Meanwhile the war on Other drugs escalated dramatically. Since 1970 the federal antidrug budget has risen 3,700 percent and now exceeds $17 billion. More than one and half million people are arrested on drug charges each year, and 400,000 are now in prison. These numbers are just a window into an obvious truth: We take more drugs and reward those who supply them. We punish more people for taking drugs and especially punish those who supply them. On the surface, there is no conflict...The drug wars and the drug boom are interrelated, of the same body. The hostility and veneration, the punishment and profits, these come from the same beliefs and the same mistakes.
Threat of new entrants is relatively high. Companies forming alliances are potential rivals. Even if earlier such company was not considered to be a threat, after merging with some research and development company or forming alliance with another pharmaceutical company it would become a rival to Eli Lilly. The threat is however weakened by significant research and development costs necessary to successfully enter the business. Eli Lilly’s focus on a relatively narrow market of sedatives and antidepressants weakens the threat of new entrants, but other products that form lesser part of company’s sales such as insulin and others are exposed to high threat of new entrants. The need of obtaining certificates and licenses also weakens the threat of new entrants. Discussed above leads to the conclusion that threat of new entrants is medium.
The United States spends more per capita on health care than any other country, with the percentage of gross domestic product dedicated to health care doubling from 9% in 1980 to 18% in 2011(Kesselheim,). One of the contributors to health care inflation is prescription drugs. Pharmaceuticals account for about 10% of total health care costs, spending on pharmaceuticals is poised to swell in upcoming years as a result of the increasing prices of complex specialty medicines (Kesselheim). Name brand drugs are going to have to be set at higher prices, in order for pharmaceutical companies to receive a profit. If the patient has full coverage on a medication, there is a greater chance that medication will be taken, although it may not be
Although monopolies appear damaging at times, there are arguments that they are an advantage to society. Monopolies in the pharmaceutical industry drive companies to pursue research and development (R&D) efforts to gain new patents. According to a 1992 study, among the 24 US. Industry groups, pharmaceuticals dedicated 16.6% of their amounts to basic research, while all other industries averaged at 5.3% (Sherer 1307). This fact validates the incentive pharmaceutical companies have to get a patent and acquire more power. Pfizer encourages R&D because of the incentives and a want to obtain patents to receive more profit. Pfizer has to promote itself to be successful, creating a good brand image that consumers will trust. If the company can advertise successfully, more consumers will purc...
Even with health care coverage being at the tips of our finger, we still are positioned with the question how will I pay for this, as well as where this money comes from. Reports have indicated that the United States has spent “$2.2 trillion for health care in 2007, which was an increase of 6.7% from $2.1 trillion in 2006” (Wexler). This revenue comes to all of our taxable expenses, which in turn trickles down to the Affordable Care Act. Receiving any medical care, is expensive in general, from staffing of the hospitals to creating the medication that someone needs to further their lives. Wexler addresses the increase of medication production. ” One of the fastest-growing components of health care is the market for prescription drugs. In 2006 Americans spent $216.7 billion on prescription medication—this was an 8.5% increase from $199.7 billion in 2005” (Wexler) The increase can be a good way to think of how the money is spent. We fund the projects that in turn create fundamental medications to help those who need
“According to the General Accounting Office, more than half of the prescription drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1976 and 1985 caused serious side effects that later caused the drugs to be either relabeled or removed from the market. Drugs app...
10. Collis, David, and Troy Smith. "Strategy in the Twenty-First Century Pharmaceutical Industry:Merck&Co. and Pfizer Inc." Harvard Business School, 2007: 8-12.
Ventola MS, C. L. (2011, November 11). The Drug Shortage Crisis in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3278171/
PROBLEM STATEMENT Teva Pharmaceuticals, the first multinational pharmaceutical company in Israel, has become a successful global giant in the industry of generic drugs. After experiencing a long period of success and growth in the generic drug industry against some big western pharmaceuticals, the company had acquired many well known pharmaceutical companies and had achieved its goal of $1 billion. theory seemed to be in trouble in building a new strategy and vision to compete with the rapidly growing generic industry. They confronted two big issues as key hurdles in their way.