Drug portfolio management is one of the most important determinants of long-term prosperity of research-oriented pharmaceutical companies.
Improvements in health care and life sciences are an important source of gains in health and longevity globally. The development of innovative pharmaceutical products plays a critical role in ensuring these continued gains. To encourage the continued development of new drugs, economic incentives are essential. These incentives are principally provided through direct and indirect government funding, intellectual property laws, and other policies that favor innovation. Without such incentives, private corporations, which bring to market the vast majority of new drugs, would be less able to assume the risks and costs necessary to continue their research and development (R&D). In the United States, government action has focused on creating the environment that would best encourage further innovation and yield a constant flow of new and innovative medicines to the market. The goal has been to ensure that consumers would benefit both from technological breakthroughs and the competition that further innovation generates. The United States also relies on a strong generic pharmaceutical industry to create added competitive pressure to lower drug prices. Recent action by the Administration and Congress has accelerated the flow of generic medicines to the market for precisely that reason. By contrast, in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
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
Prescription drug prices are on the rise in the United States. Currently, the United States does not implement a price control on prescription drugs. Every day the supply and demand for prescription drugs fluctuates. Pharmaceutical companies produce drugs that are necessary for survival. Therefore, it is necessary for research and development to continue in the United States. Those suffering the effects of exorbitant prices must do so until a generic form of a prescription drug is produced. Once approved by the FDA, new drugs will make their appearance on the market and patients will no longer suffer financially. Until then, it is necessary for pharmaceutical companies to price their drugs based on the idea of supply and demand. This produces the profit used to fund research. Price controls discourage innovation. If a price control were set in place, of course the price of prescription drugs would decrease. However, the development of new drugs decreases with it. Today’s generation would benefit from lower prices, while future generations would suffer from the loss of drug innovation.
The rise in costs of prescription medicines affects all sectors of the health care industry, including private insurers, public programs, and patients. Spending on prescription drugs continues to be an important health care concern, particularly in light of rising pharmaceutical costs, the aging population, and increased use of costly specialty drugs. In recent history, increases in prescription drug costs have outpaced other categories of health care spending, rising rapidly throughout the latter half of the 1990s and early 2000s. (Kaiseredu.org, 2012).
Other factors include the use of distribution systems, drug shortages, pharmaceutical manufacturer mergers and acquisitions, patent expirations, cost and availability of raw materials, and profit driven businesses (Abramowitz & Cobaugh, 2016). The rising cost of prescription drugs and healthcare in general challenges the access and affordability of quality care to consumers not just in the United but also consumers around the world (GEN News, 2012). In addition to cost and access to care, the continuous rise in prescriptions drugs may have a negative effect on utilization of healthcare and satisfaction with healthcare system (Abramowitz & Cobaugh,
The research and development of the pharmaceutical industry is very important as the industry relies on it to develop new products to maintain and sustain the growth of the industry (ALRC 2014). According to the Australian Government Law Reform Commission, every year, the total spending in research and development in pharmaceutical industry, which includes drug discovery, pre-clinical testing and clinical trials on drugs is around $300 million (ALRC 2014). Mergers and acquisitions are intensifying in the global pharmaceutical industry, especially over the last 10 years. With factors like exorbitant research and development costs, the relatively shorter product life cycles, and the rarity of discovering a new life-changing drug acting as catalysts, leading pharmaceutical companies now have more cause to step out and look for external collaboration. This results in an increasing number of smaller biotechnology companies merging with bigger pharmaceutical companies (The
Anyone who has purchased prescription medication has probably wondered why they cost so much. The pharmaceutical industry consist of thousands of firms engaged in one or several functions of discovering, developing, manufacturing and marketing medicines for human use. The price paid to a retail pharmacy for a drug is negotiated by the PBM (Pharmacy Benefit Manager) and the pharmacy or pharmacy chain. The pharmacy is left with an option of refusing the business, raising its prices for cash customers or reducing its operation margin. Rising prices for goods encourage producers to find ways of supplying more also guiding purchasers to switch to cheaper alternatives. The price mechanism encourages the productive and careful employment of scarce resources and directs innovative efforts where they are most needed.
Pharmaceuticals play a more prominent role in health care Systems. The North American market today comprises 47 percent of the global prescription drug market, which now exceeds half a trillion dollars, with Americans spending approximately $251.8 billion annually on pharmaceuticals. This is up significantly from a decade earlier, when American consumption represented approximately one-third of the world market (2006) IMS Health). America's insatiable demand for prescription drugs has led to serious cracks in the drug supply chain of the world's leading pharmaceutical market (Wyld, 2008).
The pharmaceutical industry should be profitable. It has produced new drugs and treatments, which have saved lives and improved the quality of life. However, at the moment this industry engages in monopolistic
In this paper I will discuss Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) I will talk about its purpose, scope, design, application, and how they affect the healthcare economy.
The pharmacy is more than just your average mom and pop corner store in the rural areas or the average Walgreens and CVS in more populated areas where you go to just get a few drug store items or pick up your prescription medications. Pharmaceutical companies work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the drug discovery and development process. They also hire scientists to search for different types of drugs capable of affecting disease. The research that is done by these scientists also provides new and better treatments for diseases (Williams, S.J.& Torrens, P.R., 2008). The role of the pharmacists has also changed over the years, from not just mixing the drugs and counting pills and filling prescriptions, but also to a role of educating
The pharmaceutical industry includes companies that research, develop, market or distribute generic and branded drugs. The industry expanded during the 1980’s and drugs to treat heart disease and AIDS were prominent. Consumer demand for nutritional supplements and alternative medicine increased during the 1990’s with the Internet facilitating direct purchases of drugs. Advertising for direct consumption of pharmaceutical drugs became more prominent; pharmaceutical companies were criticized for over medicating personality or social problems.
This report provides an analytical strategic review of the global pharmaceutical industry; its origin, evolution,
Although R&D has been retained by the large pharmaceutical firms, there has been a continuous decline in the R&D productivity. Controlling R&D is imperative to the success of a Pharmaceutical firm. However, as the pharmaceutical industry is maturing, there are diminishing returns to the R&D investment. Fewer and fewer blockbuster drugs are being discovered and therefore R&D is not the most value adding component in the value