The Global Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals Market is in a state of flux, with the industry landscape poised to change dramatically in the coming years. Generic drugs carry great weight in this market. The Global Generic Drugs Market will see impressive growth for the forecast period of 2014-2018, with a CAGR of 11.02 percent. Much of this growth can be attributed to mergers and acquisitions. These will be driven by patents on name-brand drugs expiring in the coming years.
“Generic drugs are copies of patented brand name drugs that have identical dosage form, potency, route of administration, quality, and intended use. These drugs contain the same active ingredients as the original brand name drugs,” say senior TechNavio analysts.
“They are available once the patent protections given to the original developers have expired. Generally generic drugs cost 50-70 percent less than their brand name counterparts, while still meeting the same standards for safety, quality, and effectiveness as innovator drugs.”
Generic drugs come in several forms, simple generics and biosimilars.
Mergers and acquisitions are the new norm in the global pharmaceutical market. Companies fight to increase their scale, revenue and market share. Actavis plc’s acquisition of drug maker Forest Laboratories in late February is just one such merger making headlines lately.
The acquisition of Forest Laboratories should come as no surprise to anyone with their finger on the pulse of the pharmaceuticals industry. In November 2012, the generic drug distributor acquired Watson Pharmaceuticals. It became the third largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world, with operations in more than 60 countries. In October 2013, Actavis acquired Warner Chilcott plc for approximately US$8.5 billion.
Patent expiry of top-selling drugs is one of the major growth drivers for the generic drugs market. Several blockbuster drugs like Lexapro (originally manufactured by Forest Laboratories) are going off-patent and are open to generic competition. Lexapro, also escitalopram is an anti-depressant. This is known as the patent cliff and patent expiry of drugs can push the introduction of cheap generic drugs in the market. Most generic drugs go by the common name, so its likely that escitalopram will be available soon. As it is also a treatment for general anxiety, it will be among comparable brands provided in generic form, such as Zolof, Prozac, and other SSRIs (selective seratonin reuptake inhibitors).
TechNavio research indicates that several branded drugs like Lexapro, with sales of up to US$135 billion will go off-patent by 2015, giving generic pharmaceutical companies enormous chance to capitalize on the market, which will lead to further growth in the market over the forecast period.
For more insights, view our Global Generic Drugs Market 2014-2018 report.
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- Global Pain Management Drugs Market 2014-2018
- Global Dermatological Drugs Market 2014-2018
- Global Biosimilars Market 2014-2018
