E-DRUG: global pharmaceutical market reaches USD 500bn
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[What percentage would essential drugs be from those USD 500 billion?
Anybody an idea?
crossposted with thanks from DRUGINFO, our South African "e-drug". WB]
Hi all
Here, as "fair use", is a Yahoo story on the state of the world's
pharmaceutical market. Perhaps the most telling sectoin is that dealing with
the omeprazole/esomeprazole finesse - a truly sad statement about the
gullibility of prescribers. A more complete version of this story can be
accessed on the IMS web site -
http://www.imshealth.com/ims/portal/front/articleC/0,2777,6025_40183881_4536
5325,00.html
Here are some important snippets from that summary (the full version
contains tables, so is difficult to post on email).
* "It is important to note that despite the growth rates achieved by
generics in 2003, total growth of the global pharma market still remained
close to 10 percent. For the past several years generics have remained at
about 4 to 5 percent of total pharma sales."
* "The top-ten therapy classes accounted for 30 percent of the total audited
world market in 2003. Four of the leading ten -- cholesterol & triglyceride
reducers, antipsychotics, erythropoietin products and anti-epileptics -
each grew more than 10 percent year over year, with anti-epileptics up 22
percent and antipsychotics up 20 percent. For the first time in 14 years,
cholesterol & triglyceride reducers moved ahead of antiulcerants as the
leading therapeutic class worldwide, with sales of $26.1 billion last year,
an increase of 14 percent. Lipitor, the world's #1 selling drug, accounted
for $10.3 billion of sales in the cholesterol & triglyceride reducer
category. The second-ranked therapy class, antiulcerants, grew 9 percent, to
$24.3 billion in 2003 sales. Antidepressants and mood stabilizers were the
third-ranked therapy class, with sales up 10 percent last year, to $19.5
billion."
* "It is also significant that the number of blockbusters continue to grow,
with 64 over $1 billion in sales in 2003, and 23 of those over $2 billion."
regards
Andy