Last year, investment in emerging markets within the pharmaceutical industry continued apace, with increased revenues and strong sales seen in India, China, Brazil and Russia. This trend is expected to continue, as recently forecast by IMS Health. Moreover, over the next five years emerging markets are expected to double their spending on medicines. As highlighted previously, market demand for more effective products and widening healthcare access due to increasing generic penetration will be among the major contributors driving growth in the ‘pharmerging’ markets. In contrast, European and US spending on pharmaceutical products is set to decline over the same period from 24 per cent to 19 per cent and from 36 per cent to 31 per cent respectively. But what do these contrasting growth stories mean for the healthcare communications industry and can the global market adapt to this flux to leverage growth in the US and UK?
Historically, it was the introduction of blockbuster drugs that put the western world at the forefront of the global pharmaceutical market, leading the way in innovation and research. Meanwhile, replicating generic versions of these drugs defined the pharma industry in the developing markets. Today however, the established markets are faced with record patent expirations, a lack of new generation blockbuster medicines despite investment in clinical trials, and ongoing regulatory challenges against an already challenging economic backdrop. In pharmerging markets, rapid growth has been principally generated by spending on generic drugs, contributing to the rise in the generic share of spending.
Success in LEDCs (less economically developed countries) has understandably tempted western companies to look further afield to tap into the opportunities within the generics market, with some companies already involved in full or partial takeover bids in these increasingly influential emerging markets. As well as allowing the integration of the western industry, these acquisitions will undoubtedly provide benefits for the drugmaker concerned, potentially creating a positive feedback loop within the developing economy and exposing important insights to inform global communications and marketing programmes.
Taking a closer look, the lack of breakthrough drugs may not be as much of a concern as it first appears. The expected shift towards personalised medicine could mean a diminishing reliance on the ‘one pill fits all’ model. Whilst the increasing availability of genetic information could also see the reappraisal of certain compounds that previously struggled economically in the blockbuster era. What is absolutely certain from these unfolding changes, is that the healthcare communications industry will play an ever more critical role in explaining these emerging opportunities to both patients and all concerned stakeholders, ultimately ensuring patient needs remain the priority and at the heart of all communications programmes.
