Swot Analysis of the Glaxosmithkline.

Allround has many advantages over its competition in the industry, including higher brand awareness, highest market share, lower fixed costs, and a relatively high conversion ratio. A market survey detailed in Exhibit 1.5 of the case shows that the Allround Brand has brand

Many other drugs also lose patent protection leading to the creation of substitutes that are cheaper.

Economic: Globalization of the pharmaceutical industry is an exciting opportunity to have research and development done at cheaper prices in other countries. However, this could be a double edged sword for companies because it is easy for other countries, such as India, to produce generic versions of the drug in bulk.

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

Corporations and business organizations have to face lawsuits due to breach of different laws i.e., consumers laws, copyright laws, compensation laws, security laws, antitrust, employment or environmental laws. For violating any of these laws companies have to pay fines and even go bankrupt. Current paper is a report on one such lawsuit that caused GlaxoSmithKline loss of billions of dollars. The author selected "Avandia Lawsuit" to focus in this report. Avandia is a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes and was prepared by GlaxoSmithKline which was approved by U.S Government in 1998 and became best selling drug. Company generated profit through its sale but soon complains arose due to increasing incidences of heart disease and stroke as side effect of the drug.

* No foreseeable new product in pipeline. Currently takes up to 11,000 compounds to be screened to find one (1) compound to send through final testing (human trials). And even then it’s not guaranteed to make it past the FDA.

* Patent Expiration - in the next four years, the two highest sales producing pharmaceutical products will go off patent. Patents on Merck’s Cozaar and Singulair will expire in February 2010 and August 2012, respectively, exposing about $8.2 billion worth of sales to generic competition. This equates to about 35% of Merck’s forecasted revenue in 2012 [and 29% of 2009 revenues].

“GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is a global healthcare company specialized in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing pharmaceutical and consumer health-related products. GSK has operations in about 114 countries, with products being sold in over 150 countries”.

Therefore, protection of patents is one of the key conditions necessary for further development of the pharmaceutical industry. At the same time, non-efficient legislation that does not provide the necessary level of patent protection is one of the factors that hamper expansion of “Big Pharmaceutical” companies to the developing countries8.

Ratios aside, the patent of its older product (mainly Zyprexa) will expire in 2011. However, the increased in the newer products that accounts for total sales has increased to 24% from 18% in

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 concept of product patent for pharmaceutical products is likely to make life saving medicine beyond the reach of the poor and deprived section of the society around the world.

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

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).