Phrmceuticl Indutry - Case Study Example

t the me time, product lifecycle re hortening becue of increing competition within the different therpeutic ctegorie. In 1998, in the UK, phrmceuticl R&D expenditure w 3.54bn, lmot third of totl UK expenditure on R&D. The bpi clim tht the UK phrmceuticl indutry invet more thn 20% of it totl turnover in R&D nd i reponible for over 70% of phrmceuticl reerch within the UK. (Coyne , 2005, pp.88-121) The increing cot of drug R&D, coupled with increing cot rtionlition nd control in helthcre ytem throughout the world, h fuelled the huge mount of cquiition nd merger ctivity within the indutry, which h now reched nother tge.

The greement to merge in Jnury 2000 of the UK indutry leder Glxo Wellcome with mithKline Beechm, to form Glxo mithKline in $76bn meg-merger, will hve n enormou impct on the UK mrket, not let on indutry employment the compny rtionlie opertion. lmot ll the other mjor phrmceuticl compnie operting in the UK hve undergone or re in the proce of undergoing merger nd cquiition, including trZenec, Pfizer nd Wrner Lmbert, hire nd Robert, nd Celltech with Chirocience nd Medev. The mrket i divided into two ector: precription-only medicine (POM) nd over-the-counter (OTC) medicine.

POM re obtined only with precription from qulified medicl profeionl nd dipened only by regitered phrmcit in licened phrmcy outlet. Promotion of precribed phrmceuticl i extremely limited, being confined to dvertiing in profeionl journl. The vt mjority of precribed phrmceuticl in the UK re precribed through the Ntionl Helth ervice (NH).ccording to the bpi, UK expenditure per peron on precription medicine, t round 88 per yer, i low in comprion to other mjor Europen countrie - only round hlf tht of Frnce or Germny.

However, the proportion of expenditure on drug in the NH i riing, in pite ttempt to contin cot. It roe from 8.7% of the totl NH budget in 1980 to 12.7% in 1997. The proportion of people exempt from NH precription chrge h lo rien tedily, from 60% of ll precription in the 1970 to more thn 85% in 1998. (Coyne , 2005, pp.88-121)In recent yer, the NH h been in n lmot contnt tte of finncil crii, which h led to evere budgeting problem. There h been widepred reporting of o-clled rtioning' of certin drug, leding to lottery of cre' where the vilbility of tretment cn be dependent on the ptient' helth uthority.

The UK i reported to be the highet uer of cheper generic drug in Europe, well being the lowet uer of new drug - with the proportion of generic drug precribing hving rien from 41% in 1991 to more thn 60% in 1997. (Coyne , 2005, pp.88-121)In contrt, the mrket for OTC phrmceuticl i conumer orientted. Certin product, deignted phrmcy-only product, do not require precription but cn only be old t licened phrmcy under the uperviion of regitered phrmcit. Other product, deignted generl le lit (GL), cn be obtined t wide vriety of retil outlet with no requirement for phrmcy or phrmcit.

Multimedi promotion of GL product i widely permitted. Min medi dvertiing expenditure for OTC phrmceuticl (excluding vitmin nd upplement nd medicl good), roe from 97m in 1998 to 116.8m in 1999, n incree of 20.3%.(Mrci , 2004, pp.109-111)The NH will continue to be under preure for the foreeeble future, with the demnd of n increingly geing popultion on one hnd nd the introduction of new therpie on the other. The OTC mrket will be fuelled by the increing number of drug (often well known) entering the OTC