Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare

Despite growth in volumes, driven by higher life expectancy and the development of emerging economies, health insurance deficits and the expansion of generic drugs have put pressure on the operating margins of pharmaceutical companies.

Pharmaceutical companies now must deal with lower selling prices, especially on their blockbuster drugs, coupled with increased costs linked to growing investments in R&D.

To better meet these new challenges, industry leaders are stepping up their consolidation efforts:

  • Pooling of R&D resources by major pharmaceutical groups
  • Accelerated race to file patents, with the development of new drugs to rebuild a portfolio of patented products
  • Major cost restructuring efforts, particularly through improvements in sales force efficiency

These trends are expected to continue:

  • Through persistent vigilance on costs, for example by developing new information technologies used by practitioners
  • Through acquisitions of medium-size pharmaceutical companies in order to gain new patents or increase presence in emerging markets