Strategy and competence in the pharmaceutical industry

Abstract

How will the drug industry look like in 20 years? Can we get there? How? Of course, it’s hard times in every industry these days, but none has anywhere near the inherent contradictions and high risks, regulations, technologies, and costs pressing down on every aspect of its business. True innovation in this maze is a near miracle. Valued at US$199mln in 2008, Moldova’s pharmaceutical market is forecast to increase at a steady CAGR of 9.70% in local currency terms. By 2014, the market is expected to top US$387 min at consumer prices. In 10-year forecast period through to 2019, market development is likely to accelerate, growing at a CAGR of 10.49% in local currency terms, stimulated by economic recovery, healthcare modernization and the expansion of healthcare insurance coverage. Generics’ CAGR will be similar to that of the overall market, with patented medicines expected to benefit from regulatory improvements and Moldova’s progress towards European Union (EU) membership, which will translate into a 2009-2014 CAGR of 18.86% in local currency terms. The pharmaceutical industry is a very unique and spectacular industry, with an impressive evolution along the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries, as well as facing a challenging future. The situation in the industry has spectacularly changed in the past two decades, leading to new strategies and new portfolios, especially for the major pharmaceutical companies worldwide. We are now confronted with a mature, stable industry, constantly affected by mergers and acquisitions, as well as by new scientific discoveries. Therefore, trying to foresee the future of such an industry becomes very interesting and challenging at the same time.