Bright Forecast for Pharmaceutical Sales Market, With Chance of Rain

• Tweet

First, the Bad News

 

Despite the sunny forecast for US pharmaceutical sales in upcoming years, there is one downside cited by Skila, a healthcare solutions company headquartered in Morris Plains, New Jersey. Susan Dorfman, Skila VP of Global Marketing, predicts, “Numerous states have imposed regulations that have made current US pharmaceutical sales and marketing practices more challenging by creating a need for an aggregated, transparent and centralized view of every pharmaceutical customer interaction. This is something we must prepare for, as we will certainly continue to face more state or national-level regulations and controls in areas such as physician spend, data availability, rep licensure requirements and pharmaceutical detailing/marketing controls.”

 

For example, a new law signed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick requires the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to institute a conduct code for pharmaceutical marketing, and to develop reporting requirements for pharmaceutical companies. Under this law, pharmaceutical firms must comply with the conduct code and establish a training program for conformity of the code. Any noncompliance is required to be reported to the state. Payments to a hospital or physician exceeding $50.00 must be explained. The Governor believes that trade secrets will not be exposed under the new compliance requirements, but pharmaceutical companies worry that their product development plans could be revealed.

 

Now, the Good News

 

NAPRx, a pharmaceutical information company, predicts that GlaxoSmithKline will surpass Pfizer in upcoming years to become the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. Roche is predicted to come in second, with Pfizer falling to third. Johnson & Johnson and Merck are expected to experience some growth. NAPRx anticipates the world pharmaceutical industry to grow a smoothed rate of 5.5% annually for the foreseeable future. Most companies expect to add to their sales staff.

 

Specials are on the Menu

 

Despite tough economic times, the pharmaceutical industry is expected to remain a strong player in the US financial system because of specialty drugs. NAPRx expects specialty products to contribute 67 percent of industry growth, with cancer treatment products attaining up to 16 percent growth and HIV treatment therapies growing by 14 percent.

 

A global credit problem could provide opportunities for pharmaceutical businesses, as some CEOs believe it provides motivation to be more innovative in product development of specialty drugs. CEOs plan to draw on their healthy internal cash flow to fund acquisitions, as they face less adversity than industries with low cash balances.

By Rita Henry
Get Pharmaceutical Sales Jobs, Contributing Editor