Generics market growing fast
pace to outgrow branded pharmaceuticals, which will only grow by
single digits in 2004, according to business intelligence firm
Cutting Edge Information.
The forecasts are also good news for manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and excipients, production machinery and other materials used in drug production, as the generics sector is becoming an increasingly important customer for these products.
Currently, the global generic drug market is approaching a value of $40 billion (€33.8bn), and it should grow over the next five years by a rate of around 10 to 15 per cent a year. This growth will be fuelled by recent and future patent expirations of branded products that generated more than $37 billion in sales in 2002, according to Cutting Edge.
US 'a battleground'
"If the focus on affordable medicines continues, which experts expect for some time, the US will be a battlefield over the next five years," said Jon Hess, a senior analyst at Cutting Edge, who added that he expects new legislation to be created that will support the development of the industry.
At present, nearly 50 per cent of all US prescriptions are filled with generic drugs, up from only 18.6 per cent in 1984. US sales of generic pharmaceuticals increased from $12 billion in 2001 to $15.4 billion in 2002. By 2005, analysts project, that figure will top $22 billion.
The report - called Combating Generics: Pharmaceutical Brand Defense - examines recent regulatory developments and trends in the generics industry.
It also provides a menu of patent and brand defense strategies, including line extensions, over-the-counter switching, flanking generics and licensing agreements, assessed against different product and lifecycle settings.
For more information on the report, visit the publisher's website.
