06.12.2012 Views

Pharma Futures 3 Emerging Opportunities

Pharma Futures 3 Emerging Opportunities

Pharma Futures 3 Emerging Opportunities

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

<strong>Pharma</strong> <strong>Futures</strong> 3<br />

The Undertow<br />

Given the enormous growth potential<br />

of emerging markets, it is perhaps<br />

surprising that the Western<br />

pharmaceutical industry has, in the<br />

eyes of some analysts, been relatively<br />

slow to consolidate its presence there.<br />

Although most companies have had<br />

some operations in some markets in<br />

the past few decades, it is only in the<br />

past two years that investment in<br />

R&D, human resources and sales<br />

force has reached levels that draw<br />

significant interest from the investment<br />

community. There are a number of<br />

reasons for this toe-dipping approach:<br />

Complexity<br />

The emerging markets are immensely<br />

complex. They are characterised by<br />

extreme cultural and ethnic diversity,<br />

marked income inequalities, a<br />

significant rural-urban split, with large<br />

percentages of the population with<br />

very poor access to transportation,<br />

infrastructure and other basic<br />

services.<br />

Figure 1A<br />

Global <strong>Pharma</strong>ceutical<br />

Sales Growth Forecasts<br />

Compound Annual Growth Rate<br />

(CAGR) %<br />

Sources: IMS Health, Market<br />

Prognosis, March 2008<br />

2006<br />

2011<br />

This complexity is further<br />

compounded by rapidly changing and<br />

unpredictable operating environments<br />

and requires considerable investment<br />

to manage well.<br />

Affordability and Low<br />

Purchasing Power<br />

The potential for massive sales<br />

volume in emerging markets is<br />

tempered by lower purchasing power,<br />

which means patients cannot support<br />

comparable margins to developed<br />

countries. Reaching this potential<br />

would require price differentiation and<br />

segmentation between and possibly<br />

within countries. The industry and its<br />

investors are wary of experimenting –<br />

at least visibly – with significantly<br />

different pricing models in emerging<br />

markets because of the potential<br />

effect of eroding margins in mature<br />

markets.<br />

16<br />

15<br />

14<br />

13<br />

12<br />

11<br />

10<br />

09<br />

08<br />

07<br />

06<br />

05<br />

04<br />

03<br />

02<br />

01<br />

North<br />

America<br />

Latin<br />

America<br />

10<br />

Accessibility and Weak<br />

Healthcare Infrastructure<br />

In particular, the absence of strong<br />

payers and corresponding service<br />

providers presents extreme challenges<br />

to access, delivery and distribution.<br />

This is particularly true of rural areas.<br />

To access patients and consumers in<br />

these markets requires companies –<br />

at a minimum – to understand and<br />

support coordinated efforts to create<br />

or strengthen health systems. This is<br />

both a potentially expensive and<br />

complex undertaking of which<br />

investors and companies alike are<br />

wary.<br />

Uncertain Government Relations<br />

Relations with governments are<br />

complex. In part this is the result of an<br />

uneasy history of interactions between<br />

the pharmaceutical industry and<br />

governments which has been shaped<br />

by differences in opinion over trade<br />

and health policy, making relations<br />

unpredictable and, at times, difficult.<br />

Europe Asia +<br />

Africa +<br />

Australia<br />

Japan

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!