Big Pharmaceutical Firms Research Articles

High-spec mass spec

Big pharmaceutical firms have to make big-risk investments when inventing new drugs. But one physicist’s new spectroscopy tool could radically change that, as Jon Cartwright reports

Using a Rasch Model to Rank Big Pharmaceutical Firms by Financial Performance

We explore a Rasch approach to ranking the top 15 firms in the pharmaceutical industry by their overall financial performance. Using an initial set of ratios spanning multiple dimensions of firm financial performance, we select the ratios that are compatible with the requirements of the Rasch model for this industry during 2002-2013. We then identify the firms that most frequently ranked among the top five performers. Three firms stand out as consistently disclosing the required data and showing up at the top of the performance spectrum. Our approach offers a new perspective on the valuation of managers and their firms.

Analysis and control of issues that delay pharmaceutical projects

Every project will have certain objectives and service levels to be achieved. The success of a project depends on several dimensions like time, cost/budget, quality, etc. and managing a project involves completing the project within time, within budget and with quality to satisfy the users. Because of the significance of health, pharmaceutical companies realized the importance of project management methods and techniques to make available the life saving drugs in time to the needy patients and hospitals. In literature, there is meager information about pharmaceutical project management oriented towards analysis of issues and factors that contribute to the failure or success of projects. This study attempts to analyse different issues that contribute to time delays in pharmaceutical product-based projects, group them under a finite set of prominent factors and identify remedial measures to control those delays. The feedback of project people of some big pharmaceutical firms of Indian sub-continent was collected for this purpose. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) has been used to reduce the reasons for time delays to a limited number of prominent factors and the EFA model has been further examined by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for its validation. Remedial measures under each factor of time delays have been gathered and a framework designed to mitigate the time delays in pharmaceutical projects. The derived factors that delay the pharmaceutical projects include resource, monitoring & control, scheduling and planning problems. Important remedial measures like blended resource approach, estimation and forecast of shortage of labour and skills, regular quality training, etc. have been recommended.

Pharma Bets Big On New Products

For three-and-a-half years, the big pharmaceutical firms tracked by C&EN have struggled to show sales and earnings gains. Their difficulties are perhaps not surprising since, in that time, they have faced the steepest part of the patent cliff plus predictions that the days of blockbuster drugs are over. However, eight of the top 10 new drugs approved in 2014 should achieve annual sales of well over $1 billion—so-called blockbuster status—within five years of their launch, according to EvaluatePharma, a London-based market research firm. And several drugs approved so far in 2015 are predicted to join those ranks as well. As sales of these products ramp up, pharma is expected to enter a new period of growth. “Continued confidence in the sector is being driven by a number of positive fundamentals, including the recent increase in R&D productivity, which has resulted in a big hike in drug approvals, and the emergence ...

Financial Aspects and the Future of the Pharmaceutical Industry in the United States of America

Introduction:The U.S. pharmaceutical industry is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as “companies engaged in researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing of medicines and biological for human or veterinary use”. Besides its main role in improving human health, the US pharmaceutical industry represents one of the most critical, key decision makers’ lobbying prone and competitive sectors in the economy. The cost in the environment of very limited government price regulation remains one of the major problems fuelling aggregate health care cost inflation. Pharmaceuticals have created huge benefits for public health and economic productivity by the means of saving lives, increasing life expectancy, reducing illness related suffering, preventing surgeries and decreasing hospital stays.Purpose:The goal of this review paper is to show the present conditions and future trends of the pharmaceutical industry in the U.S.Methodology:This paper represents a thorough literature review of the multifaceted sources including: studies, books, peer reviewed journals, U.S. government sources (i.e. U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, etc.).Discussion:In the thirty years pharmaceutical companies have consistently developed and launched new medicines, bringing hope to sick or – at risk patients. They also usually provide above the average financial returns for its shareholders. U.S. pharmaceutical companies had as their goal to discover blockbuster drugs. Blockbuster drugs are generally defined as drugs that solve medical problems common to hundreds of millions of people and, at the same time generate large sales increases and profits for the pharmaceutical companies. The main approach of these companies includes huge investments in research and development (R&D), innovation, marketing and sales. The trend analysis shows that for the most part the era of blockbuster drugs is nearing an end.Conclusion:Numerous blockbuster drugs will be coming off patent in the next few years, opening the way to generics and eliminating a major source of the industry’s profits. Still, there is plenty of room for improvement in the medications people take while there is no shortage of human suffering to alleviate. It is doubtful whether big pharmaceutical firms will be able to pursue these goals within the old model of developing exclusive new drugs that can be sold further in the future. In the past, medicines for the ailments that were never before addressed, like anti-cholesterol or anti-depression drugs were developed. Currently, and in the future, it is expected that only blockbuster modifications will be developed. This phenomenon is expected to create market saturation, which will significantly reduce profits. The business model that drove the major drug makers’ success is not working anymore. Pharmaceutical companies must create new ways and to bring new ideas. The survivors will be those that market strategies supported by innovative approaches and winning capabilities.

Clinical Trial Failures

Several big pharmaceutical firms have been hit by clinical setbacks that are weakening their drug pipelines at a time when older products are falling to competition from generics (see page 22). Pfi...

Long-term value creation in the pharmaceutical sector: an event study analysis of big pharma stocks

We investigate the drivers of value creation in big pharmaceutical firms. We use a unique dataset of a total of 2,200 news items on research and development (R&D) progress announcements and dividend news of 25 largest pharmaceutical companies for the period 1998–2010. Our findings affirm the role of successful R&D as a driver of value creation in the long-run. This long term view of value creation has implications for sustainability. R&D is a critical input to long-term sustainable growth and the pharmaceutical sector is one of the highest R&D-intense sectors. Furthermore, successful R&D leading to the discovery of new drugs enhances the prospects for a sustainable economy by improving the society’s health status and well-being. Indeed, we find that negative R&D news destroys more long-term value than the value created by positive news. This highlights the concern for the overall long-term adverse implications of unsuccessful R&D on the economy.

PHARMACEUTICALS Sanofi will buy Chattem, targeting U.S.’s over-the-counter market

The French drug giant Sanofi-Aventis has agreed to buy Chattem, a U.S. manufacturer of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and personal care products including Selsun Blue shampoo and Gold Bond foot powder. The deal, for about $1.9 billion, will create the world’s fifth-largest consumer health care company, Sanofi says. The OTC acquisition follows a string of generic drug deals for Sanofi as the company moves to expand its global presence and gird against patent expiries. Its generics purchases over the past year include the Czech Republic firm Zentiva, Switzerland’s Helvepharm, Brazil’s Medley, and Mexico’s Laboratorios Kendrick. “The acquisition of Chattem will be a significant milestone in Sanofi-Aventis’ transformation strategy and will provide us with the ideal platform in the U.S. consumer health care market,” says Sanofi CEO Christopher A. Viehbacher. After years of eschewing OTC and generic drugs, big pharmaceutical firms now see them as a way to reduce their reliance on blockbuster prescription drugs. F...

When there's no room to grow

To maintain profits in the face of rising development costs and slow drug pipelines, big pharmaceutical firms are trying to cut back. Heidi Ledford examines how GlaxoSmithKline has tried to adapt.

Frameworks for Pharmaceutical Innovation in Developing Countries—The Case of Indian Pharma

Some industrially advanced developing countries have, in the last decades, built substantial pharmaceutical scientific and industrial capabilities. The more advanced of these countries have built chemical and biological R&D, generic and reverse engineering, and drug discovery capabilities. There have been tremendous barriers to entry but nevertheless a range of imitative approaches have evolved, with some significant scientific, health and industrial advances. Opportunities in India are in part created by the problems of maturity being faced by big pharmaceutical firms in developed countries. Big pharmaceutical firms are searching for novel approaches to retain a high value-added model of innovation for drug development. These difficulties provide opportunities for innovative companies in developing countries. This paper explores the challenges faced under these circumstances by Indian pharmaceutical companies. Are they attempting to ‘catch-up’ by chasing a failing model of innovation? Do they have an alternative model? Or can they become an important part of a transformed new global model of pharmaceutical innovation?

THE INDIAN ADVANTAGE

BIG PHARMACEUTICAL FIRMS that need to quickly get a few dozen chemists to work on a specific, well-defined research project have long known that they can turn to any of India's numerous contract research companies. But in the past two years, the country's research service providers have been undertaking far more significant drug discovery work for foreign clients—work that involves sharing sensitive data. Eli Lilly & Co., for example, has licensed a patented drug that has yet to be launched in the U.S. or anywhere else to Mumbai-based Nicholas Piramal. GlaxoSmithKline has asked New Delhi's Ranbaxy Laboratories to work on lead compounds until the second round of clinical trials is completed. And Bangalore-based Syngene is building and will operate a 400-scientist R&D center for Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). Most large drug companies are now paying a lot of attention to external alliances as one of the strategic drivers to increase the productivity of their R&D, says ...