According to Euromonitor, the leading companies in the OTC (Over-the-Counter) healthcare market include Pfizer (United States), Johnson & Johnson (United States), GlaxoSmithKline (United Kingdom), Wyeth (United States), Taisho Pharmaceutical (Japan), Novartis (Switzerland), Boehringer Sohn (Germany), Bayer (Germany), Roche (Switzerland) and Otsuka Pharmaceutical (Japan).
Globally, the total prescription market was worth nearly $550 billion in 2007. Total health care expenditures around the world are harder to determine, but $4.5 trillion would be a fair estimate, according to specialists.
Regulation & policy
Legislation is becoming more onerous, including environmental aspects, European directives and complexity arising from global regulatory harmonisation. There are, nevertheless, opportunities for new products that meet regulatory drivers.Economics
The sector has a very high multiplier effect in economic terms. The political vow to contain funding and increase control is leading to purchases based on cost-efficiency and measured / improved results within tight budgets. This creates a high impact on suppliers, increasing pressure on prices and narrowing margins. Higher concentration on major sectors is getting inevitable.Procurement
The supply chain has been faced with changes in buying patterns and the need for greater management of purchasing and supply. Currently in the UK, where the ultimate user (patient) is not the buyer, marketing is targeted to those with the budget rather than the users.Moreover, the traditional value-for-money models used in procurement of commodities are not appropriate for medical devices and systems. There is a need to be able to carry out cost-benefit analyses more effectively, since often the costs of new technology will fall on one sil while the benefits will be felt in another.
Demographics
Developed countries are experiencing ageing populations and an increased focus on chronic disease management. On the flipside, there are large numbers of poor people without access to health care in developing nations.Healthcare delivery
Services are being rolled back from acute hospitals to primary care for practical and cost reasons. Currently 80% of the UK industry's sales are to hospitals. The development of private health-care facilities and services predominates in developed countries, giving US companies a competitive advantage over their UK counterparts. A newly emerging sub-sector of private firms is providing healthcare support at home.Technology / Biotechnology
Healthcare technologies constitute some of the highest value commercial outcomes from national public and private sector research / development. Growth in the area is driven by rising expectation and demand from people seeking prolonged quality of life and cures for all ills, but also by a rapidly developing science base, which is enabling new diagnostics and treatments to be developed.Biotechnology has an extraordinary range of applications ranging from healthcare, agriculture and food to industrial and fine chemicals. The biotech field of the healthcare sector is characterised by businesses whose products or services depend to a significant extent on the application of technology related to the manipulation and use of living bodies.
Generics market
According to Business Insights, global generics market was worth $38bn in 2005, up 14.3% on 2004. The generics market has enjoyed strong growth over the previous five years and more than doubled in size since 2001.While historically the US market has enjoyed a higher rate of popularity for new generic entrants, due to increased competition, companies now tend to look into expanding to more lucrative markets such as the EU and Asian emerging markets.
The loss of patent protection by 2009 of almost $80bn worth of top selling drugs is expected to further fuel growth in the generics market, particularly in hormonal cancers, hypertension, dyslipidemia, bacterial infections, viral infections, schizophrenia and epilepsy indications.