The European e-Business Report The European e ... - empirica

The European E-Business Report 2005
2.4 The Pharmaceutical Industry
The e-Business W@tch sector
study on the Pharmaceutical
Industry was contributed by
Berlecon Research GmbH (contact:
info@berlecon.de).
The full reports (parts 1 and 2) can
be downloaded from the website
(www.ebusiness-watch.org) at the
'resources' section.
The pharmaceutical industry is well suited to the use of ICT and e-business applications. This is true
for both internal processes and for the support of B2B relationships. As a result, the industry is an
intensive user of e-business. ICT and internet-based solutions also play an increasingly important role
in supporting marketing and sales processes. CRM (customer relation management) systems and
mobile solutions have a high potential for facilitating the management and work of the pharmaceutical
sales force. Combating counterfeiting activities could be a driver for the deployment of RFID/Auto-ID
solutions in this sector in the future.
2.4.1 Sector definition and background
Sector definition
Activities subsumed under NACE 62 24.4 constitute the core of the pharmaceutical industry. The
reports, however, also cover the activities of the cosmetics industry (NACE 24.51) and the
manufacture of soaps and detergents, cleaning and polishing preparations (NACE 24.52). The latter
two sub-sectors have several things in common with the core pharmaceutical industry, which justifies
their joint consideration.
Exhibit 2.4-1: Business activities covered by the pharmaceutical industry (NACE Rev. 1.1)
NACE Rev. 1.1
DE 24.4
DE 24.5
Business Activity
Manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals and botanical products
Manufacture of soap and detergents, cleaning and polishing preparations, perfumes and
toilet preparations.
In contrast to most other parts of the chemical sector, subsumed under NACE 24 (manufacture of
chemicals, chemical products and man-made fibres), the outputs of the pharmaceutical industry are
mostly produced for end-users and not for other firms of the chemical industry. In addition, most of
these products can have an immediate impact on human health. Therefore, the industry has to meet
high safety standards and is subject to many regulatory measures in order to ensure the consumers’
safety.
Finally, companies active in the sub-sectors analysed by e-Business W@tch often use similar
distribution channels such as pharmacies and drugstores. For the sector studies, therefore, the term
“pharmaceutical industry”, is intended to include the whole sector as defined above.
62
NACE revised version 1.1 – final draft 2002. See glossary for explanation.
95