Going from patient to personal doctor
The evolution of the patient from one who must reactively seek treatment from a doctor to that of someone empowered with the ability to proactively prevent diseases is now on the horizon – even within the next decade. How? It should come as no surprise that the main enablers will be data and algorithms.
Things are still looking rosy It’s always good to start with some good news, and pharma is no different. Based on the latest research, the global medtech industry is still on course to grow at a rate of 5.6% per year from 2017 to 2024. And this will reach a climax in 2024 with global …
The Trump Effect, Brexit & tumultuous times
No preview of the pharma industry in 2017 could start without calling out the elephant in the room: Donald Trump. His shock victory in the US general election sent markets reeling at the end of ‘16, and pharma was no different. And when you blend in a shot of Brexit, a splash of meagre economic growth, and a dash of continuous pressure on drug prices, 2017 was always going to feel a slight strain.
The party shows no sign of stopping
It seems the biotech industry is still enjoying the dolce vita. Many doubted it could continue, but all the signs are showing that it has. Drug pricing has come out unscathed, while M&As seem to be safeguarded after the US government appears to have ceased its tax-law changes on them. To the contrary, investors are still hungry for all things biotech, with the industry’s valuations fluctuating at an impressive rate in 2015. So much so that 2015 is showing signs that it is to welcome as many as 50 new drugs to the market by year’s end, with a fifth-year sales forecast of a staggering $18.6bn.
A rapidly changing industry landscape
The first half of 2015 has seen both positive and negative influences come to light for the medtech industry: stock exchange pressures from poor financial results, and diminishing venture capitalist funding for new businesses are just a few of the headaches coming to prominence; conversely, there are some rays of light: the market has seen considerable consolidation with $83bn-worth of mergers already registered. Also the FDA is increasing its level of approvals and overall collaboration with medtech firms (more innovative new products than ever are now likely to make it onto the market), while the medtech IPO market seems to be stabilizing.
What does the future hold for the life sciences sector? For the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technology industries 2014 and the rest of the decade should be a time full of new challenges and new opportunities alike, according to Deloitte’s 2014 global life sciences report.*
The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics predicts that annual global spending on medicines will reach nearly $1.2 trillion by 2016, as the impact of emerging markets, generic drugs and biologics begins to be felt.
According to EvaluatePharma’s World Preview 2013 report *, the past two years have seen one significant negative development (the fact that in dollar terms, worldwide prescription drug sales fell due to a loss of patent protection on a number of popular brands and fiscal austerity measures in Europe) and a host of positive developments that bode well for the future (a massive number of new drug approvals, biological products that will support future sales growth and improvements in research and development productivity.)