Mergers, Acquisitions, And International Strategies In The Pharmaceutical Industry

U.S. based companies hold rights to most of the world’s rights on new medicines and holds thousands of new products currently being developed. As of 2012, the industry helps support almost 3.4 million jobs in the U.S. economy. It is also one of the most heavily R&D based industries in the world. In the United States, the environment for pharmaceuticals is much friendlier than other countries around the world in terms of pricing ability and regulations. Both the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industries have experienced significant growth in the past year with year-over-year increases of 13.02% and 34.69% respectively. It is an even more striking when looking at the past five years considering both have beat out the S&P 500 with pharmaceuticals increasing an additional 31.44% and the biotechnology sector besting an astonishing 269.3% more return than the

Pfizer is the largest American pharmaceutical company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. It competes with Merck and Glaxo, and markets such well-known medications as Celebrex and Viagra. However, the pharmaceutical industry as a whole has undergone changes in recent years with significant consolidation taking place and with increased scrutiny regarding the ways in which drugs are developed, tested and marketed. In addition, recent controversies have erupted regarding Merck's drug Vioxx, and Pfizer has been the target of unwanted publicity regarding its painkiller Celebrex. This research considers the strategic position of Pfizer, including its strengths and weaknesses as well

This opportunity led to several dealings that would result in Shire Pharmaceuticals purchasing the rights to Europe and Salix to

* For the corporation that has acquired another company, merged with another company, or been acquired by another company, evaluate the strategy that led to the merger or acquisition to determine whether or not this merger or acquisition was a wise choice. Justify your opinion.

Since its humble beginning as a small drugstore, Merck has placed a large amount of importance on improving the health and well-being of its customers. As drug patents expire and genetic forms of their top products become available, Merck’s strategy is to do the unexpected; instead of raising the price of their older products in favor of patent protected new drugs, Merck focuses on reducing their cost in order to better compete with their generic counterparts. Additionally, Merck’s plan for growth now encompasses a much more aggressive pursuit of new drugs in their pipeline through extensive research. Merck became the second largest health care company in the world after the merger with Schering-Plough in 2009 and has

In the last several years, Merck’s individual R &D department has not been able to keep pace with declining revenues from existing products. It is only through Mergers and Acquisitions that Merck has supplemented this income.

Pfizer Inc is a multinational investment company. It ventures in the medical and pharmaceutical industry. It is renowned as a giant pharmaceutical company, founded in 1849. It is based in the United States, New York, Manhattan at Midtown. It is the largest universal producer and trader of pharmaceuticals (Turner, 2005, pg 161). Some of the products availed to the market by the company are Lipitor, Lyrica, Diflucan, Zithromax, Zoloft, Viagra and Celebrex. These products are targeted to patients and persons in need of enhancements in their body systems and anatomy. It has an employee capacity of 12000 people in all its departmental sectors and sub-branches. The sub-branches are distributed all over and in all continents (Turner, 2005, pg 163).

Yes, there is an impact on the pharmaceutical company, like those in the US as a result of differential prices between that country and other nations.

More exits are expected as the pharmaceutical market is in consolidation phase with Merger and Acquisitions being the most preferred routes taken by the companies to expand. This VUCA environment is expected to result in more exits in the near future as the companies are looking to poach the best talent in the sector.

GSK is the 2nd largest pharmaceutical firm in the world, and the largest in the UK by sales and profits, it is responsible for 7% of the worlds pharmaceutical market, and has its stocks listed both in UK and US (O 'Rourke, 2002). The origin of the so called blockbuster model, is partly linked with Glaxo (as it was previously known). In the early 80’s, then Glaxo brought to light their first blockbuster drug, Zantac, which was an anti-ulcer drug, which was very similar to the a pre existing drug Tagamet (first ever blockbuster) sold by Smith Kline & French, their completion at the time (MONTALBAN and SAKINÇ, 2011). The introduction of this drug, brought about an increasing sales force in the US, the company soon became dependent on the drug, because it represented a large part of their profit. In 2002, 8 blockbusters of GSK contributed to $14.240 million sales revenue, taking up 53% of its total ethical sales (Froud et al 2006). However, due to the nature of the pharmaceutical industry, the patent began to expire, in other to avoid the patent cliff, Glaxo merged with Wellcome in 1995, which ensured a growing number of sales force, and with Beecham in 2000 (Froud et al., 2006) this merger, boosted the confidence of investors, by growing the business inorganically. For Big Pharma, this block buster model is very profitable, because with the high cost of R&D, the drugs are able to generate ample profit, to cover the sunk costs

The paper is going to discuss the business strategy and the strategic moves of Pfizer in trying to buy AstraZeneca. In addition, the paper will broadly talk about the environment (PEST analysis), the industry (Porter analysis), and stakeholder influence and business idea concerning AstraZeneca. . It will also demonstrate how the capabilities/ resources and competencies of the company projects are evaluated using the SWOT analysis and the value chain. It will also show some options that are strategic which are available to the company with the motive.

This report provides an analytical strategic review of the global pharmaceutical industry; its origin, evolution,

Competition, typically the most powerful external force, is increased by the advent of globalization. The number of companies and the number of countries where these companies operate and the way governments are dealing with the impacts of globalization is accelerating. The interaction of changes in government policy and business innovation has actually made globalization even faster. If a company does not become a global, it would simply be shut out of new markets. The reasons for the turmoil are numerous: a sputtering economy, increased global competition, the implementation of new technologies that displace jobs, the deregulation of certain industries, and the general

Solution: Creating autonomous teams that don’t report into the organization but report to the top management. Co-locate with the local biotech ecosystem. Second, give time bound budgets.

This is a strategic analysis of GlaxoSmithKline that examines the key factors that influence the company and its activities. The strategic analysis will examine key factors in the company’s internal and external environment and their influence on the company’s strategies. GlaxoSmithKline is a global healthcare company that offers pharmaceutical, vaccines and consumer products. The company is a product of various mergers, the latest occurring in 2001 between GlaxoWellcome and SmithKline Beecham. The company started in London United Kingdom in 1715 as Plough Court pharmacy and has evolved to become one of the leading global healthcare companies. The healthcare company operates in more than 150 countries with 89 manufacturing locations and research centers in the USA, China, UK and Belgium. In 2015, the company’s sales grew to £23.9 billion from £23.0 billion in 2014 (GlaxoSmithKline plc. 2015).